No Laughing Matter: Zambia’s Anti-LGBT Campaign Takes Serious Turn

One of South African comedian Trevor Noah’s most memorable comedy sets from his early career includes anecdotes of his trip to Zambia. Apart from the debacle of the escalator at a national mall, which he claimed had entire troops of tourists traipsing in just for the terrifying yet thrilling chance to ride on a magically mobile steel staircase, was a friendly yet ominous exchange with his tour guide who warned the comedian against being Gay.

This chaperone, as Noah described him, called Ali Nani, was responsible for giving the comedian the lay of the land, which included reiterating that Zambia was a very conservative nation. Apart from warning the comedian to stay away from profanity, “We’re driving through Lusaka – the capital – and Ali looks over at me in the car and he goes, ‘Trevor, you know here in Zambia were are a God-loving nation … so while you’re here, don’t be Gay!’”

Noah’s story is recounted to thunderous laughter from his audience in the 2013 “It’s My Culture” special, roughly a decade before an out-and-out global onslaught against gender and sexual minorities became a glaring point of concern, especially in Africa. From Noah’s signature delivery, one would be forgiven for taking Ali Nani’s warning as innocuous; no more than provincial thinking from small-town folk in the big city. But this way of thinking is all too common and familiar to many gender and sexual minorities in many metropolitan cities in Africa.

In the decade since the special, more African countries have enacted or declared their intention to enact more draconian or punitive anti-LGBTQIA+ laws, as exemplified by Uganda’s own anti-LGBT law passed in May 2023, that prescribes the death penalty for those found guilty of “Aggravated Homosexuality.”    

The looming threat against gender and sexual minorities in Zambia in particular has grown even larger, as Zambia’s ruling elites and religious figures have joined the ever-growing anti-LGBT chorus around Africa, conducted by the continent’s leaders. As in countries like Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, and Tanzania, politicians and religious figures have taken to publicly attacking and vilifying LGBTQIA+ individuals. From public utterances and declarations to the use of state machinery to persecute LGBTQIA+ individuals, Zambia is becoming increasingly unsafe for gender and sexual minorities.

An article published on Devex on October 26, 2024, reported on Zambia’s move to remove the word “sexual” from “sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR),” as part of the country’s expanding crackdown on gender and sexual minorities. Such a deletion, the article warned, could lead to an “entrenchment of patriarchal norms,” negatively impacting HIV service provision.

A letter sent to all provincial health directors in Zambia, written by Ministry of Health permanent secretary Christopher Simoonga outlined the move, in which he claimed that the second joint Africa-European Union Ministerial meeting held in Kigali, Rwanda, in October 2021 “rejected the use of the term ‘sexual and reproductive health rights,’” a claim that has since been denied by the EU.

In an attempt to further explain the move, Simoonga claimed: “This is because the inclusion of the words ‘sexual’ and rights in the same phrase is [the] inclusion of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer rights” and “Zambia was party to the decision by the African Union and does not support LGBTQ rights.” The letter went on to warn that all relevant parties avoid the use of the term in public pronouncements and speeches, only making reference to “Reproductive Health Rights.”

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Activists interviewed by Devex pointed out the illogical nature of and potential lasting harm caused by the move, including Arnold Mulaisho who decried the culture of fear of being outed that prohibits some LGBTQIA+ individuals in Zambia from seeking medical attention. “Removing reference to sexual health and rights has real-world implications for people, especially women, and girls, including an entrenchment of patriarchal norms,” said Marie-Evelyne Petrus-Barry, Africa regional director, International Planned Parenthood Federation.

LGBTQIA+ people across Africa lambasted the move, including one who bemoaned that the memo and move had, once again “reduced queer folks to sex” after blasting the permanent secretary and those in favor of the move for not understanding the significance of SRHR advocacy and how it affects healthcare provision. The recommendation also came a month before Zambia was meant to host the AU/UNECA ICPD +30 Africa Region Consultation, and nearly 30 years since it hosted the International Conference on Population and Development, during which sexual and reproductive health rights were affirmed as human rights.

The arrest of two men on May 6, 2023, for allegedly engaging in homosexual acts also sparked outrage among human rights organizations that called for their immediate release. Phillip Mubiana and James Mwansa were apprehended in Kapiri Mpisho district in central Zambia after reports from neighbors that the two men were engaging in homosexual acts.

After their arrest, the two were subjected to anal examinations by forensic doctors at the Kapiri Mposhi District Hospital, as part of the investigation, a procedure denounced as “invasive” and the situation “outrageous” by Monica Tabengwa, researcher in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. Mubiana and Mwansa were arraigned in court on May 8, formally charged, and denied a postponement of the trial due to a lack of legal representation.

“I was interviewed by a male officer…(who) asked me why I was there. I said because of my sexual orientation. The officer laughed and called another officer. They both laughed… The officer (said)… that if I claim to be a ‘gay’, why is it that I am not wearing make-up…. He asked if I have sex – am I the woman or the man?”

Arnold Mulaisho

The May 6, 2023 arrest marked the two men’s second, as a month prior, the 21-year-olds were arrested and detained for a week, charged with engaging in “carnal knowledge against the order of nature,” but were released on bail. After their arrest in May, however, it is reported that the two were coerced into confessing to the charges after being deprived of adequate food and water while in detention.

“It’s bad enough that Zambia wants to prosecute these two men for homosexual acts, but to subject them to invasive examinations is just outrageous,” said Tabengwa, who called for the immediate release of both men. Human Rights Watch also noted that, under international law and the Zambian constitution, the Zambian government should respect the private lives and personal liberties of everyone in the country, and should not prosecute them for consensual adult sex.

Human rights defender Paul Kasokonona was also arrested after appearing on Muvi TV on April 6, 2013, to discuss LGBT- and HIV-related issues while leaving the TV station. He was reportedly denied bail for five days before finally released on bail, and was also charged with “soliciting in a public place for immoral purposes.” Following the alleged attempt by four same-sex couples to register marriages during the 2023 Easter holidays sparked public outrage, Police Spokeswoman Elizabeth Kanjela made a media appeal for the public to report anyone involved in the incident as homosexuality is a serious offense in the country. Also as part of the backlash, several religious and traditional leaders wrote a letter to the Daily Mail newspaper, calling for “gays to be caged.”

Due to the anti-LGBTQIA+ hostility, some Zambians have sought refuge abroad but come against equally hostile immigration policies, homophobia, and xenophobia. The Lusaka Times, on March 28, 2019, reported on a Zambian seeking asylum in South Africa on the grounds of sexuality, who was arrested and denied asylum. Arnold Mulaisho, who the paper claimed left “a well-paid government job and fled from Zambia because of his sexual orientation” was denied refugee status by the South African Department of Home Affairs.

According to the article, Mulaisho disclosed his sexuality and the fact that he had a partner to his boss at the Zambian Department of Water Affairs, after which information about his sexuality rapidly spread, prompting him to make a hasty exit fearing imminent arrest. Mulaisho detailed in a sworn affidavit the challenges that he faced while trying to navigate the South African asylum process, including demeaning interview questions from offices.

“I was interviewed by a male officer…(who) asked me why I was there. I said because of my sexual orientation. The officer laughed and called another officer. They both laughed… The officer (said)… that if I claim to be a ‘gay’, why is it that I am not wearing make-up…. He asked if I have sex – am I the woman or the man?”

A year after arriving in South Africa, Mulaisho received the Home Affairs’ decision to reject his claim to asylum, claiming that his application was fraudulent. Some of the claims of fraudulence listed in Mulaisho’s rejection document included, “He did not play with boys but preferred to play with girls. The officer said in the document that a person who is gay would not enjoy the company of girls,” “He would not have chosen to be gay if he was in pain after a rape incident. (He was raped at school),” and “That he could not have become a gay and be a Christian. He cannot be gay because Zambia is a Christian country.”

Comments left under the article also capture the antipathy with which LGBTQIA+ claims of lack of safety and persecution are met, as many of the commenters dismissed Mulaisho as no more than “an economic refugee” while others wondered why the article’s author was “sympathetic to this homosexual guy. Zambia should never entertain this sickness. Let him go to another country where this lifestyle is accepted. We don’t want this decadent Western lifestyle in Zambia.”

_{Photos: Courtesy of X, Unsplash}