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How does one address homophobia without threatening majority rule democracy and freedoms
of speech and faith? How does one "Africanize" sexuality research, empirically and
theoretically, in an environment that is not necessarily welcoming to African scholars?
In Sexual Diversity in Africa, contributors critically engage with current debates
about sexuality and gender identity, as well as with contentious issues relating to
methodology, epistemology, ethics, and pedagogy. They present a tapestry of issues
that testify to the complex nature of sexuality, sexual practices, and gender performance
in Africa. Essays examine topics such as the well-established same-sex networks in
Accra and Bamako, African "traditions" defined by European observers, and the bizarre
mix of faith, pharmaceuticals, and pseudo-science used to "cure" homosexual men. Their
evidence also demonstrates the indefensibility of over-simplified constructions of
homosexuality versus heterosexuality, modern versus traditional, Africa versus the
West, and progress from the African closet towards Western models of out politics,
all of which have tainted research on same-sex practices and scientific studies of
HIV/AIDS. Asserting that the study of sexuality is intellectually and politically
sustainable in Africa, Sexual Diversity in Africa contributes to the theorization
of sexualities by presenting a more sensitive and knowledgeable study of African experiences
and perspectives. Contributors include Olajide Akanji, Christophe Broqua, Cheryl Cooky,
Serena Owusua Dankwa, Shari L. Dworkin, Marc Epprecht, Melissa Hackman, Notisha Massaquoi,
Crystal Munthree, Kathleen O'Mara, Stella Nyanzi, S.N.Nyeck, Vasu Reddy, Amanda Lock
Swarr, and Lisa Wiebesiek.
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