What is it about?
South Africa was one of the first countries to legalize same-sex marriage, but it remains controversial. This article looks at the daily struggles that young black lesbian and gay South Africans have with their families over their same-sex relationships. The article finds that many of their struggles share a lot in common with young heterosexual black South Africans' struggles with their own families. I argue that these commonalities reflect the long history of struggle over African marriage in general, especially over gender and intergenerational relations in marriage. From this angle, lesbian and gay South Africans' struggles are not only about homophobia, but also about broader and ongoing debates about African marriage in general.
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Why is it important?
This article shows that current controversies over same-sex marriage in South Africa aren't just about anti-LGBT prejudice, but instead reflect a long history of struggle over African marriage in general.
Perspectives
This article is part of a large ethnographic research project comparing the aftermath of two new marriage laws in South Africa: one law recognizing same-sex marriage, and another recognizing indigenous African marriages. Before these new laws, both types of marriage were unrecognized by the state. My research looks at how daily views on marriage are changing, or not, after these laws. This article fits into the project by showing how the two sides of the comparison interact: same-sex marriage is not separate from indigenous African marriage, but instead plays out in the same social context. One thing I always try to do in my work is to put LGBT issues in their broader context, and to make connections with other struggles. This article does that more directly than anything I've previously published from this project.
Michael W. Yarbrough
City University of New York System
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Something old, something new: Historicizing same-sex marriage within ongoing struggles over African marriage in South Africa, Sexualities, September 2017, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/1363460717718507.
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