‘Gay rights resistance stems from misinformation’

Dr. Kapya Kaoma is a Zambian pastor based in the United States where he also works as a religion and sexuality researcher at the respected liberal think-thank—Political Research Associates— and runs a church. He is also a visiting professor at America’s Boston University. He speaks to Ephraim Munthali on religion and homosexuality.

Q: Why in your view is there so much resistance against gay rights?

A:

First, this resistance has to be seen from the misinformation coming out, especially from the Western world. One thing that people are frightened about is this assumption that gays are out to recruit other young people into homosexuality. That is where resistance starts from. When people are threatened, the message presented is that gays have become gays because they were recruited into homosexuality. That threatens parents. The second one has to do with the growth of Christianity. Christianity has been growing in Africa, but it is not necessarily the authentic African Christianity. The Christianity that is growing so fast is tainted with American politics, especially political debates around so-called Christian values. You know in America this question of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) or homosexuality is a big political issue and if you have observed, this thing didn’t happen overnight.

Q: Gay rights activists say homosexuality has been oversexualised. What do you say to that?

A:

Yes, that is the biggest problem because when people talk about homosexuality, they are mostly talking about sex and I think that is a mistake. The starting point is to talk about human beings and I think once people see the other person as a human being first, the way they will respond to him or her is different, but if you talk about homosexuality as sex, then people go into all these details about how do you do it and all those things. What we need to talk about more is the human person of the other individual and I know people think that you can tell, okay, you can tell or you cannot tell. But for me when I meet you, I meet a human being—I don’t meet a gay, I don’t meet a lesbian. When I sit in a bus and I sit next to a woman, I don’t know whether she is gay or lesbian or whatever, it is a human I am sitting next to.

Q: What message should activists project?

A:

I think we should stop talking about sex. To me, the LGBTI’ right is not about sex. It is about human beings. Let us focus on the human needs of every individual in society. We should not necessarily talk about sex because once you enter into sex you don’t talk about sex between man and woman. I have never heard somebody talking about women who have sex with men, yet we have heard descriptions such as men who have sex with other Men, why? I think that is a mistake. We don’t talk that way. Let us talk about the needs of human beings like us who are being victimised; who are thrown out simply because of their sexuality and let us put a human face to it.

Q: I get the sense that religiosity, cultural norms and traditions have shaped people’s views towards homosexuality. To what extent does this assertion hold true?

A:

I like to talk about certain cultures. Let me put on my academic hat. If you go to the mbona and chisumphi cults, you will see the woman who is on the shrine. She is not married and there are some young girls around her, meaning that as a society, we understood that for them to choose the woman who was going to be there as a priestess, they knew what they were looking for. We have always had cultural diversity in Africa. The controversy around homosexuality is a recent development in Africa. It never used to be much of an issue among Africans. That is why if you go to the law books in this country, for instance, from the 1960s to date, it is only in recent years that you have had a case that was prosecuted. Most people would look at a gay person, as Ugandan president Yoweri Museven used to say, and whisper and ignore. We knew there were people who were different. In fact, in some societies such as among the Tswanas, gays were even believed to have some spiritual powers or seen as spiritual mediums. That was part of our culture. On the other hand, Christianity is not the problem—it is colonial and imperial Christianity we are seeing now that is the problem. Most of the arguments that pastors use against LGBTI rights are provoked partially because of what is happening in the world.

Q: I realise that you have academic grounding in theology, you are a pastor based in America, you are a social policy researcher, a professor and an African from Zambia. Tell me a little bit more about yourself and what you do.

A:

Do I even know what I do? (laughter). I put on different hats depending on where I am. I work for a think tank—Political Research Associates—one of the most respected think thanks in the US and we take pride in that because we have our own standards. I am also a pastor. I have a church called Christ Church and Iglesia de San Juan, but I am also a visiting professor at Boston University, so depending on where I am, I put on different hats. Do I like what I do? Honestly, I don’t know because there are times when I am almost overwhelmed and sometimes frightened, especially when it comes to homophobia. I never ever thought that one day I will be talking about homosexuality.