Queer and Trans African Theologies

Africa is often portrayed as a queer- and transphobic continent, precisely because of its deeply religious social and political cultures. However, across the African continent, religion has proven vital to activism for queer and trans rights and inclusion. In fact, religious belonging and national or ethnic belonging are at times inextricable, making queer and trans reflections on the sacred central to political struggles. Adopting a broad notion of queer and trans theologies as embedded in, and emerging from, grassroots communities and creative forms of mobilization, this chapter explores the varied approaches to and modes of queer and trans religious reflection, and their ties to other social and political developments, across Africa. It respectively discusses activist, narrative, and literary theologies as emerging forms of African queer and trans worldmaking through religious discourse.