Fighting homophobia in Namibia

The Washington Post ran an interesting article on modest attempts to chip away at homophobia in Namibia.

Anti-gay sentiment is prevalent throughout most of Africa. Being gay is also illegal in most of them, so taboo that a conviction for homosexual acts may bring more jail time than rape or murder. Only in South Africa is being gay widely accepted and protected by law, the paper notes.

From Uganda, where homosexuality is punishable by life imprisonment, to Sierra Leone, where a lesbian activist was raped and stabbed to death at her desk last year, homophobia has long trapped gays in a dangerous, closeted life.

Particularly in the southwestern African country which was until earlier this year run by Sam Nujoma. Nujoma, much like his demagogue-in-arms Robert Mugabe, was overtly hostile to gays to the point of urging regional leaders to identify gays and lesbians in their communities so that they can be arrested.

"Traditional leaders, Governors see to it that there are no criminals, gays and lesbians in your villages and regions," he said back in 2001, according to The Namibian newspaper.

But strides are being made against this bigory, notes The Post.

The continent's gay population, which is mostly youthful and active in cities, has also benefited from Africa's rapid urbanization.

The leader of Namibia's Rainbow Project, which pushes openness toward gays, rubbishes the idea that homosexuality was imported to Africa from Europe. He notes that many ethnic groups have long had a word for gay, even before contact with whites, which demonstrates that the phenomenon pre-existed European colonialism.

But ultimately, the Rainbow Project's first task is to simply start the discussion. And with the retirement of Nujoma and installation of a new president who will try to pursue his goals for a while, perhaps gays will cease being a scapegoat in Namibia.