The LGBTI Movement and Social Media in Africa

This online article, published on the Heinrich Boll Foundation website, looks at lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) rights in Africa and the role new social media is playing in increasing the visibility of activists from across the continent.

In the context of the "Anti-Homosexuality Bill" in Uganda, the article discusses at the responses by governments to the increased visibility of activists which range from intimidation, arrests, torture, a broadening of existing legislation to increasingly harsh penalties such as life imprisonment and even death. It also looks briefly at Western media around homophobia in Africa. The author argues that some claims by international media - i.e. "homophobia is sweeping Africa" or that homophobia is "a new form of hatred and intolerance sweeping across the black continent" - are alarmist, misinformed, and are in danger of racialising homophobia. The author also notes that Western media often ascribe Eurocentric identities and explanations of same sex desire that do not accurately represent the historic and contemporary expressions of such desire outside the global north.

The article looks at achievements the LGBTI movement has made, the most fundamental of which, according to the author, is the increased visibility of LGBTI people. One of the ways LGBTI people have increased their visibility is through the formation of national and Pan-African organisations working at the grassroots level. The author argues that one of the outcomes of the LGBTI rights movement is that they have, to a large extent, placed the issues of human rights on the political agenda in many African countries, and framed the discussion in the media.

The author discusses the use of social media as a campaign strategy by LGBTI groups, saying it is still in its infancy. Most organisations do have websites but the content is fairly minimal and limited to organisational information rather than campaign issues. Two exceptions are the dedicated news sites Gender Dynamix, which acts as a resource and news portal on transgender and transsexual issues, and Behind the Mask, which is a Pan-African LGBTI news and resource site.

According to the article, it is the social networking site Facebook which has become the primary space for campaigns, news and debate. The creation of "Pages", "Groups", "Petitions", and "Notes" is used extensively by activists in addition to the personal profiles of artists, writers, photographers, and filmmakers engaged in the African LGBTI movement. The level of activity is high and there has been a conscious effort to internationalise campaigns through the features of Facebook.

Other social media such as Twitter have hardly been used, and there are still only a few blogs such as Gay Uganda, African Activist, and Black Looks which discuss African LGBTI issues on a regular basis. However, the article states that one of the major challenges facing African LGBTI activists, who are relatively small in number, is how to manage online campaigns and information as well as focus on the extremely important work at national, governmental, and grassroots level.

The author concludes that the campaign for LGBTI rights in Africa needs to be framed within a global context of growing homophobia and transphobia, particularly from religious institutions and those on the political Right. There is a long struggle ahead - not just to decriminalise homosexuality, but also to sensitise communities into understanding same sex relationships as part of the spectrum of human sexuality. However, activists have actively engaged with national governments challenging the expansion of criminalisation legislation as well as the many instances of intimidation and arrest of LGBTI people. They have increased their visibility through the formation of grassroots campaign groups and the use of social media such as Facebook despite the personal risks to their safety.