David Krebs

David Krebs
The Human Rights Advocacy Centre
Accra, Ghana

Aside from my work with the Human Rights Advocacy Centre, my goal for the summer was to build a social network comprised of men who have sex with men (MSM), sexual minorities, as well as leaders and experts in the field of sexual minority rights.

The challenge was determining how to build a network of MSM in a country where gay men and sexual minorities are highly stigmatized and one’s status as “gay” can make one the object of extortion, blackmail, and violence.

One method for meeting individuals was using social networks. I have several friends in Uganda who, in light of the defunct (currently) anti-homosexuality bill, saw an upsurge in usage of gay dating sites, mainly Grindr, Manjam, Gaydar, and Gay Romeo. The problem with using such apps or websites as a networking tool is that men who are active on these sites are looking for hookups and occasionally transactional sex.

A second problem with using gay dating sites is the presence of “fake-gays.” These profiles are set up with the intent of meeting MSMs to extort them for money or inflict violence, knowing that the victims, with their status as sexual minorities, are unlikely to report abuse to the police, who pose a separate threat altogether.

Facebook proved to be a safer option, since individuals could create digital safe spaces to host discussions, post photos, and flirt. Several individuals I met discussed having an “alter-ego” profile. While a primary profile maintains appearances for family, coworkers, and straight friends, this secondary subversive profile often has anonymous profile photos and gives one the freedom to openly discuss sexual desires and intimacies. I found this to be an apt analogy to the term coined by Du Bois–“double consciousness”–referencing the multifaceted conception of self. MSM in Ghana are constantly trying to reconcile the multiple cultures that comprise their identity.

Though using Facebook to meet and contact MSM proved to be a useful tool, it did not efface concerns about why I, a white outsider, would want to meet up with other MSM. This led to a fundamental problem when it came to discussing sexual taboos, as acknowledged by Richard Parker:

“There is perhaps no area of social research that poses greater challenges than the study of intimacy and intimate experiences…[T]opics such as gender identity, sexual desire and practices, emotions and affaires of the heart…[have been some of] the least developed areas of investigation in nearly all the social sciences over the course of the twentieth and early twenty-first century.”

David Krebs
Accra, Ghana
The Human Rights Advocacy Center

It’s always been a struggle for me to write about my experiences working, living, and traveling abroad. When it comes to writing about expectations, culture, cultural differences, etc., it is incredibly easy to venture into verbally dangerous waters, and this seems to be especially true when writing about experiences in “Africa.”

News coverage and social media surrounding this year’s World Cup offered some poignant examples of the pitfalls that seem mandatory when it comes to outsiders’ understanding of “Africa.” Delta airlines was hit especially hard when it tweeted the paired images of the Statue of Liberty against a giraffe (USA v. Ghana), apparently unaware that giraffes, in fact, don’t exist in Ghana (please read Africa is a Country). One may be surprised that Delta would make such an error considering it is the ONLY airline that offers direct flights between the US and Ghana.

Our understanding of what an African city or country should look like is often far from the realities on the ground. Ghana is interesting in this respect because it doesn’t fit very well into the singular narrative of what an African country looks like (reminder: there are no giraffes).

I am fortunate to have a basic understanding of what a major African city might look like. My experience working in East Africa offered me the opportunity to spend time in large metropolitan centers such as Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, Kampala, and Kigali, which gave me an idea of what life in Accra could be like. Despite the geographic shift from the east to the west side of the continent, I believe my time in East Africa prepared me well.

I chose to spend my summer in Accra because Ghana seems to be a bit of a paradox in regards to sexual rights and LGBT rights on the continent (my area of focus). A recent Pew survey which asked, “Should homosexuality be accepted in society?” placed Ghana between Uganda and Nigeria as the least accepting of homosexuality, with 96% of respondents saying “no.” This is of interest to me because unlike Uganda and Nigeria, Ghana has remained largely out of the international spotlight in regards to LGBT rights.

Part of my work with sexual minorities in Ghana looks at the role international activism plays in the movement, which is why I was especially happy to attend the first official Gay Pride event in Ghana, hosted at the US Embassy in late June. The event focused more on “knowing your rights” and “how to stay safe” as opposed to celebrating identity or identification.

One of the main arguments against LGBT rights in Ghana (and other African states) is that it is a Western imposition and “un-African.” With this in mind, the fact that the country’s first Pride event was hosted by and on the grounds of the US embassy doesn’t do much to refute the argument of homosexuality as un-African.

It was widely reported that the British government threatened to cut aid to Ghana and governments of “countries that persecute homosexuals” unless they stopped punishing sexual minorities. While the intent may well be to uphold the rights of sexual minorities on the continent, cutting aid disregards LGBTI and broader social justice movements on the continent.

Donor sanctions may in fact be one way of seeking to improve the human rights situation in a country but does not necessarily result in the improved protection of the rights of sexual minorities. Donor sanctions are by nature coercive and reinforce the disproportionate power dynamics between donor countries and recipients. Further, sanctions sustain the divide between sexual minorities and the broader civil society movement. In the context of general human rights violations (gender-based violence, access to health, food security, etc.), singling out LGBTI issues emphasizes the idea that sexual minority rights are special rights and hierarchically more important than other rights.