Rule of thumb for the international traveller: there are three topics that should be avoided when talking to strangers. These are religion, politics, and sex. Homo/bi/inter/transexual issues touch on all three anywhere -- and I mean, anywhere. So, it would be safer to avoid them whenever possible. However, I think, rules such as this one need to be broken under critical circumstances even if that means exposing one’s ignorance and Westernized thoughts about the three untouchables. But just to be clear, my point here is not that the abuses that are happening in Senegal against the GLBT community are exclusive or Africa, Muslim countries or the "developing world" (geez, do I ever hate that expression). My point is that wherever they happen, they need to stop. Period.
Homosexuality is illegal in Senegal, and reading around this seems to be one of the harshest countries in Africa for GLTB people. Article 319.3 of the Penal Code says that “Whoever commits an improper or unnatural act with a person of the same sex will be punished by imprisonment of between one and five years” and, apparently, a fine to be determined by the judge, who can also increase the time in prison if (s)he considers that those involved belong to a criminal organization (such as a pro-GLTB one). According to BBC coverage that's what happened to a gay couple who married in Dakar last year. The couple decided to celebrate their wedding and do it properly: they even hired a photographer. But maybe they didn't hire the right person, for the next thing they knew their pictures, as well as those of the people who attended the ceremony, were on the front page on every single one of the country's newspapers: they remained there for about two months. Guess who sold them. Following Afrol News, many of the people who appeared in the pictures, or who were in one way or the other related to those who did were attacked, evicted from their homes, fired from their jobs, harassed, or shunned. One man jumped out of a third floor when running away from the police and was arrested and interrogated before receiving treatment for his broken leg; another fled to Gambia, and then to the US when the President of the country threatened to kill any homosexual found within the Gambian territory; the mother of one of the people involved lost her job.
In a different but related series of events, currently 9 gay activists are trying to avoid an 8 year-long prison sentence for unnatural behaviour and belonging to a criminal organisation. They've just presented their appeal before the Dakar Court with the support of several international organizations, including Amnesty International, the UN and the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission, who are pushing the Senegalese government to relax its grip on the GLTB community. According to the International Organization for the legal protection of Human Rights, probably the international organization most heavily involved in the issue, AI recently submitted a report asking for the country's government to “end incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence against individuals on the basis of their real or perceived engagement in consensual same sex practices and/or gender identity.”
Despite the pressure of the international community, national politics remain ... well, national, and the Senegalese government doesn't seem to be anywhere near willing or able to leave room for the rights of GLTB people. Or maybe it is, and I'm just an ignorant international troublemaker who should show a greater respect for certain rules of thumb. Insha'Allah!!
We’re more or less settled here, and now I have the time and energy to look around and try to understand a trillion things – some of them absolutely stupid, that’s for sure. For example, what’s the best way to get from point A to point B: the city bus, taxi, car rapide o ndiage ndiaye? What can I bargain for, and what can’t I? Why is there trash everywhere? Is there too much current here to swim in the sea? Why is it that the only women on the beach are white women? How do I get to Casamance? Why do bugs bite me so much? Why is rice here “broken”? Who can give me permission to enter the camp that the Red Cross runs in Rosso? What’s the name of the bird that comes to my window every morning? Why do people invite me over to their places at dinner time in Canada, I leave by Spanish dinner time, and nobody has mentioned the possibility of eating? Have I broken a basic curtsy rule – which ones are they, anyways? Where can I find dental floss or whole wheat bread?
And today in the bus: why are people looking at me? Which made me remember something that a very intelligent dude told me a few weeks ago: “sometimes I feel sooooo black, and then I realize: I’m no longer in my neighbourhood.” Oh, yes. I’m no longer in mapped territory, and often remember my grandma’s favourite saying: a stupid (wo)man knows more at her place than a smart one at another’s.
So I’m still settling in. Every sunset happens at the beach listening to the djembe players in front of Teresa ’s office, which makes everything much easier :o)
We’ve found a place to call home in Dakar after 3 days of home hunting. It’s been a real adventure!! Although to tell you the truth, the hunt has helped us see the city from a different perspective, get to know its neighbourhoods and close by cities (Plateau, Sacre Coeur, Guedawaye, Ouakam…) and learn a few things:
1. That Dakar only resembles Andalusian towns if we’re talking about the Plateau in a weekday. The rest of Dakar the rest of the time is simply … Dakar.
2. That renting for the short term in this city is as expensive as renting in any large city in Canada or Spain. C’est cher!!!!!!!
3. That hear one has to bargain for EVERYTHING. For example: cabs don’t have a meter, so one always has to negotiate the price before hand. A typical scene would be this one: you stand in Dakar downtown and flag one of the ten million cabs that pass you by. You insert half your body into the car through the window, and say to the driver: “I’m going to Ouakam, how much is the ride?” And he says: “5,000” – which is enough to take you to the border with Gambia. You raise your eyebrows and say: “are you serious, that’s waaaaaay to much!! That ride’s worth 1,500”. He gets angry and so do you, and while waving your arms you tell your friend: “have you heard that!?!?! 5,000 for that ride!!! (then you turn to the driver and say) I give you 2,000 and that’s it”. He snarks something at you and drives away, but while you’re still talking to your friend about his outrageous price, he switches to reverse and tells you to get into the cab. At that point, both of you are even: you’ve danced the same music together. So, on the one hand, the driver respects you, and on the other, you’ve saved some money. Because a shy toubab is both silly and broke.
(Crossposted in Lunática Canadensis)
