ABSTRACT
Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe, who in 1995 already infamously stated that homosexuals are people who behave worse than pigs and dogs, and since then has continued to frequently spew overt homophobic rhetoric. This chapter explores how and why issues related to homosexuality recently have become so central in public and political debates in different countries across the continent with case studies ranging from Egypt to Zimbabwe and from Senegal to Kenya. It examines how religious dynamics map onto the trajectories of the politicisation of homosexuality. The chapter suggests that the role of religion is likely to be more complex, ambiguous and multifaceted than is often suggested. The abundance of scholarship on religion in Africa makes it clear that in Africa, religion has never been a private affair and has always conflated with politics and public life. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book.
