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Some Reflections on Postcolonial Homophobia, Local Interventions, and LGBTI Solidarity Online: The Politics of Global Petitions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 August 2013

Henriette Gunkel
Henriette Gunkel*
Affiliation:
Henriette Gunkel is a research fellow at the Bayreuth Academy of Advanced African Studies at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. She is the author of The Cultural Politics of Female Sexuality in South Africa (Routledge, 2010), co-editor of a special issue of Darkmatter Journal (3) titled “Racism in the Closet—Interrogating Postcolonial Sexuality,” and co-editor of What Can a Body Do? Praktiken und Figurationen des Körpers in den Kulturwissenschaften (Campus, 2012) and Undutiful Daughters: New Directions in Feminist Thought and Practice (Palgrave MacMillan, 2012). E-mail: henriette.gunkel@uni-bayreuth.de
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Abstract:

In the last two decades we have witnessed an increase in online petitions and campaigns emerging from Europe and North America against homophobia in various African countries, creating a particular form of visibility with some remarkable global success. Based on these online petitions and postings as well as the responses of African activists, this article reflects on the politics of this global queer solidarity. By suggesting a restrategizing of antihomophobia politics, it contributes to the ongoing debate about LGBTI politics in a transnational and global framework, pointing to the challenges but also the possibilities for the future.

Résumé:

Dans les dernières décennies nous avons été témoins d’une augmentation sur internet de pétitions et de campagnes provenant d’Europe et d’Amérique du Nord contre l’homophobie dans plusieurs pays d’Afrique, créant une forme particulière de visibilité avec un succès mondial remarquable. En se basant sur ces pétitions et messages Internet ainsi que les réponses des activistes africains, cet article offre une réflexion sur ce mouvement gay international. En suggérant une réorientation des stratégies politiques anti-homophobes, il contribue aux débats présents concernant la politique LGBTI dans un contexte mondial et transnational, indiquant les difficultés mais aussi les possibilités pour son avenir.

Keywords

postcolonialhomophobiahomonormativityonline
Type
ASR FORUM: HOMOPHOBIC AFRICA?
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 56 , Issue 2 , September 2013 , pp. 67 - 81
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2013 

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