Discourses on Gender, Sexuality and Family in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania

Project In January 2010, the bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) published the so-called Dodoma Declaration, in which they strictly opposed the blessing and marriage of homosexual couples, declaring them incompatible with biblical teaching and incompatible with Tanzanian/African values and traditions. The Dodoma Declaration caused great unrest in the Lutheran World Federation, although a schism was avoided. Similar discussions have also occurred in other African mainline churches over the past twenty years. Public discussions about homosexuality have only been taking place in African churches, as well as in politics, for about 25 years, since the 1990s. The discourse has intensified since its first appearance in Tanzania, both in tone and in the actual persecution of sexual minorities. Politicians and church leaders can base their positions on the support of the population: According to a 2007 survey by the Pew Research Center, 95 % of all Tanzanians reject homosexuality. In the positions of the ELCT, one motif appears again repeatedly: Homosexuality is rejected as part of a "Western" modernity perceived as immoral and brought into contrast with indigenous Tanzanian-African traditions . Church leaders of other denominations and religions in Tanzania, as well as politicians of all parties, also use this line of argument. Typically, they claim that homosexuality is "un-African" and "un-Tanzanian". The aim of the planned dissertation is to identify and analyze these discourses around homosexuality in ELCT on their different levels, with their different motives and with regard to their different contexts, and thus to explain the occurrence and hegemonic enforcement of one or more of these discourses. This project is highly relevant because this discourse is part of a global conflict in which queer lifestyles are increasingly politicized and political discussions on LGBTQ* rights are religionized. It is important to also consider the historical (post-)colonial context. In the case of Tanzania, it was initially the German colonial rule that installed the criminalization of same-sex relationships.