MALAIKA MAHLATSI | Belief homosexuality is unAfrican and reflects Western values is wrong

The EFF will be hosting a public lecture at the University of Cape Town next month, in which Kenyan lawyer and pan-Africanist activist, P.L.O (Patrick Loch Otieno) Lumumba, will be delivering the keynote address.

The invitation of Lumumba has been problematised by a number of people, who contend that his homophobic views do not reflect the progressive ideas of the EFF. Lumumba recently wrote a statement in which he applauded Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni, and the country’s parliament, for passing an anti-homosexuality law that cements the country’s hardline homophobic posture.

Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, but the new law goes even further, decreeing a 20-year sentence for “promoting” homosexuality and the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”. Lumumba, celebrating this bill, wrote that Uganda had done “the right thing” by “defying Western countries”. He contends that Africans must “define ourselves”.

The insinuation of Lumumba’s statement is that homosexuality is unAfrican and reflecting of Western values – an intellectually lazy argument that has no basis in historical fact. In fact, anti-gay laws in the 34 African countries where homosexuality is illegal and criminalised are rooted in England’s King Henry VIII’s prohibition of “unnatural sexual offences” espoused by the Anti-Buggery Act of 1533. Many countries that were colonised by Britain adopted these as part of their penal codes.

Defending the party’s decision to invite Lumumba, EFF president Julius Malema argued that differing views should be given a platform and not be censored. This is a debate that many organisations and institutions of higher learning have been engaged in. Just a few weeks ago, Oxford University in the United Kingdom found itself dealing with a serious case of de-platforming when students tried to cancel the appearance of professor Kathleen Stock, a leading feminist who argues that trans women are not women.

This sentiment is held by a number of feminists, including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who famously argued that “trans women are trans women”, implying that they are not “real” women. Just weeks after she made these statements, she was invited by then vice-chancellor of UCT, prof Mamokgethi Phakeng, to give a public lecture – a move that was challenged by the Student Representative Council, which called on Chimamanda to be de-platformed. I wrote a column here, disagreeing with the students.

I understand the concerns of those who want Lumumba de-platformed for his homophobic sentiments. In a heteronormative patriarchal society, the LGBTIQ+ community is already rendered vulnerable by structural constructs that facilitates its discrimination. But while giving a platform to a homophobic person does a great degree of harm, even greater harm is done by having homophobic views left unchallenged.

Lumumba must be allowed to speak so that he may be challenged publicly. The fact of the matter is that many Africans, and certainly many South Africans, share Lumumba’s sentiments. That our recognising same-sex relations doesn’t erode the fact that homophobic is rife within our communities, and members of the LGBTIQ+ community continue to endure unimaginable violence and persecution.

Changing people’s attitudes to homophobia demands dialogue – and it is bound to be deeply uncomfortable and even offensive. But it must be because the colonial construct of homophobia is embedded and we are all socialised into it. Homophobia is taught and is facilitated by structures that are designed by people.

For this reason, it can and must be untaught. It may be psychologically haemorrhaging, especially for the LGBTIQ+ community, to perform the emotional and intellectual labour of educating people about homosexuality. This is made worse by the fact that this conversation is happening during Pride Month. But this is important work. It is important for the future of our country that the views of people like P.L.O and Chimamanda are discredited.

The alternative is unthinkable.