ABSTRACT
The longing and journey toward “decolonization,” of body, mind and community, is a key element in queer/bi spirituality. “Colonization” is that complex notion that refers to external acts of conquest; it also involves the inner colonization or alienation of the minds and souls of the colonized. Two poignant examples from queer history illustrate how the “heteronorm” was/is established over queer bodies and spirits: one, Balboa’s murder of “sodomites” (Panama, 1513) and, in 1886 (B)Uganda, the demonization of the African queer/bi ruler, Mwanga. For contemporary Western queer/bi persons, political-spiritual solidarity with historic and present-day demonized sexualities, such as in the AIDS pandemic, is a generous, life-giving response.
