“How the British Empire Exported Homophobia” — Vice, 2020, 4:58 —https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DQYu4iBNiQ

Contributed by Mary Scafidi, Cabrini University

The British Empire has done many horrible things throughout its existence. One example is British Penal Code Section 377 which criminalized homosexuality, resulting in at least 30 former British colonies where it is still illegal to be gay. Yet this code has earlier roots. As the British colonized different parts of the world from the 16th century to the 19th century, they also exported the laws that they had in place when they took over. One of these laws was the Buggery Act of 1533 which banned male homosexuality and made gay sex punishable by death. Lesbianism, however, was not banned because women were not thought of as much at the time. Like many colonizers, the British wanted to enforce their ideas of morality onto the people that they are colonizing. As we learn in the video, many of the places the British colonized did not have a hateful culture towards or laws against homosexuality before they were made into colonies.

Though homosexuality was finally decriminalized in England and Wales in 1967, anti-homosexuality laws are still in the penal codes of many of their former colonies. LGBTQ people in Barbados, Pakistan, and many other countries still do not have equality today. From 2010 to 2014, there were almost 600 people who were prosecuted under Kenya’s anti-gay laws. Would these countries be different towards LGBTQ people if the British had not colonized them?

This video shows the lingering impacts that British colonization has on the countries that were colonized. The video also demonstrates the imposition of cultural sexism and androcentrism in that only male homosexuality was originally banned as the British did not want their soldiers and administrators to be having sex with each other. With women having a lower status in the British empire and excluded from military or government careers, lesbianism was not on the colonizer’s radar.  

Why else was there more of a focus on preventing same-sex relationships between men than women? Why do you think these laws have not been repealed in these countries?

From the video’s description: A set of laws known as the penal code was exported from Britain to its colonies and is still affecting LGBTQ politics to this very day. The penal code laws made being gay a criminal offense, and while Britain decriminalized homosexuality in 1967, it’s still illegal in over 30 former British colonies. These countries didn’t have a history of homophobia before Britain enforced their own ideas of morality, but thanks to the empire these laws mean many live in fear. VICE World News host Zing Tsjeng investigates how the legacy of the empire is still ruining lives to this day.