The African-UK Homosexual Fiasco

Ghana is not the first - and certainly won’t be the last - country to define its moral and sociopolitical sovereignty, and making significant international tradeoffs in the process.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has recently proposed cutting financial aid to countries that have “failed to respect gay rights.” The swift response from African countries where homosexuality has no place in the cultural fiber was unanimous, and perhaps the only person to find this surprising will be David Cameron himself.

For African countries whose economic survival latches onto other developed countries in the West, they only have themselves to blame for the inevitable tradeoffs. Its one thing threatening to disengage from a business transaction with a country (for whatever personal reason), but it’s an entire different story line (a shameful one at that) for social standards to be a prerequisite for donations.

Lest we forget, as progressive as David Cameron will want the rest of the world to believe that gays and lesbians in the UK (or in the West) have all the fundamental rights, the UK has its own social problems that it is still struggling with. Flip the script: - Imagine Ghana’s president asking the UK to perform rituals and pour libation to ancestors on national celebrations, as a precondition to any international trade. You can easily imagine the response.

No one is telling the UK how to run its business, or define its moral and social culture, - and probably no one ever will, - because it didn’t show up begging for international aid. Case in point, many people around the world think the monarchy in England is a pointless tradition but as long as no person’s fundamental human rights are violated, the Queen can have as many celebrations as she wishes, and that’s her business.

Never mind the African cultural definition of marriage being a union between a man and a woman, thus have no need to recognize any other union, - assuming African countries heed to the Cameron proposition, what’s next? How much of the African moral ideology is David Cameron willing to rewrite. 

In all fairness, the US is 235 years and still dabbling with hundreds of social crises, with gay and lesbian rights being one of them. African countries are still struggling with fundamental democratic institutions (as straightforward as that may seem to Western nations) that have being foreign to its society, who is to say what such a “foreign” concept does to its society. For those with short anterograde amnesia, be reminded that there are Americans in 2011 who believe they can “pray the gay away”, and still unsure of how to honestly accommodate the LGBT community.

While on his moral crusade, David Cameron might be well served to chat with Iran, Saudi Arabia and perhaps share his point of view to the Arab League as well. Something tells me they won’t be too diplomatic with their responses.

My point? Not long ago, the rest of the world looked at the USA with disdain because of the assertion that the USA attaches strings to every decision, and makes it their business telling everyone else how to live their lives. The USA figured this out, and subsequently identified what issues it chooses to abstain from. Let Obama explain it, [and that’s where Cameron should take note] besides genocide, and other human right abuses, there is a level of respect accorded every sovereign nation to conduct itself as it fits its social and cultural values. There are some that outsiders will find archaic and utter nonsense, but as long as fundamental human rights are respected and no one is crucifying anyone for being tall, short, gay or black; - everyone ought to mind their own business.

As a side note, David Cameron comments came at the just ended Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia, where the alluded to the legalization of homosexuality as being critical to “the future relevance of the Commonwealth.” I am dying to ask when was the last time the commonwealth was relevant? And relevant to whom?

Back to my main point; - there is a fine line between respect for human decency and a pointless cultural witch-hunt. 

For instance, reports surfaced last year of a crackdown on homosexuals in Ghana, supposedly ordered by a high ranking government official. Such subjective repressive acts on individuals [in my opinion], is no different from the Tutsi-Hutu genocide in Rwanda, the Darfur massacre in Sudan and the tribal disaster by Slobodan Milosevic in Kosovo. I can see David Cameron asking governments to respect the fundamental human rights; I am a strong advocate for the same. But to ask African countries to legalize homosexuality regardless of what their internal social and cultural structures can accommodate it, is a stretch. Making it a precondition for international aid is where it gets ridiculous.