This book builds on the scholarship by contributing a critical analysis of the shortfalls of LGBTQ+ laws in Africa and the areas of progress and possible paths forward. It outlines the state of LGBTQ+ rights across Africa and discusses the notion of queering African law. It explores regional approaches towards the protection of LGBTQ+ rights within Africa and the important role of activism in challenging anti LGBTQ+ laws notably through litigation, their successes, challenges and limitations. It discusses the tensions between cultural, historical and other factors that on one hand challenge progress but which on the other hand may also be avenues for advancing rights. In line with the argument of queer theory as relevant in Africa, the chapters draw on queer legal theory which allows for critical analysis that aims to advance “a reformation of legal discourse” on LGBTQ+ rights. This focus is timely given the introduction of harsher anti-homosexuality laws in some African countries. Through multdisciplinary contributions, it offers readers a nuanced analysis of the challenges towards truly queering African law and the possibilities for doing so.
Part I: Introduction: The State of LGBTQIA+ Rights Across Africa.-
1.
LGBTQIA+ Rights in Africa: An Overview.-
2. Homosexuality as UnAfrican:
Revisiting the Arguments and Counterarguments.- Part II. Regional Approaches
to LGBTQIA+ Rights in Africa.-
1. How Queer can African Union Law be?.-
2.
LGBTQI+ rights in Portuguese-speaking African countries: straddling the line
between criminalisation and protection.-
3. Decriminalizing LGBTQ+ Identity
and Behaviour in Commonwealth Africa: An Analysis of Human Rights Provisions
and International Precedents.- Part III. Country Specific Approaches to
LGBTQIA+ Rights in Africa.-
1. Beyond Criminalisation: Unveiling Power
Structures in the Enforcement of Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws in Nigeria.-
2. Queer
Rights in Botswana: The Impact of Letsweletse Motshidiemang v The
Attorney-General.-
3. A Reflection on Uganda´s Anti-Homosexuality Law.-
4.
Inclusion of LGBTQI rights in the Lesotho: Progress, setbacks and lessons
from South Africa.-
5. Zimbabwe: The Balance Between Conservative Values and
Protecting the Rights of the LGBTQIA+ Population.-
6. Rhetorical Silence: The
Rwandan Legislation on Queer Rights.-
7. No one left behind? Assessment of
Universal Health Care in Mozambique under the lens of sexual and reproductive
rights.- Part IV. Tensions Between Culture, Constitutionalism and Queer
Rights.-
2. The Nexus between Queering African Law and African traditional
legal systems.-
3. The promise and limits of African constitutionalism in
protecting LGBTQIA+ rights in Africa.- Part V. Colonialism, Civil Society and
LGBTQIA+ Rights Education Across Africa.-1. The recognition of NGOs
advocating for LGBTQ rights in the regional African Human Rights system.-
2.
From Queerphobia to Queering Laws in Uganda.-
3. Realisation of the Right to
Education for LGBTQIA+ Students in South African Universities: Are we There
yet?.-
4. The queering opportunity of postcolonial law classrooms in
decolonising public imagination.
Adam D. Dubin is Assistant Professor of Law at Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Spain, where he teaches subjects related to human rights, SOGI comparative law, development and Sub Saharan Africa.
Frida Lyonga is a doctoral candidate in the department of Sociology/African Studies at the Graduate School of Social Sciences, University of Basel, Switzerland. Her publications and research focus on homosexual rights and attitudes towards homosexuality among Africans.
Rui Garrido is Assistant Professor at Universidade Portucalense, Portugal, in the Law Department, where he teaches International Relations, Human Rights, Development Studies and International law.
