Coal mine in Appalachia

The colonization of Africa has brought with it many losses that have been challenging, perhaps impossible to resuscitate, even after African countries gained their freedom. Colonization of Africa by European powers resulted in a consequential disruption of traditional cultures and an imposition of Western beliefs and ethics replacing deeply rooted indigenous rituals and customs. One of the legacies the colonial powers left behind in post-colonial Africa is religion, which altered social and political spheres of the colonized countries. Christian missionaries aided by the European colonial powers gained unprecedented success in converting Africans to Christianity. The missionaries indeed “aided in the colonization of Africans by Europeans.” Thus, the missionaries for the most part were an integral part of the colonizing powers. Throughout history, missionaries have played a crucial role in the politics of Africa, at least the sub-Saharan countries. Therefore, the Christian organizations in the West still have an incredible amount of influence in Africa. Indeed, the U.S. Christian Right has had a decidedly negative influence on the recent laws concerning LGBT rights, abortion and reproductive behavior politics in sub-Saharan Africa.

Recently, Nigeria and Uganda have made headlines in the international media for passing rigid anti-gay legislations. The intensity of the legislations and the growing homophobic attitudes made both countries come under the spotlight. Several human rights organizations and activists across Africa and the world voiced concerns about the deterioration of situation for LGBT minorities in sub-Saharan countries in general, Nigeria and Uganda in particular. The parliament of Uganda passed a legislation in 2011...

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...respect and support of the colonized nations in Africa as they “were so closely linked with the whole apparatus of colonial rule.” It was during the colonial era that most of the laws, in particular the laws concerning LGBT rights and reproductive health were adopted and the legacies of the colonial powers still continue to prevail in Nigeria and Uganda. A recent report by Human Rights Watch concluded that the “laws in over three dozen countries, from India to Uganda and from Nigeria to Papua New Guinea, derive from a single law on homosexual conduct that British colonial rulers imposed.” While African countries are trying hard to eliminate the political and economic influence of previous colonial powers, the religious legacy of the colonial era remains strong and often re-enforced, either by the same colonial countries or new ones in a different shape or form.