Overview

This unique book documents same sexuality in East and southern Africa. Eight of the chapters have been co-authored by women activists spanning six different countries. They have collected personal narratives on a range of issues related to sex and secrecy. This is an incredibly difficult area to research as many African leaders declare it taboo on the basis that these practices are alien to African culture and an import from the depraved west. The book demonstrates that there are silenced, traditional, institutionalised ways in which African women contracted same-sex relations. Second, it proclaims the right of African women engaged in same-sex practices or relations to their identities as Africans, as several interviewees� state: we, lesbian women, are born here in Africa, we belong here. Who can say we are un-African? Third it gives a vivid portrait of the lives of African women engaged in same-sex relations and practices, portraying the joys of having found love as well as the pains of betrayal and the hatred encountered in their communities, as well as the many shades of emotions in between. This book eloquently testifies that although silence isolates and protects these women, some are beginning to speak out.

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9781770090934

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Ruth Morgan is an anthropologist from Johannesburg, South Africa. She has been the director of the Gay and Lesbian Archives since 2002. Saskia Wieringa is currently affiliated to the University of Amsterdam and is the president of the International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and Society.

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