The Origins of Senegalese Homophobia: Discourses on Homosexuals and Transgender People in Colonial and Postcolonial Senegal

Abstract:This article traces the history of homosexual and transgender behavior in Senegal from colonial times to the contemporary period in order to demonstrate the flimsiness of the claims, made by many political and religious leaders and scholars, that homosexuality is "un-African." Such claims, which appear as reactions to neocolonialism and Western intervention in African affairs, usually are homophobic discourses that invoke patriotism, cultural difference, and morality in order to justify the subjugation of homosexual and gender nonconforming individuals (goor-jiggens) living in Senegal. In an attempt to understand the roots of Senegalese homophobia, the article analyzes several depictions of homosexuals and transgender people in contemporary Senegal and traces them to similar representations in European writings of the colonial period. As this approach reveals, homosexuals and transgender people in Senegal, from colonial times to the present, have been constructed as scapegoats, first of the French mission civilisatrice (civilizing mission) and then of Senegalese political and Islamic backlashes. Although they have always cohabited with the rest of the society, homosexuals and transgender people in Senegal have been treated largely as strangers in their own land. By analyzing the discourses of both French colonials and Senegalese, one finds a persistent binary opposing the West and Africa and denigrating sexual and gender variances and subcultures in Senegal as pathological European imports.Resume: Cet article retrace l'evolution historique des comportements homosexuels et transsexuels au Senegal depuis les temps coloniaux jusqu'a aujourd'hui dans le but de demontrer la faiblesse des revendications faites par de nombreux leaders et intellectuels que "l'homosexualite n'est pas africaine." De telles declarations, apparemment des reactions contre le neocolonialisme et l'intervention des pays occidentaux dans les affaires africaines, sont pour la plupart des discours homophobes qui font appel au patriotisme, aux differences culturelles, et a des valeurs morales bien-pensantes pour justifier l'assujettissement des homosexuels et ceux ne se conformant pas aux normes sexuelles actuelles (goor-jiggens) au Senegal. Dans un effort de comprendre les racines de l'homophobie presente au Senegal, cet article analyse plusieurs representations d'homosexuels et de transsexuels dans le Senegal d'aujourd'hui et les relie a des representations similaires dans la litterature europeenne pendant l'epoque coloniale. Cette approche montre que les homosexuels et transsexuels au Senegal ont ete, depuis les temps coloniaux, construits comme des boucs emissaires, tout d'abord de la "mission civilisatrice" francaise et ensuite des protestations contre les islamistes et le gouvernement senegalais. Bien qu'ils aient toujours cohabite avec le reste de la societe, les homosexuels et transsexuels ont ete traites largement comme des etrangers dans leur propre pays. En analysant les discours des colons francais et des Senegalais, on trouve une polarisation opposant l'occident a l'Afrique et caracterisant negativement les variances de genre et de sexualite ainsi que les cultures marginales au Senegal comme des phenomenes importes d'Europe.Key Words: homosexuality; homophobia; transgender; Senegal; colonial; postcolonialIntroductionSince 2008, homosexuals and gender nonconforming people in Senegal have been the subjects of frequent vituperative attacks from Senegalese news personalities, political leaders, and Muslim religious figures who attribute their identities to the influence of dysfunctional Western practices and portray homosexuality as a nonindigenous and unnatural foreign import (see Afrol News 2013; Migraine-George 2003:45^6). Although this trend is part of the growing homophobia in many parts of Africa, its discourses are traceable to the late nineteenth century and colonial times, when many Europeans denounced African cultures in order to justify their "civilizing mission" (mission civilisatrice) on the continent. …