The Global Cause of Queer Liberation

At Queer Spirit Festival we are very pleased to be welcoming along members of two LGBTQI+ asylum seeker groups.

We are welcoming back members of Micro Rainbow, an LGBTQI+ asylum seeker and refugee group with many African and Caribbean members, who have been part of Queer Spirit since the first festival in 2016, and we are excited to announce that we will be joined for the first time by The Bangladeshi Cultural Program, a body positive, gender inclusive, unapologetic grass-roots queer collective of Bangladeshi queer Muslim asylum seekers.  

The Bangladeshi Cultural Program will be cooking a Bangladeshi lunch on Friday in the CaFae and then presenting a colourful cultural exchange program of art, sounds, rhythm and a taste of Queer Bangladesh. Telling stories of what is to be queer Bangladeshi asylum seekers in the UK, with some spoken and dance performances from the members.

We are thrilled too that members of the Gay Indian Network (GIN) are coming along, and will set up a camping zone. GIN, which was founded in September 2018 by Mayank Joshi (who will be presenting a workshop at the festival), works to support and connect the LGBTQI+ community of Indian & South Asian Heritage in the UK. 

The group promotes discussions on well-being spirituality, philosophy, meditation, faith, festivals and self realisation: “Most GIN members are Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists. These are the faiths of the individual path. So we speak about the Self, the Atman, the Soul and the importance of authenticity, self-realisation and connecting with our divine Self. We are looking forward to being part of the Queer Spirit Festival. The Festival resonates with us on many levels and recognising the Queer Divine within us.”Joshi.

Colonial Legacy: The Global Impact of Victorian Homophobia

The Victorian British era is known for many things, one of which is the export of homophobic and transphobic attitudes and laws to its colonies across the globe. These colonial impositions suppressed longstanding cultural understandings and respect for the spiritual qualities of queerness in regions such as Asia, Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North America. For instance, India only managed to repeal its anti-homosexuality law in 2018. Indian culture, which once recognized queerness as natural, saw a shift in attitudes with the advent of Muslim invasions and European colonialism.

Ancient Hindu scriptures explicitly acknowledged queer identities. The Narada-smriti states that homosexuality is incurable and exempts homosexuals from the duty to procreate. The Sushruta Samhita, a medical text from 600 BCE, asserts that such tendencies are inborn. The Kama Sutra describes homosexual acts and third-gender individuals, known as tritiya–prakriti, and mentions the Svairini, an independent woman who engages in sexual relations with other women.

In pre-British India, gay, trans, and third-gender people were believed to possess supernatural powers. Revered astrological texts from that era even mention planetary alignments at conception that indicate a third-gender birth. Queer individuals, carrying a combination of male and female spirit, were seen as closer to the divine ideal, epitomized by the depiction of Shiva Ardhanisvara, "The Lord whose half is a woman," symbolizing the totality beyond duality.

While India has shed its colonial homophobic laws, much work remains to restore the respect for queerness in its culture. 

This ongoing journey is why the Queer Spirit team is thrilled to host amongst others, the Bangladeshi Cultural Programme and the Gay Indian Network at the festival, aiming to liberate queer people globally from negative religious attitudes.

The Grim Reality in Africa

In contrast, the situation in some African countries is dire. After Uganda, the darkness of homophobia is spreading to Ghana. Recently, Ghana’s Supreme Court upheld a six-decade-old law criminalizing gay sex, with potential for harsher penalties pending. Similarly, Malawi’s Constitutional Court recently rejected a challenge to laws criminalizing same-sex conduct, contradicting international human rights protections.

These anti-gay laws in Africa are a direct legacy of the British Empire, which imposed European Christian sexual mores in the late 19th century. Today, African leaders often mistakenly view homosexuality as a corrupt Western behaviour, overlooking their own histories where same-sex relationships and third-gender expressions were natural and spiritually significant.

Sobonfu Somé of the Dagara tribe in Burkina Faso once explained that in traditional tribal culture, those now labelled as gay were spiritual functionaries. She recounted a government minister reconsidering a homosex ban after understanding the traditional roles of these individuals.  

Sobonfu and her husband Malidoma were tasked by their elders in the 1990s to bring these teachings to the West, emphasizing the power of ritual and the spiritual significance of queer individuals, known as gatekeepers.

Gatekeepers in the Dagara culture mediate between the genders, ensuring peace and balance. They are revered for their spiritual connection and their role in maintaining social harmony. This traditional respect starkly contrasts with the modern persecution of queer individuals  and indeed, the military junta ruling Burkina Faso have now announced that homosexual acts will be a punishable offence. As such, the nation has become the latest in a growing number of African nations to crack down on same-sex relations.

The Colonial Root of Modern Homophobia

The current wave of anti-gay sentiment in many African countries can be traced back to colonialism. Europeans did not introduce homosexuality to Africa—they introduced homophobia. As noted by Termaine Chizikani in "Origins of Homosexuality in Zimbabwe and Africa," pre-colonial Africa had diverse and accepting attitudes towards same-sex relationships. Colonial laws imposed a binary model of sexuality, criminalizing behaviours that previously did not violate social norms.

Historical evidence, such as the 4,390-year-old Saqqara tomb of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep in Egypt, depicts same-sex relationships. In the Zulu culture, terms like ‘ongqingili’, ‘iznkonkoni’, or ‘izitabane’ have long existed to describe homosexual individuals. Anthropologist Patrick Awondo highlights that homosexuality has a deep-rooted history in Africa, contrary to the claims of modern politicians.

Reclaiming Queer Spirituality

Understanding and acknowledging these historical truths can help correct the misconceptions perpetuated by colonial legacies. It is crucial to remember that before the imposition of European Christian ideologies, many cultures around the world celebrated queer individuals as spiritual mediators and powerful figures within their communities.

By revisiting and reclaiming these traditional views, we can move towards a more inclusive and respectful global society, recognizing the rich, spiritual heritage of queerness that has existed throughout human history.

 

At Queer Spirit Festival we celebrate the loving, spiritual nature and gifts of LGBTQI+ people from all cultures – let's decolonise our understanding of queerness and bring the spiritual dimension of our nature back into the picture by learning together from traditions around the world that respected that. 

A result of the imperial legacy is that there are LGBTQI+ people from many nations living in the UK, here as citizens or refugees. We meet together at Queer Spirit to remember and celebrate the magical gifts of queer people from all races, faiths and backgrounds - and to overturn the centuries of darkness cast upon our kind!

Queer Spirit Rising! 

Born of Earth and Born to Love!