Homophobia Against LGBTQ+ People in Sub-Saharan Africa

In the Sub-Saharan African countries we studied, homophobia against LGBTQ+ persons is a core lived experience. This post recalls two voices from the fieldwork that illustrate this.

Julkaistu

8.8.2025

The stories listened and compiled by Vincent Jumbe | Image by Joanna Kędra

Story #1

Homophobic attacks are common, especially among those who self-identify as transgender women. In one of these countries, an informant told us: “There is a guy in my community who people know is gay. The way they walk, dress, and apply make-up is like a woman and makes them vulnerable. They have been attacked several times. At some point, they were attacked at night, around 7 pm. They were beaten. As the aggressors were beating them, they shouted: “You are a gay!” They wounded them. But they did not steal anything from them.”

Those at the receiving end of these homophobic acts are afraid to report to the police or the chiefs for redress. The story by an informant from another country illustrates this fear: “My boyfriend, a trans man, was attacked by a police officer. They were cycling and were stopped by a police officer. They did not stop. The police officer forcefully pulled the bike to stop. He pulled their shirt, beat them while shouting that they were a lesbian. Why didn’t they stop? “I am going to beat you to the point that I will take the ‘lesbian’ out of you!”, the police officer shouted. The police officer stripped them of their sports bra. Some onlookers started recording the incident on their smartphones. That’s when the police officer stopped the harassment. So, how can one report gender-based violence to the police? Are they there to protect us?”

Story #2

In one Sub-Saharan country, an International Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO) was running an HIV program targeting the LGBTQ+ community. Before rolling out the program, they went to health centers to introduce the program. However, health workers rejected the program, as observed by the program manager: “When we went to the health centers to introduce the project, the health workers rejected the project. They said they had heard what happened in another town, and they did not want to put their lives in danger. But after further engagement, they accepted the program”.

What happened in another town was that a self-identified transgender woman was booed and chased by members of the community as they were walking to the venue where we were training peer educators to work on the program. They were helped by some people and whisked into the compound where the training was being conducted. The community was against their dressing. They had put on a small, short tank top and bangles.

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