As Pride month comes to a close, it offers us an opportunity to reflect on the history of sexuality in Africa. Despite the propaganda spouted by some conservative political, religious, and other forces on the continent, a close look at African history reveals that it is not gender queerness that is “un-African” but rather the laws that criminalize it. Historically, many Africans were unapologetic about their sexuality and gender non-conformity, though their personal stories remain difficult to uncover. LGBTQ+ scholarship in Africa finds that several anthropologists actively ignored or hid these realities. The multitude of accounts have been passed down through oral tradition leaving them open to misinterpretation and misconstruction, while a standard of heteronormativity remains largely unquestioned. Nevertheless, recognition and representation have a way of personifying and enabling us to better understand our identities, especially for the many undocumented queer people who are today subverting gender roles in Africa. It is important to document LGBTQ+ stories and history to reverse the erasure primarily caused by colonialism and fundamentalism.

Historically, several African cultures believed that gender was not dependent upon sexual anatomy, but was instead more energetic. The Dogon of Mali reportedly traditionally worshiped ancestral “teachers” who were described as intersex and mystical. Androgynous deities like Esu Elegba, the Yoruba god/ess of the crossroads, or Mawu Lisa, the Dahomey creator god/ess, can be viewed through a contemporary lens as possible patrons for LGBTQ+, despite being historically demonized. Many ancient matriarchal structures in Africa practiced female husbandry, where women attained wives and assumed economic responsibility over the children. In recent history, Black Dandyism (i.e “La Sapologie” in DR Congo) continues to challenge gender performativity and binaries.

Colonial powers once denigrated Africans as having primitive, bestial sexuality as proof of their inferiority. Ironically, many of these Western states now condemn the sodomy laws they installed during colonial rule. Arguably, it was not homosexuality, but rather homophobia, that was imported to Africa from the West. While contemporary labels were not affixed the same way in precolonial Africa, non-heteronormativity (self-identifying and not), is encompassed here under the umbrella of LGBTQ+ for the purpose of language. It is important to note that nuanced understandings of queer African identity may not have been constructed in the same way had they been adequately documented. This further highlights the role of language in a complicated history of othering, and why contemporary critical discourse must continue to engage, uncover, and more accurately inform our futures.