scholarly journals Sexual Minority Rights Are Not Just for the West: Health and Safety Considerations in Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Scott Stewart ◽  
Dionne van Reenen ◽  
Richard Watuwa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Human Right ◽  
The West ◽  
Online Journal ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
Safety Considerations

In a recent article, C.O. Akpan argues that it is “unnatural for a man to sleep with a man as with a woman, and the idea of marriage in this sense is an abomination” (“The morality of same-sex marriage: How not to globalize a cultural anomie,” Online Journal of Health Ethics, 13(1), 2017, p. 9). Arguments in favor of same sex marriage, he claims, are “driven and motivated by the human right fad” (p. 9) that is inappropriate for African countries. We argue that the specific arguments Akpan employs against the morality of homosexuality and same-sex marriage are flawed. Our paper also presents evidence that human rights are not simply a fad, nor are they of concern and appropriate only to the West. Finally, we examine the case in South Africa, the only African nation to include LGBTQ+ rights in its constitution. In particular, we show that by doing so, South Africa has increased the health and safety not only the LGBTQ+ community, but of the nation’s citizens at large.

Where is the queer critique of same-sex marriage in South Africa?

2019 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-538
Author(s):  
T. L. McCormick
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Same Sex Marriage

The Right to Religious Freedom, with Particular Reference to Same-Sex Marriage

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-179
Author(s):  
Michael J. Perry
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
Same Sex Couples ◽  
Civil Marriage ◽  
The Right

In this essay, I elaborate and defend the internationally recognized human right to religious freedom. I then pursue the implications of the right for government’s exclusion of same-sex couples from of civil marriage.

scholarly journals Making Marital Status in South Africa, Past and Present

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Yarbrough
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Marital Status ◽  
General Public ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Same Sex Marriage

This essay written for the general public uses my ethnographic research on customary African marriage and same-sex marriage in South Africa to argue that marital status is best understood not as a static category but as the ongoing production of layered social processes.

African Attitudes Toward Same-Sex Relationships, 1982–2018

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Yi Dionne ◽  
Boniface Dulani
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Minority ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Attitudes Toward Homosexuality ◽  
Sao Tome And Principe ◽  
Recent Policy ◽  
Do So ◽  
Cross National

One significant barrier to sexual minority rights in Africa is the generally negative attitudes ordinary Africans have toward same-sex relationships. Yet since 1998, there has been notable progress in terms of legalizing same-sex relationships on the continent, with Botswana the most recent African country to do so, in 2019. Botswana joins Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Lesotho, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, and South Africa, among countries that have decriminalized same-sex relationships. Publicly available cross-national survey data measuring citizen’s attitudes toward homosexuality in 41 African countries from 1982 to 2018 shows that, on average, Africans hold negative attitudes toward same-sex relationships, which is consistent with previous reports. However, there is variation in these attitudes, suggesting greater tolerance of sexual minorities among women, people who use the Internet more frequently, and urban residents. One key finding is that homophobia is not universal in Africa. In light of recent policy and legal developments advancing sexual minority rights, and given findings in existing scholarship highlighting the influence politicians have in politicizing homophobia, the literature questioning the generalized notion of a “homophobic Africa” is growing, and there are calls for more research on the factors influencing decriminalization.

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