Two annual springtime festivals in Memphis honored African countries this year, both of which outlaw basic LGBTQ+ rights, and those choices face critics who wish the organizations would have picked other countries to celebrate.
Africa in April (AIA) this year honored Malawi for its festival held last weekend. Memphis in May (MIM) picked Ghana to celebrate in 2018 for its 2020 festival and kept the country in place through Covid-canceled and pared-down festivities until this year.
Same-sex intercourse is banned in both countries, punishable by imprisonment, according to the U.S. Department of State. Gay marriage is illegal in both, according to Equaldex. Discrimination is tolerated in education, housing, and employment, according to the State Department.
In 2019, Human Rights Watch reported LGBTQ+ Malawians face “routine violence and discrimination in almost every aspect of their daily lives.” In February 2021, the LGBT+ Rights Ghana advocacy group headquarters was raided by police, shut down, and remained closed. A law under review in Ghana would make identifying as gay or a gay ally punishable by five years in prison. The new law would make LGBTQ advocacy punishable by 10 years in prison.
“We honor the culture of the country.”
David L. Acey, Africa In April organizer
“We honor the culture of the country,” said David L. Acey, an organizer of AIA. “We don’t get involved in the politics.”
Acey said his group checks with government officials in choosing its honored country to help ensure “they’re not just killing each other.”
MIM picks its honored countries three years in advance, said Randy Blevins, spokesman for the group. They are chosen by an International Selection Committee comprised of people with international experience from business, government, education, and the arts. This group looks for ties between nations and the Mid-South to exchange culture and foster economic connections.
He said Ghana fit the selection guidelines but did not address local criticism of the country’s LGBTQ+ record.
“A large portion of the population in Memphis and the Mid-South can trace ancestry to West Africa and Ghana in particular.”
Randy Blevins, Memphis In May spokesman
“A large portion of the population in Memphis and the Mid-South can trace ancestry to West Africa and Ghana in particular,” Blevins said in a statement. “There’s a lot of excitement around the festival’s salute to Ghana and we look forward to showcasing the people of Ghana’s art, music, dance, cuisine, and more.”
Memphis filmmaker Mark Jones said he’s eager to get MIM’s Ghana celebration over with but said, “I don’t ever want to see Memphis In May do this again.”
“They cannot honor a country with such a horrific viewpoint against LGBTQ+ people.”
Mark Jones, local filmmaker
“They cannot honor a country with such a horrific viewpoint against LGBTQ+ people,” Jones said. “It just sends a bad signal to the LGBTQ+ folks here in Memphis and the Mid-South that we would honor a country that does not honor all of its citizens.”
Should MIM honor such a country like Ghana again, Jones threatened to organize a “Memphis In Gay” festival.
OUTMemphis executive director Molly Rose Quinn said much of the world is unsafe for LGBTQ+ people, including Tennessee with its litany of discriminatory laws passed this year and years before it. It’s also unsafe for the group in Memphis where “many kids are not safe from bullying, violence, and harassment at school.”
“We hope those same people and same institutions spend even a fraction of the same time and resources invested in the basic human rights not afforded to queer and trans Memphians.”
Molly Rose Quinn, executive director OUTMemphis
“We stand in solidarity with LGBTQ+ people everywhere, and while Memphis learns about and celebrates Ghanaian culture this spring, we hope those same people and same institutions spend even a fraction of the same time and resources invested in the basic human rights not afforded to queer and trans Memphians,” Rose Quinn said.
Shahin Samiei, Shelby County organizer with the Tennessee Equality Project, said it wasn’t long ago that LGBTQ+ people were criminalized in the U.S. He’s hopeful in the cultural exchange from these festivals.
“This gives us an opportunity to collectively learn from, and impart positive examples back with those countries, examples like equality and defending the human rights of all persons.”
Shahin Samiei, Shelby County coordinator with the Tennessee Equality Project
“This gives us an opportunity to collectively learn from, and impart positive examples back with those countries, examples like equality and defending the human rights of all persons,” Samiei said. “In time, these may influence positive changes in their laws. After all, it has taken decades of visibility, representation, and advocacy to expand equal rights in the United States and we’re by no means done.
“It is critical that we support the fight toward equality, justice, and freedom for all here at home, and thereby still prove ourselves an ever-evolving shining beacon of those for other countries as well.”
