Being Gay and African: A Contradiction in Being?
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Date
2022
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Taylor & Francis Group
Abstract
Discussion of sexuality in African cultures has a long history, but since the 1990s
ethical reflections on homosexuality on the continent have often degenerated into furors
and provoked a spate of anti-gay legislation in several countries. Refutations of homophobic
dispositions encounter as barrier a pervasive belief in African cultures, that childbearing for
community replenishment is a cherished moral duty. Several philosophers consider these to
be exaggerated inhibitions that unjustifiably impede social acceptance of homosexuality,
and have proposed as a solution what they consider to be self-justifying political-moral
principles, that terminate in value-pluralistic ideas such as the acceptance of the equality of
sexual orientations and vindication of the right to the freedom to choose and satisfy sexual
desire. I question the adequacy of such self-justificatory normative principles and consider
the solutions they proffer as depreciating the moral point of the African pro-natalist
position. Consequently, I develop a moral argument grounded in the ontology of Kwame
Gyekye’s moderate communitarian theory of personhood as the most persuasive
justification for homosexuality.
Description
Research Article