10 Cases of Homosexuality in Pre-colonial Africa

African history is replete with examples of both erotic and non-erotic same-sex relationships. Same-sex relationships in Africa were far more complex than what the champions of the “un-African” myth would have us believe. Apart from erotic same-sex desire, in precolonial Africa, several other activities were involved in same-sex (or what the colonialists branded “unnatural”) sexuality. It is ironic that an African dictator wearing a three-piece suit, caressing an iPhone, speaking in English and liberally quoting the Bible can dare indict anything for being un-African.

1. Angola/Namibia  

In many African societies, same-sex sexuality was also believed to be a source of magical powers to guarantee bountiful crop yields and abundant hunting, good health and to ward off evil spirits. In Angola and Namibia, for instance, a caste of male diviners — known as “zvibanda,” “chibados,” “quimbanda,” gangas” and “kibambaa” — were believed to carry powerful female spirits that they would pass on to fellow men through anal sex.

2. Congo/Angola

 The Portuguese were among the first Europeans to explore the continent. They noted the range of gender relations in African societies and referred to the "unnatural damnation" of male-to-male sex in Congo. Andrew Battell, an English traveler in the 1590s, wrote this of the Imbangala of Angola: "They are beastly in their living, for they have men in women's apparel, whom they keep among their wives."

3.  The Amhara of Ethiopia

Among the Amhara peasants, male transvestites, who they viewed as god’s mistakes have been reported. Among the Maale of southern Ethiopia, a small minority of men crossed over to feminine roles. Called ashtime, these biological males dressed like women, performed female tasks, cared for their own houses and apparently had sexual relations with men.

4.  The Siwa of Egypt

Homosexuality is also recorded among the Siwa of Egypt. Siwa had historical accepted male homosexuality and even had rituals of same-sex marriage—traditions that Egyptian authorities have sought to repress, with increasing success, since the early twentieth century.

The German egyptologist Georg Steindorff explored the Siwan Oasis in 1900 and reported that homosexual relations were common and often extended to a form of marriage: "The feast of marrying a boy was celebrated with great pomp, and the money paid for a boy sometimes amounted to fifteen pounds, while the money paid for a woman was a little over one pound."  In 1937 the anthropologist Walter Cline wrote the first detailed ethnography of the Siwans in which he noted: ""All normal Siwan men and boys practice sodomy...among themselves the natives are not ashamed of this; they talk about it as openly as they talk about love of women, and many if not most of their fights arise from homosexual competition....Prominent men lend their sons to each other. All Siwans know the matings which have taken place among their sheiks and their sheiks' sons....Most of the boys used in sodomy are between twelve and eighteen years of age."

5. The Ancient Egyptians

How far back can homosexuality be traced in Africa? You cannot argue with rock paintings. Thousands of years ago, the ancient Egyptians depicted anal homosexuality. The truth is that, like everywhere else, African people have expressed a wide range of sexualities.

6.  The Mossi of Burkina Faso

Among the Mossi in what is now Burkina Faso, pages chosen from among the most beautiful boys aged seven to fifteen, were dressed and had the other attributes of women in relation to chiefs, for whom sexual intercourse with women was denied on Fridays.

7. The Nubians of Sudan

 
In Sudan among the Moro, Tira and the Nubian Nyima, there was gender differentiated homosexuality. Non-masculine males could marry men, and such marriages required a bride price of one goat. The generally young husband could also have female wives. The marriage however rarely lasted long.

8.  King Mwanga of Uganda

In Uganda, age-structured and gender-based homosexuality also existed in various royal courts. According to John Faupel, the Ugandan king Mwanga’s persecution of Christian pages in 1886 was largely motivated by their rejection of sexual advances. He found it increasingly difficult to staff his harem of pages and supposedly was especially enraged when Mwafu, his favorite, refused any longer to submit to anal penetration.

9. The Ashanti of West Africa 

The Ashanti of West Africa, who reside in present day Ivory Coast had male slaves who they used as concubines, treating them like female lovers. Male concubines wore pearl necklaces with gold pendants. When their masters died, they were also killed. At the time, men who dressed as women and engaged in homosexual relations with other men were not stigmatized, but accepted. The status of women was however particularly high before arrival of the missionaries.

10. The Khoikhoi of Southern Africa  

As early as 1719, there are recorded cases of Khoikhoi males called koetsire, who engaged in receptive sex with other males. The usual homosexual practice for both men and women was mutual masturbation. Anal intercourse and the use of an artificial penis between women also occurred, but more rarely. Among the Herero, it was noted that special friendships included anal sex, as well as mutual masturbation.