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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:'Unnatural Vice' in South Africa: The 1907 Commission of Inquiry
Author:Epprecht, MarcISNI
Year:2001
Periodical:International Journal of African Historical Studies
Volume:34
Issue:1
Pages:121-140
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:miners
homosexuality
History and Exploration
Law, Human Rights and Violence
colonialism
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/3097289
Abstract:Since the end of apartheid in 1994, South Africa has developed one of the world's most liberal constitutions in terms of its commitment to the protection of individual rights. Most striking in an African context is its provision that no person shall be discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation. This not merely stands in stark contrast to neighbouring African countries, but also seems to stand in contrast to South Africa's own past. The present article examines a neglected source for the study of male-male sexual behaviour in South Africa - the testimony submitted to the 1907 commission of enquiry into 'unnatural vice' among Africans in the mining compounds of the Rand. It provides evidence to support the claim that whites introduced not male-male sexual behaviour but explicitly homophobic intolerance of such behaviour. The early history of the 'inkotshane' relationship (or 'mine marriage', as it came to be known) also gives insight into the role of the State and of race and class conflicts in the development of male sexuality in southern Africa as a region in which South Africa both influenced and was influenced by neighbouring countries and cultures. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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