in Activism, Homosexuality

Homosexuality in pre-colonial Kenya

Today’s post is quite an interesting one. It brought upon due to the recent anti-homosexual debate going on in neighbouring Uganda. Well not exactly because I really couldn’t care what laws they enact across the border but the enraging debate online did reach my attention due to Joliea who I follow on twitter.

Now what some, well actually most, people are saying online is that homosexuality is a completely un-African concept being imported from abroad to corrupt our “traditional” African values. However on one particular comment caught my attention in all the clutter of hate and intolerance on a pro-homosexuality article on a Ugandan blog. It went somehow like this, from memory: It shocks me how intolerant Ugandan’s are of people of different diverse backgrounds. This argument that homosexuality is a foreign import trying to corrupt our African’s values is an extremely ludicrous and unfound accusation. It shows just how brainwashed we African’s really are. That some are calling homosexuality a form of neocolonialism is stupid. Africa has always had homosexuals in it history. The fact is that this homophobia is actually part of our neocolonialism that stems from the imported religions that the colonisers brought with them. Of course it was more eloquently put than this (it caught my attention after all) but I hope you get the gist of what was being said.

So that particularly comment got me thinking, could that be true? Could homosexuality have existed before colonialism? Simply forgotten, and later condemned, because of colonialism? After all the writer seemed extremely knowledgeable and intelligent. So first I took to twitter and asked, quite incredulously I might add, if it could be really true that we had homosexuals in Africa before colonialism. Joliea replied that we did and I asked for examples she said the Kikuyu and the Baganda.

I won’t lie. I was amused at first and wanted to make a big joke about it on FB but thought better of it because it might be taken for tribalism. So I let it go and pushed it to the back of my head. But when I met my mum I asked her if she knew of homosexuality in the Kikuyu and she said,” Yeah, but its not what you think. Barren women could marry a wife so she could have kids that would grow up as hers”

After this I couldn’t really ignore it anymore so I did some research and googled. There was a lot of stuff but nothing very particular and until I stumbled upon a blog post by the Candid Tinman here that linked to this document by Stephen O. Murray called Homosexuality in “Traditional” Sub-Saharan Africa and Contemporary South Africa. In which he looked for any mentions of homosexuality and hermaphrodites in pre-colonial Africa. You can download and read the whole thing here but for this post I’ll concentrate on Kenya.

Kenya is mentioned about four times in the document and here they are:
1. Cross-gender homosexuality not tied to possession cults has been reported in a
number of East African societies. Needham (1973:109-27) described a religious leadership role called mugawe among the Meru of Kenya which includes wearing women’s clothes and hairstyle. Mugawe are frequently homosexual, and sometimes are married to a man. Bryk (1939[1928]:151, 1964:228) reported active (i.e., insertive) Kikuyu pederasts called onek. and also mentioned “homoerotic bachelors” among the pastoralist Nandi(Bryk (1933:152) also mentions a Nandi boy whose affair with a white farmer continued even after the Nandi married, so that he “shared his bed between wife and master.”) and Maragoli (Wanga)
2.Among Swahili-speakers on the Kenya coast, Shepherd (1978a: 133) reported, “In Mombasa, both male and female homosexuality is relatively common among Muslims; involving perhaps one in twenty-five adults.” Shepherd (1987: 240) with no data nor discussion of the basis for either the earlier estimate or its revision, raised the estimated rate to one in ten. In the first report emphasized, male homosexuality was confined to prostitution: Mombasa’s mashoga are passive male homosexuals offering their persons for money. They advertise themselves in bright tight male attire in public places, usually, but may, when mingling with women at weddings, don women’s leso cloths, make-up and jasmine posies. Mashoga have all the liberties of men and are also welcome in many20 contexts otherwise exclusive to women. (Shepherd 1978a: 133; emphasis added). Shepherd (1978b: 644) asserted that “though there are long-lasting relationships between homosexuals in Mombasa, most homosexual acts are fleeting, paid for in cash.” In a more recent analysis, Shepherd (1987:250) explained The Swahili [word] for a male homosexual is shoga, a word also used between women to mean ‘friend’. Homosexual relations in Mombasa are almost without exception between a younger, poorer partner and an older, richer one, whether their connection is for a brief act of prostitution or a more lengthy relationship. In the former case, there are fixed rates of payment, and in the latter, presents and perhaps full financial support for a while. But financial considerations are always involved and it is generally only the person who is paid who is called shoga. The older partner may have been a shoga himself in his youth, but is very likely to be successfully married to a woman as well as maintaining an interest in boys. Only if he is not married and has an apparently exclusive interest in homosexual contacts will he perhaps still be referred to as a shoga. The paid partner usually takes the passive role during intercourse, but I think it is true to say that his inferiority derives from the fact that he is paid to provide what is asked for, rather than for the [sexual] role he adopts…. The paying partner is usually known as the basha — the Pasha, the local term for the king in packs of playing cards.
3.Godfrey Wilson (1957:1) earlier reported that in Lamu, a Swahili town north of Mombasa, boys dressed as women, performed a striptease and then paired off with older men from the audience
4.Laurance (1957: 107) asserted that among the Iteso, people of hermaphroditic instincts are very numerous…. The men are imporent and have the insticts of women and become women to all intents and purposes; their voices are feminine and their manner of walking and of speech is feminine. They shave their heads like a woman and wear women’s ornaments and clothing. They do women’s work and take women’s names,” adding that “I myself know of no cases in which they live with men as a ‘wife,’” but noting that in Serere prison one was kept with the women because “the male prisoners would assault him were he imporisoned in the men’s cell.”
5.In arguing against a third sex or gender conception in Oman or Mombasa, Shepherd (1978a: 133) wrote, “Lesbians [in Mombasa] are known as wasaga (grinders)…. The dominant partner… is not seen as a man.” She had earlier claimed, on the basis of an unmentioned sample of wasagas (Shepherd 1978a:134), that “there is almost always a dominant and subordinate economic relationship between them.” Shepherd (1987:254) elaborated, The word in Swahili glossed as ‘lesbian’ is msagaji (plural wasagaji) – ‘a grinder.’ The verb kusaga (to grind) is commonly used for the grinding of grain between two millstones. . . The upper and lower millstones are known as mwana and mama respectively: child and mother.

So from all this you can tell that right here in Kenya has always existed. It was accepted, at times looked at as stupid, pointless(because there could be no children) and it was even laughed at but rarely was it frowned upon and it was certainly not prosecuted.

I’m not an activist. I was just curious, did some research and came up with this. I like to believe that I’m an open person and this find has definitely opened my mind further. I personally have never had a problem with homosexuals however, I can’t stomach man on man action so kindly don’t do that in front of me. It gives me migraines. I hope this will serve as something that opens peoples minds and make they more accepting of homosexuality because I have a feeling its here to stay. Remember what makes life so much fun is our diversity. Food for thought before I leave; a recent study suggests some people are born homosexual. As always peace!

24 Comments

  1. I could give you a long and unwinding answer to thank you, who had never thought of this debate, but I'd probably bore you.
    The rights for ALL human beings must be protected. If one looks at the declaration of human rights, one that Kenya and Uganda and almost every other country is a signatory to, says, it explicitly protects the life of every human being regardless. Period. There should be no grounds for any person to be discriminated against. Even that pedophile should be protected, to cite an example. And when I say that I dont mean that he should be allowed to continue hurting kids but I am saying he should not be killed or discriminated against on whatever grounds. Fine, we are different but we should be able to at the very least tolerate diversity in humanity. Besides, why on earth does it exist in the first place? Its not a perversion or a choice. And even if it is, why discriminate? What is the meaning of 'free will'? People should learn to "Live and Let Live".

    I rest my case.

    Barbra.

  2. good post…I think what changed was the Victorian and Puritanical values that came with colonialism. You notice those mostly against what comes naturally to some human beings i.e. attraction to people of the same gender have a strong 'religious' bent to their values and all those 'religions' were transplanted with the colonial experience. Too bad they do not get it.People need to live and let live.Good work on your research.

    Anon

  3. I've always wondered about homosexuality in colonial Kenya… Thanks for educating me, its really given me insight into the history of queer people in Kenya.

  4. @Joliea Thanks for your thoughts. I also believe that human rights should be enjoyed all poeple regardles.
    @Anon Thanks for the compliment. People need to realise that every single person is different and that's what makes us interesting.
    @cuppatea Thanks for reading and commenting. Always good to know someone out there is reading my blog.
    @Zeno you should read the rest of the document. Its just as fascinating

  5. You removed the bad comments this is gay promotion page

  6. No I didn't remove any comments! I even allow for anonymous commenting so people can speak their minds with out fear!! (Like you done) This is a very very young blog and so were its advertised(twitter) is among open-minded people! But thanks for the comment!

  7. THANK YOU FOR THE INSIGHT…I AGREE IT EXISTED IN OUR CULTURES WAY BEFORE THE COLONIALIST CAME…LET ME SPEAK OF THE KIKUYU FOR THAT IS THE CULTURE I UNDERSTAND, AS YOU SAID A BARREN WOMAN WOULD MARRY ANOTHER WOMAN SO AS TO GET CHILDREN OR A WEALTHY WOMAN WOULD MARRY A POOR WOMAN IN ORDER TO SUPPORT HER AND HER FAMILY..THERE WAS NOTHING SEXUAL ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP…OVER THE YEARS HOMOSEXUALITY HAS BECOME ACCEPTABLE IN THE SOCIETY BECAUSE WE HAVE TOLERATED IT!!! I DO NOT JUDGE AND REALLY DO NOT CARE ABOUT ONES SEXUAL ORIENTATION…OUR PASTOR ONCE TOLD US " HATE THE ACT BUT DO NOT HATE THE PEOPLE" AND THAT IS WHAT I CHOOSE TO LIVE BY…

  8. Avatica thanks for your comment and I totally agree with you. I believe in "Live and let live"

  9. You are one intelligent human being; much respect

  10. Wow, this is really interesting! But I guess it sorta makes sense – shows how homosexuality is not something 'new' or 'strange', it's part of someone and has always been there as long as man has existed…

    I really hate when people say something is un-African though! Like what does that even mean?? Of course Africa is changing. We don't say someone is un-African just cause they drive a car, do we? Ugh. So irritating.

  11. I know! Anyway people need to realise everything is African! We're the fucking CRADLE OF MANKIND! The beginning of everything and so we've probably been "sinning" before everyone else 🙂

  12. nice blog. I personally don't understand how people would be attracted to others of the same sex. but there are many things I don't understand..and probably never will. the Bible states the second greatest commandement as ''..love your neighbor as yourself''. Your blog is not about gay promotion, it's about accepting homosexuals as they are. and it shows that this is not a concept brought by the West..Africans should stop putting blame on the West for everything that's going on with us now. it doesn't matter what comes in, it's what we put out (but that's another story altogether) so yo, people, stop the hating.

    btw @cdohnio..what you said is hilarious and so true!

  13. the writer must be gay! am a kikuyu and there is no kikuyu name for homosexuals. your research is un founded and repent for such God will not tolerate.how do you climb on another man….God save us from such as you!

  14. Anon1- Thanks for commenting and yeah I thought it was quite funny.
    Anon2- I never said that Kikuyu's where gay, it was merely the background to how I came to write this. Just do your own research you'll find out.

  15. Anon1- Thanks for commenting and yeah I thought it was quite funny.
    Anon2- I never said that Kikuyu's where gay, it was merely the background to how I came to write this. Just do your own research you'll find out.

  16. He is half luo half luhya a quarter baganda 🤣🤣🤣
    And personally I think the whole world is against “us” (meaning black people)

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