Golden Moyo* is a lay preacher in rural Zimbabwe. In 2018, after decades of hiding his sexual orientation, Moyo came out to his family and friends and his parish as gay.
Attitudes to sexual and gender minorities in Zimbabwe are highly conservative. Those found guilty of consensual same-sex sexual activity could face up to one year’s imprisonment and a fine. The southern African country’s anti-homosexuality law was first introduced by the British during its colonisation of Zimbabwe.
According to Human Dignity Trust, the country has noted “consistent reports of discrimination and violence being committed against LGBT people in recent years, including assault, sexual violence, harassment, blackmail, and the denial of basic rights and services”.
We realised the power of social media during the Covid-19 pandemic
Moyo’s decision has not been without consequence. News of his sexuality soon “went viral… [with] people deliberating upon it”, he says. There was also a protest at the church’s headquarters.
Says Moyo: “They were saying things like this is against our culture. This is against our religion. This is against our laws…They say it is strange. It is not part of us and did not originate from our own people. [That] it’s a Western thing. When the noise started, [with] people protesting, you really need people who stand up to say, ‘No, this thing is not Western’. It’s our own thing. It has always been in our midst.”
For Moyo, as with an increasing number of LGBTIQ+ persons across the country, social media is an essential tool in a continued push for a break from the narrative that homosexuality — and queerness, more broadly — is a Western import.
Moyo’s social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X (formerly, Twitter) has a combined following of just under 10 000 people. He also uses Clubhouse “for the [weekly] LGBTIQ+ fellowship”.
Moyo says he first realised the power of social media during the Covid-19 pandemic. “We could not gather as Christians, so we used to worship via social media. I realised that this is a thing that can quickly spread the message to others.”
Including queer people in the national narrative
Tanatswa Gumbo, communications officer for the country’s largest queer rights organisation, Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ), says LGBTIQ+ people “definitely have become more visible on social media”.
“LGBTQ persons, particularly activists, have really been visible and have really become more outspoken in terms of challenging conservative attitudes towards LGBTQ people. Especially the claims of homosexuality being un-African; not being Christian; not aligning with Christian values,” says Gumbo.
Research conducted by Princess Sibanda and Gibson Ncube found that, for queer Zimbabweans, online “spaces represent a powerful act of resistance, a way for queer Zimbabweans to claim their right to exist and express themselves.”
The mobilisation is done via social media platforms
The researchers noted: “In Zimbabwe, queer individuals use social media to assert their belonging in the nation by combining the national flag with the LGBTIQ+ symbol of the rainbow flag, symbolising their identity and struggles. Through hashtags like #ThisFlagIsOursToo, they mobilise for the inclusion of queer people in the national narrative.
“Some Zimbabweans on social media are showing their love for each other proudly and publicly. They think this can change how people see queer love in Zimbabwe. It’s like they’re sending love letters to the world, saying that queer love is just as important and beautiful as any other kind of love.”
Zimbabwe is, of course, only one of numerous African states to have inherited homophobic laws and attitudes as a result of colonisation. The end of colonial rule has, however, seen some countries (such as Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya and Namibia) place added restrictions on the rights of LGBTIQ+ persons.
Ghana is one such country. The West African state inherited its first anti-homosexuality law during British rule.Section 104 of the country’s Criminal Code of 1960 — seen largely as “an after-effect of the colonial era” — carries with it a sentence of up to three years’ imprisonment for men found guilty of consensual same-sex relations.
Ghana’s latest anti-LGBT law, the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill (commonly known as the Anti-LGBT Bill), is particularly draconian and has been described as “brutal, harsh, and unjust”.
Using social media to educate people
In 2021, Angel Maxine, Ghana’s only openly transgender musician and queer rights activist, penned a song, titled Kill the Bill, in protest against the Anti-LGBT Bill. In addition to using her music as a tool for awareness-raising, Maxine also relies heavily on social media to try and effect change.
“If social media was available…during the colonial days, I’m sure a lot of people would have been educated by now, and we would [not be in] this era that we are in,” Maxine says, in reference to the increasing queerphobic rhetoric sweeping across the continent. “Because even though some of us are on social media, we are still living in our colonial days; still carrying the colonial thinking. But there are also people who are using social media who have broken free from this colonialism. They are educating people, and they keep touching the lives of people. Social media has played a good role in fighting laws and also educating people about the laws. In Africa, we have made use of social media positively to educate people.”
Maxine is now living in Berlin, having fled Ghana as a result of persecution based on her gender identity and her queer rights activism. The distance from her home country makes her rely on social media even more.
“Sometimes when the grounds become very hard and difficult for us to meet in person, social media is where we can meet. I am currently in Germany, but I’m communicating with people in Ghana through social media.”
Challenge the narrative that queerness is a Western import
Alex Kofi Donkor is the founder and executive director of LGBT Rights Ghana. “I would say most of the mobilisation and most of the engagement at the initial stages [of establishing LGBT Rights Ghana] was through social media. Even as of now, most of the mobilisation is done via various social media platforms,” says Donkor.
Aside from activists utilising social media for policy and attitude reforms, there are also individual members of Ghana’s LGBTIQ+ communities who, Donkor says, are “putting content out there that challenges the status quo and challenges so many thoughts that Ghanaians have around LGBT issues…that it’s a Western import”.
As could be expected, given the repressive contexts in which this content is created, there are downsides to proudly sharing pro-LGBTIQ+ content.
Says Donkor: “People tend to react quickly when [LGBTIQ+ content] is openly or obviously put out there. People tend to react in a very negative way.”
Angel Maxine is nonplussed by these negative comments. “Social media is a safe space for me, even though the comments and all those things aren’t 100% safe, it is a safe space for me,” she says.
Social media, she adds, resulted in what she sees as her biggest success as an activist: the collaboration with fellow musicians, Wanlov the Kubolor and Sister Deborah, which led to her song, Wo Fie.
“Through the use of social media, I was able to get in touch with these two great activists to work together with me. And we have communicated all along in making the world a better place through social media. TV stations wouldn’t have played the video we did. But through our engagement and meeting on social media, we were able to promote the song, Wo Fie, that carries a strong message to the world.”
As to what this message is, Maxine explains: “Wo Fie means ‘your home’. We all come from homes, whether [we are] LGBT or not. A queer person could be your brother, could be your sister. You could even find out tomorrow that your father is a queer person. And there’s nothing you can do. So we just have to love, respect and accept queer people for who they are. Religion is not our culture. The Bible is not our culture. The only culture that has been imported to Africa is hate.”
As to whether she says a point at which she might rely less on social media as a tool for her activism, Maxine says firmly: “No, no. I don’t think I see that happening.”
Back in his home in rural Zimbabwe, Moyo echoes the same sentiment.
We will keep on fighting, no matter how hard it gets
“You know,” he sighs, “to get the church to accept us, we have attended the meetings, the synods, the meetings in the archdiocese, the councils, but it was of no use…So, there’s no other way, since we have been blocked on top. So, we are saying this is the time to make our voices heard…Maybe changes may come…Our people still believe it’s a Western influence. A taboo in our culture. Yet, we are saying it’s our own thing. So, we will keep on fighting, no matter how hard it gets.”
* Not his real name
Carl Collison**
**Carl Collison is a journalist, photographer, filmmaker and researcher, who focuses specifically on producing LGBTIQ-related content from across Africa. While a researcher with Human Rights Watch, Collison worked on projects centred around LGBTIQ+ migrants and asylum seekers in South Africa as well as the impacts of Uganda’s most recent Anti-Homosexuality Bill. He is currently pursuing a Masters Degree (in Religion and Theology) at the University of the Western Cape, where his research will focus on the intersections between queerness, religion and forced migration. He is also the founder and editor of the online publication, Beyond the Margins.
Links:
- Website — GALZ, Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe
- Book — Global LGBTQ Activism
- HRW — Ghana’s Leaders Push Back on Anti-LGBT Bill
- Instagram — Angel Maxine
- YouTube — Angel Maxine — Wo Fie feat Wanlov the Kubolor & Sister Deborah
- Website — Beyond the margins
This article is part of the project “Cultures and Colonialism ‒ The struggle for LGBTIQ+ human rights in light of the decolonization debate” from the Hirschfeld-Eddy Foundation.
