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Heterosexism is the institutionalization of a heterosexual norm which establishes the idea that all people are or should be heterosexual, thereby privileging heterosexuals and heterosexuality, and excluding the needs, concerns, cultures, histories, and life experiences of non-heteronormative people.
In our last episodes we have discussed the colonial import of homophobia. Or in other words how heterosexuality became institutionalized by specifically the British in its former colonies in West Africa.
In this episode, we want to explore heterosexism in West Africa.
Sometimes, there is a certain romanticizing of the historical status or even the very history of queerness. Indeed queerness existed and continues to exist, but historically what conditions did different communities of non-normative people live in? How much social, political, and economic power did they wield?
Host: Afua Brantuo
Script Researchers and Editors: awo dufie föfie & Kim Davou
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Music: Wo Fie feat. Wanlov the Kubolor &Sister Deborah by Angel Maxine
Further Reading
Msibi, Thabo. “The Lies We Have Been Told: On (Homo) Sexuality in Africa.” Africa Today, vol. 58, no. 1, 2011, pp. 55–77. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2979/africatoday.58.1.55. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
https://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/safrica/safriglhrc0303-02.htm
Unmasking the Colonial Silence: Sexuality in Africa in the Post Colonial Context, Journal of Theology for Southern Africa by Rev. Kapya Kaoma, Th.D.
John c. Caldwell, Pat Caldwell and Pat Quiggin, “The Social Context of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa”, Population and Development Review 15, no. 2 (June 1989), 185-234:224
Alfred o. Ukaegbu, “The Role of Traditional Marriage Habits in Population Growth: The Case of Rural Eastern Nigeria”, Journal of African International Institute 46, no. 4 (1976), 390-398:393.
Dominique Zahan, The Religion, Spirituality, and Thought of Traditional Africa, Ezra Martin and Lawrence M. Martin (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1970), 10.
Bénézet Bujo, African Theology in Its Social Context (Maryknoll, NY: Obis Book, 1992).
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit documentingqueerness.substack.com
