There has been a lot of local and international media splurge about Anti-Gay laws in East Africa. Uganda is proposing a possible death penalty for engaging in gay activities, Burundi has already passed it into law while Rwanda is discussing it. Kenya and Tanzania are said to be contemplating the same.
Eastern African countries are suddenly gung ho against gays. It begs the questions: why now, where is the Anti-Gay breeze emanating from?
Africans are generally conservative but tolerant. Swahili sayings; ‘why chase a hen from feces that you don’t eat?’ and ‘ how can the pepper you didn’t eat burn you?’ embodies and informs that tolerance.
Gay and lesbian activities are not prevalent in East Africa to warrant a law to gag it. Not a single friend, acquaintance or neighbor has ever admitted or has been rumored to be gay or lesbian. I reckon the population is so low or the stigma is too high. I have heard clubs labeled ‘gay establishment’ but no one has proved it.
An advance from a gay when you are not one could be totally repugnant. I remember an experience in a crowded public bus in 2005. I picked a conversation with a male stranger only for him to start caressing my thighs. I felt confused and indignant. I simply pushed him away. That was that.
I haven’t read enough ‘gay literature’ to understand why people become gay. Hitherto, it was not such a serious social issue to warrant a research. It might be now.
A lot of questions remain un-answered:
At what stage do someone become gay, is it in-born or learned?
Can it be un-learned (the proponent of the Anti-Gay law in Uganda, Mr. David Bahati, claim it is learned and therefore can be unlearned) could this be a scientific claim? Is it curable like any other disease?
Do gays have zero attraction to beautiful gals?
Is there specialization as in one is particularly a Mr. Gay and another Mrs. Gay?
How is love making conducted? They do it in turn as in a see-saw or one is always on top?
Can a Mrs. Gay be attracted to a lesbian because, sexually speaking, they are both females.
How does a Mrs. Gay get horny? An itch in the ass?
What can happen in a lesbian-gay only party?
Ignorance of gay life is no justification to be homophobic.
Heard yesterday that Mexico City has legalized gay unions. South Africa legalized it a long time ago. I thought the trend is towards legalizing rather stymieing it. Anti-Gay laws are retrogressive and archaic. It is blind to time and insensitive to the dynamics of society.
Society is never static however how much we may wish.
There have been claims in the book The Family by Jeff Sharlet that the Anti-Gay legislations sweeping through East Africa are sponsored as a social experiment by a group of American Christians and conservative Lawmakers with close ties with politicians in East Africa. There is no sufficient evidence to support this claim but again the influence of the Greenback cannot be gainsaid. It sponsored multi-partysm in East Africa in the past decade.
I am not gay but I do not mind what my neighbor feeds on. During the crusade against FGM in Africa, I argued that the practice will die a natural death. Girl child education is almost eliminating it. Before, it used to mark the beginning of adulthood and hence a chance to be married. Now, girls go to school and when they get employed, that’s the time to get married. This is how societal values evolve over time. Gays will gain acceptance through the same process. No law can stop a society from evolving. It cannot even delay it.
The gay debate is a total waste of time. Just like trying to legislate against pre-marital sex. This law is uncalled for and unnecessary. Not even the excuse of morality can justify this. Proposing a death penalty for being gay is not only outrageous but inane.
Being gay is an effective form of family planning!
I wish all gays in East Africa, a Merry X-Mass and a happy romp!
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