Homosexuality and the Devil: Understanding Gay Rights in Zambia

Thu, Oct 31, 2013 13:11 CET

In February 2012 Ban-Ki Moon’s urgings that homosexuals’ rights should be recognised caused a media storm in Zambia and led to him being compared to the Devil.

When the United Nations Secretary General addressed Zambia’s National Assembly, his comments instigated a heated public debate about whether homosexuality could be tolerated in a Christian and African nation.

In Gay rights, the devil and the end times: public religion and the enchantment of the homosexuality debate in Zambia, Adriaan S. van Klinken seeks to overturn the Western lack of understanding about homophobia in Africa.

It is not uncommon for Western political leaders and organisations to be compared to the Antichrist or the Devil, especially when a spiritual battle between Western views of equality and African views of Christianity is involved. Van Klinken explores why such extreme political stances are taken when debating whether homosexuality should be recognised as an acceptable form of human sexuality.

This article is a fascinating insight into the political and religious significance of this discourse in a postcolonial African context.

* Read the full article online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0048721X.2013.765631

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media zambia africa human rights politics religion United Nations gay rights Christianity sexuality Homosexuality International Relations