Abstract
What does it mean to have humanity afforded to you? What does it mean to live a full life? These are some of the questions that human rights frameworks and international law seeks to address. However there is more to a person’s existence than theoretical frameworks and policy implementation, an extra dimension that can be housed in the artistic and cultural works that showcase the everyday experiences of people. Increasingly, this is becoming a means by which members of the LGBTIQ community in Africa are making themselves visible in greater society, taking their existence outside of the contentious global rights-based conversation. By using the online and offline spaces to show the ways in which they live, love, have sex, and exist, queer women and gender nonconforming persons are adding an extra human element to the idea of “human rights” by controlling the narrative around their existences and inserting their stories into the public realm. Platforms such as HOLAAfrica, podcasts such as The Wildness with Tiff &Manda, and campaigns such as #JustLikeUs and #PleaseHer: A safe sex and pleasure project all serve to build a greater picture of what it means to be a part of the LGBTIQ realm and more importantly what it means to be African.
Keywords
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
AfriQueer. (n.d.). Drama for life. Retrieved from https://www.dramaforlife.co.za/projects/afriqueer
Agnew, R. (2018, December 11). Tumblr’s ‘porn ban’ will leave its marginalised users with no safe haven. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/11/tumblr-porn-ban-heteronormative-silicon-valley-sex-lives
Akosua Hanson, N. (2018, May 29). Interview with Nana Akosua Hanson on the work of Drama Queens and the #JustLikeUs initiative [Telephone interview].
Amazon.co.uk: Azeenarh Mohammed, Chitra Nagarajan, Rafeeat Aliyu. (2018). She called me woman: Nigeria’s queer women speak. 9781911115595: Books. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.co.uk/She-Called-Me-Woman-Nigerias/dp/1911115596
Archive & Method: Toward a Queer African Studies. (2014, June 06). Retrieved from https://gukira.wordpress.com/2014/06/06/archive-method-toward-a-queer-african-studies/
Baby Dyke. (2018). Retrieved from https://soundcloud.com/babydyke
Baby Dyke. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://kenyanbabydyke.wordpress.com/
Bibi Bakare Yusuf. (2018, May 15). Conversation with Bibi Bakare Yusuf, co-founder and publishing director of publishing house Cassava Republic Press, on political need to document stories [E-mail interview].
Bond, J. (2018, July 16). 18 tantalizing things you never knew about Pornhub, the internet’s top porn site. Retrieved from https://www.dailydot.com/irl/pornhub/
Braidwood, E. (2018, December 5). Here’s why Tumblr’s porn ban is an erasure of the LGBT community. Retrieved from https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/12/05/tumblr-porn-ban-erasure-lgbt-community/
Def, A. (2014, August 05). Venessa Marco “Patriarchy” – All Def poetry: INKSLAM 2014. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIUh43Jc5f4
Edoro, A. (2017, January 16). 14: An anthology of queer art .Vol. 1: We are flowers. Retrieved from https://brittlepaper.com/2017/01/14-anthology-queer-art-vol-1-flowers/
GALA. (n.d.). Queer Africa 2 – New stories in. Retrieved from https://gala.co.za/books-and-resources/publications-and-publishing/publications/queer-africa-2-new-stories/
Gerald Kraak Award and Anthology. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.jacana.co.za/awards/gerald-kraak-award-and-anthology
Global regional internet penetration rate 2017. (2017). Statistic. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/265149/internet-penetration-rate-by-region/
Here, An Anthology. (2018, April 16). Retrieved from https://kenyanbabydyke.wordpress.com/here-an-anthology/
Hoad, N. W. (2007). African intimacies: Race, homosexuality, and globalization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Hodgeson, A. (2018a, April 20). Interview with Amanda Hodgeson – co host of The Wildness with Tiff & Manda [Telephone interview].
Hodgeson, A. (2018b, June 7). Second interview with Amanda Hodgeson, co host of The Wildness with Tiff & Manda [Telephone interview].
Hodgeson, A., & Mugo, T. K. (2018, April). The wildness with Tiff & Manda – SoundCloud [Audio blog post]. Retrieved May 15, 2018, from https://soundcloud.com/thewildnesstiffandmanda
HOLAAfrica. (n.d.) Home. Retrieved from http://www.holaafrica.org/
Human Rights Watch. (2018, January 17). “No Choice but to Deny Who I Am” | Violence and discrimination against LGBT people in Ghana. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/01/08/no-choice-deny-who-i-am/violence-and-discrimination-against-lgbt-people-ghana
IGay, iLesbian, iBisexual – Xhosalisation of English. (2018, February 18). Retrieved from http://holaafrica.org/igay-ilesbian-ibisexual-xhosalisation-of-english/
Karlan, S. (2014). 13 tips for women having safe sex with other women. Retrieved from https://www.buzzfeed.com/skarlan/xx-things-women-need-to-remember-about-having-safe-sex-with?utm_term=.bx23Q6Kag8#.qq5nR40XO2
Kenya Film Commission. (2018, May 25). Lesbian film ban ‘ridiculous’. Retrieved from https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Rafiki-ban-Kenya-Film-Commission-reacts/1056-4580244-79prbk/index.html
Kenyanbabydyke, P. B. (2018, May 23). That’s so gay: Exploring queer language. Retrieved from https://kenyanbabydyke.wordpress.com/2018/05/23/thats-so-gay-exploring-queer-language/
Key Populations. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/key-populations/
Lesbian Safe Sex 101. (2018, January 09). The doctor is in (also, the cartoonist). Retrieved from https://www.autostraddle.com/safe-sex-for-lesbians-45382/
Listen to The Wildness with Tiff & Manda on TuneIn. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://tunein.com/podcasts/Culture/The-Wildness-with-Tiff%2D%2DManda-p1119295/
Macharia, K. (2009). Queering African studies. Criticism, 51(1), 157–164. https://doi.org/10.1353/crt.0.0089.
Malhotra, S. (2019, January 3). Why Tumblr’s ban on adult content is a huge step back for sex positivity. Retrieved from https://feminisminindia.com/2019/01/04/tumblr-adult-content-ban/
Marie, J. (2017, April 18). ‘Just Like Us’ photo project highlights Ghana’s LGBT community. Retrieved from http://kitschmix.com/just-like-us-photo-project-highlights-ghanas-lgbt-community/
Matebeni, Z. (2014). Reclaiming Afrikan: Queer perspectives on sexual and gender identities. Athlone: Modjaj Books Pty.
Matebeni, Z., Reddy, V., Sandfort, T., & Southey-Swartz, I. (2013). “I thought we are safe”: Southern African lesbians experiences of living with HIV. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 15(Supl 1), 34–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2013.764016.
McLean, N. (2018). Rethinking publics and participation in a digital era: A case study of HOLAA! and African queer women’s digital interactions. Agenda, 32(2), 70–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2018.1445345.
Mclean, N., & Mugo, T. K. (2015). The digital age: A feminist future for the queer African woman. IDS Bulletin, 46(4), 97–100. https://doi.org/10.1111/1759-5436.12163.
Muranda, T., Kagure, M., & Antonites, C. (2014). HIV is not for me: A study of African women who have sex with women’s perceptions of HIV/AIDS and sexual health. African Human Rights Law Journal, 14(2), 757–786. ISSN 1996–2096 [online].
Nyanzi, S. (2014). Queering queer Africa. In Z. Matebeni (Ed.), Reclaiming Afrikan: Queer Perspectives on Sexual and Gender Identities, (pp. 65–68). Cape Town: Modjaji Books.
Obi-Young, O. (2018, February 14). 14: An Anthology of queer art. Vol. 2: “The Inward Gaze”. Retrieved from https://brittlepaper.com/2018/01/14-anthology-queer-art-vol-2-gaze/
Pepper. (2018, May 30). Pepper on the genesis and growth of Kenyan Baby Dyke Platform [Online interview].
Pride and Prejudice. (n.d.). An African anthology offering new perspectives on what it means to be marginalised, forgotten and stripped of one’s humanity. Retrieved from http://jacana.bookslive.co.za/blog/2017/05/10/pride-and-prejudice-an-african-anthology-offering-new-perspectives-on-what-it-means-to-be-marginalised-forgotten-and-stripped-of-one’s-humanity/
Proudly Malawian. (2017). Life stories from lesbian and gender-nonconforming individuals. Retrieved from https://gala.co.za/books-and-resources/publications-and-publishing/publications/proudly-malawian-life-stories-from-lesbian-and-gender-nonconforming-individuals/
Sex Actually: Headlines, heartlines and hashtags. (2017, September 27). Retrieved from http://witsvuvuzela.com/2017/09/24/sex-actually-headlines-heartlines-and-hashtags/
Siphumeze Khundayi. (2018, April 12). Interview with #PleaseHer facilitator Siphumeze Khundayi [Personal interview].
The Pearl of Africa Film. (2016). |Transgender film| Uganda transgender documentary online. Retrieved from http://pearlofafrica.tv/the-film/
The Wildness with Tiff & Manda by The Wildness with Tiff & Manda on Apple Podcasts. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://itunes.apple.com/za/podcast/the-wildness-with-tiff-manda/id1375778405?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo=4
TheAdvocateMag. (2016, August 3). 17 tips for being a better top. Retrieved from https://www.advocate.com/sexy-beast/2016/8/03/17-tips-being-better-top
Thomas, E. (2016, February 2). Anti-gay pastor known for ‘eat the poo-poo’ lecture in hot water for incredibly ironic reason. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/25/uganda-anti-gay-martin-ssempa_n_5213571.html
Zeeman, K. (2018). ‘Inxeba is not going to go away’ – The Wound producers take battle to HRC. Retrieved from https://www.timeslive.co.za/tshisa-live/tshisa-live/2018-02-05-inxeba-is-not-going-to-go-away%2D%2Dthe-wound-producers-take-battle-to-hrc/
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Mugo, T.K. (2019). African Queer Women Tackling Erasure and Ostracization. In: Yacob-Haliso, O., Falola, T. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of African Women's Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77030-7_30-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77030-7_30-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-77030-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-77030-7
eBook Packages: Springer Reference HistoryReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities