Congo men strut their stuff, as Kenyan priest stirs the gay nest

A gay parade in Kinshasa, Congo, earlier in the year.

By OUR REPORTER/ Outside the Box (email the author)

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Posted Tuesday, October 27 2009 at 15:14

As the row over the gay marriage of two Kenyans two weeks ago continues to rage, a priest at the coast has added fuel to the fire.

Kenyan priest Fr Ambrose Muli said during his Sunday homily at the St. Anthony Catholic Cathedral in Malindi, along the Kenya coast, that men are turning to each other because “the women are no longer marriageable”. Women, he said, had become too complicated and unattractive in marriage.

While gay relations remains a touchy issue in most of Africa, with a proposed law in Uganda likely to impose the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality, and Burundi recently banning homosexuality, some countries have a surprising liberal attitude.

South Africa’s constitution, perhaps not surprising for Africa’s richest and among its freest countries, recognises the rights of gays — and has its gay parades. The other country with enough tolerance to permit gay parades in Africa is a surprise candidate: It is long-suffering and war-weary Democratic Republic of Congo.

The western part of the DRC, where the capital Kinshasa is located, is not ruled by the homophobia common in most of Africa. This year it had a gay parade that passed off without incident.

Why DRC would permit a gay parade, why more stable and richer nations will not countenance it is another puzzle in the books for one of Africa’s biggest countries, with a complex and twisted history.