Colonial inheritance: How British rule shaped Africa's homophobic laws
Many African countries still have laws criminalising homosexuality, which some studies suggest were introduced during the colonial period.
There is a prevailing belief that the acceptance and tolerance of homosexuality are Western influences. Leaders like late Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe during a speech at the UN General Assembly rejected the act of homosexuality saying "We are not gays."
Gambia's former President Yahya Jammeh also shared the sentiments of the long-term Zimbabwean ruler. He said that homosexuality was “more deadly than all natural disasters put together.”
However, what many might remember is that when the British Empire was introducing legal systems in their colonies, one of the laws they imposed was the law against sodomy.
African countries including Uganda, Gambia, and Nigeria, these very nations now criminalise homosexuality based on the British imperial legal instruments, such as the Indian Penal Code Section 377A, imposed during colonisation.
Research indicates that 13 former British colonies in Africa have laws that prohibit same-sex relations. Nigeria, Uganda, and Gambia have recently enacted laws that not only intensify penalties for existing offences but also introduce new anti-homosexuality provisions.
Since 1950, Uganda has enforced a law against sodomy, passed during British colonial rule, prescribing life imprisonment for homosexual acts. Similarly, countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Gambia, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, and Eswatini inherited their anti-LGBTQ laws from the British colonial era.
A notable trend has been observed, former British colonies have a higher tendency to implement laws that criminalise homosexual behaviour compared to the former colonies of other European powers, according to analysis of data from 185 countries. Almost 70% of former British colonies still enforce laws against homosexual conduct, the Washington Post reported.
Studies further suggest that within sub-Saharan Africa, former British colonies are more inclined to criminalise homosexual behaviour compared to former French colonies.
According to the Thompson Reuters Foundation News, Namibia's High Court is set to make a crucial decision in May 2024 regarding a case that could potentially lead to the overturning of a colonial-era ban on same-sex relations.
Namibia's legislation traces back to the colonial period and has remained in effect since the country gained independence in 1990.
Similarly, Mauritius took steps in October 2023 to decriminalise same-sex relations when its Supreme Court ruled the law unconstitutional. This law can be traced back to 1898 when Mauritius was colonised by Britain.
French ex-colonies including Algeria, Cameroon, and Mauritania have witnessed a resurgence in the implementation of laws criminalising homosexuality.
While the colonial influence of Britain has had a significant impact on LGBTQ+ communities in certain African nations, this is not universally true for all former colonies.
Portugal, another major colonial power in Africa, has seen all five of its former colonies including Guinea-Bissau, Angola and Mozambique decriminalise gay sex.
