Taking Up the Cudgels Against Gay Rights? Trends and Trajectories in African Christian Theologies on Homosexuality

Abstract

Against the background of the HIV epidemic and the intense public controversy on homosexuality in African societies, this article investigates the discourses of academic African Christian theologians on homosexuality. Distinguishing some major strands in African theology, that is, inculturation, liberation, women's and reconstruction theology, the article examines how the central concepts of culture, liberation, justice, and human rights function in these discourses. On the basis of a qualitative analysis of a large number of publications, the article shows that stances of African theologians are varying from silence and rejection to acceptance. Although many African theologians have taken up the cudgels against gay rights, some “dissident voices” break the taboo and develop more inclusive concepts of African identity and African Christianity.

Keywords:

• homosexuality
• Africa
• theology
• Christianity
• postcolonial identity politics

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the anonymous peer reviewers of this journal whose critical comments and helpful suggestions have helped to improve this article.

Notes

1. According to UNAIDS (2010), “[r]ecent studies show high levels of HIV infection among men who have sex with men. In Cape Town, South Africa, and Mombasa, Kenya, more than 40% of the adult population of men who have sex with men is living with HIV” (p. 3).

2. An exception is Constance Shisanya (2002), who suggests that women may be infected because their husbands are engaging in homosexual relationships.

3. Epprecht (2008) is aware of this, as he refers to Tutu and a few others as examples when he says: “Not all African religious leaders, for example, have aligned themselves with the homophobic extreme and, on the contrary, have taken big risks to denounce that extreme in unambiguous language” (p. 167). Yet, strange enough this is the only reference to Tutu in the whole book.

4. Shisanya's (2002) article is part of a volume that is published in the Theology of Reconstruction Series.