Same-sex Marriage and America-Africa Relations: Manifestations of Hegemonic Power and Cultural Imperialism

The Supreme Court of the United States of America accorded same-sex unions a lawful status and nationwide recognition in June 2015. For President Barack Obama, this historic development marked a defining milestone in the pursuit of global human rights and equality. In Africa, the news seems not to settle as cultural, traditional, and religious dynamics have seen most states either criminalise, impose stiff sanctions, or refuse to legally endorse same-sex relations. Obama administration's posture of pressure, confrontation and threats was not hidden as it engaged with African leaders and officials in desperate efforts to overturn their opposing stance. Within a post-colonial lens and sense, I interrogate the underlying American-Africa relations in this context and contend that hegemonic power and cultural imperialism profoundly played out. In this paper, I ask why Africa was the target of America's 'revolution' and seek to offer answers while highlighting America's role in maintaining such world order. On a concluding note, I assert that the same-sex agenda was a tactical cultural construct spearheaded by the US in cultural re-ordering, homogenisation, and imposition of individual universalism in a less receptive Africa.