Paper short abstract:

I examine the manner in which self-identified effeminate males in Ghana, commonly referred to as kwadwo besia, negotiate with the shifts on Ghana's sexual landscape. I examine 'reluctance,' as it manifests in the lives of these men and at the vectors of homophobia and Western discourses of rescue.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper, I use 'reluctance' as an optic for engaging with the manner in which self-identified effeminate males in Ghana, commonly referred to as 'kwadwo besia' negotiate with both the local and transnational politics of same-sex visibility. I am of the view that the kwadwo besia, long recognized as a subject of gender parody in the Ghanaian context has recently become Ghana's homosexual. I anchor my analysis in the ethnographic time frame of 2006, Ghana's 50th birthday, and during which the popular song titled "The Queens Visit" was played as part of the publicity for the anniversary. The song began with the lyrics "This is the day five million Ghanaians will go gay." Owing to the popularity of the song, the International Lesbians and Gay Association capitalized on the opportunity to speak to lesbian and gay liberation in Ghana. Their decision to hold a conference in Ghana will incite anti-homosexual rhetoric from the State and Church, which will in turn, dramatically influence the lives of kwadwo mesia (pl). Thus, I argue that the kwadwo besia's body is a contested site of masculinity, gender and sexuality. In so doing, I problematize 'reluctance' as it relates to the kwadwo besia, by articulating how Western discourses of rescue while exposing the vulnerabilities of sexual minorities in Ghana at the same time heighten those vulnerabilities to which they attend. In this regard, it is the kwadwo besia's refusal to be labeled homosexual or vulnerable which remains the locus of my analysis.