Using Social Media to Advocate LGBT Rights in Black Africa: A Study of Nigerian and Cameroonian Gay Bloggers and “Facebookers”

Introduction

Apart from South Africa, virtually all Black African countries have adopted draconian legislations which severely criminalise homosexuality and systematically discourage any form of sympathy for the LGBT people. Being mainly inspired by doctrinaire religions and other conservative/fundamentalist social arbiters, these legislations have not only instituted a homophobic atmosphere at all spheres of most African societies, but have equally attempted to literally stultify any form of advocacy for LGBT rights in these Black African nations. The homophobic legislations and atmosphere have engendered a situation where in pro-gay and human rights activists face constant death threats, intimidation, humiliation and physical elimination by anti-gay thugs and conservative arbiters. In countries like Nigeria, Mauritania, Senegal, Uganda and Cameroon (just to name a few), legal dispositions have even been taken to systematically neutralise media advocacy in favour of the LGBT rights movement (Egbert, 2013; Endong, 2015a; Karaim, 2011; Pen American Centre, 2015). Media regulatory organs have thus, in their codes, prescribed heavy penalties to be meted on “rebellious” media outlets that will dare celebrate and push a concept which, according to popular imaginations is just a symbol of Western cultural corruption, a vector of “westoxification”, thus a socio-cultural pathology. In its chapter 3 devoted to program standards, the Nigerian Broadcasting Code (2010) for instance, provides a set of principles to clarify media professionals on morality and decency. It states that “sex-related acts such as adultery, prostitution, rape, bestiality, homosexuality, lesbianism, incest, etc, which are considered bad, shall not be presented, except as destructive practices to be avoided or denounced” (Article 3.7.5.). In many other African countries, such homophobic media codes guide all media operations, particularly in government owned media outlets (Endong & Vareba, 2015; Karaim, 2011).

It goes without saying that the (anti-gay) legislations and media codes adopted by most African countries actually violate a multitude of civil rights. They breed a climate of socio-political intimidation and fear which is immensely un-friendly to media advocacy and activism for LGBT rights. These legislations and media codes equally threaten self-expression by LGBT people and their allies; and systematically hinder the expression of support for LGBT human rights. Furthermore, the anti-LGBT legislations indirectly affect African peoples’ literary, artistic, and cultural communities as they put LGBT and pro-gay writers and artists at risk of criminal prosecution and violent physical attacks, as well as limit their ability to publish and distribute their works in the homophobic African countries. Additionally, the anti-gay legislations directly threaten freedom of expression thereby eroding the strength of African democracies.

In view of all these indexes, the act by an African, of publicly supporting the LGBT right movement has, in most Black African countries, been a matter of being a courageous, off rooted and pertinacious advocate/activist. Meanwhile, putting up a stiff, rigid and uncompromising demonization of the LGBT people and wanton stigmatisation, blackmailing, seclusion and lynching of gays have been the rule, if not a range of patriotic prerogatives for all. As most political leaders and Africanist ideologues quasi unanimously echoed, homosexuality is purely “un-African”, thus a bane to the authentic African social system.