Black lesbian identities in South Africa : confronting a history of denial
Date
2018-07
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice, University of the Western Cape
Abstract
Much of the existing literature on South African black lesbian identities has
focussed on the prejudice and victimisation that they endure as subjects of
homophobia in the form of hate speech and hate crimes, most notably brutal
murders and corrective rape. However, not much has been written about the
creative ways that black lesbians are fighting against these injustices that are
built upon the historical erasure and denial of their very existence in Africa. By
outlining three ‘denials’ of African female same-sex intimacy namely: the imperial
denial and subsequent apartheid policing of same-sex intimacy, the denial of
female same-sex intimacy through proclaiming it as un-African, and the
conceptual denial through the lens of Euro-American feminist lesbian discourse;
this article aims to show how black lesbians in South Africa are finding ways to
confront these denials. In particular, some aspects of lives and work of selfidentified lesbian activist photographer Zanele Muholi and lesbian sangoma
Nkunzi Zandile Nkabinde will be analysed. Muholi and Nkabinde work hard to
locate themselves within the public sphere, and engage in projects that aim to
educate and build black lesbian communities, in an effort to encourage open
dialogue of what it means to be an African lesbian. It can be argued that the
voices of South African black lesbians are not only becoming more audible but
also more nuanced, where imported notions of sexual identity are being
questioned and adapted to their lived realities. Ultimately, this article aims to
show how Muholi and Nkabinde provide examples of how reimaginings and
negotiations of lesbian identities in (South) Africa are at once complex and
essential, and this echoes Msibi’s (2014) call for “greater voices from Africa in
theorising sexuality – a terrain long ignored in African scholarship.”
Description
CITATION: Carlse, J. E. 2018. Black lesbian identities in South Africa : confronting a history of denial. Journal of Gender and Religion in Africa, 24(1):16-32, doi:10.14426/ajgr.v24i1.39.
The original publication is available at https://ajgr.uwc.ac.za
The original publication is available at https://ajgr.uwc.ac.za
Keywords
Gender identity, Blacks -- Sexual behavior, Lesbians -- South Africa
Citation
Carlse, J. E. 2018. Black lesbian identities in South Africa : confronting a history of denial. Journal of Gender and Religion in Africa, 24(1):16-32, doi:10.14426/ajgr.v24i1.39.