‘Missionaries of Evil’: Africa is the new frontier for LGBTQ activism

When Matt Walsh traveled to Africa to ask members of the Maasai people about transgenderism, the Maasai villagers laughed at him. The short clip in Walsh’s 2022 documentary What is a woman? stands in stark contrast to the other interviews in the film, in which successful American professionals verbally contort themselves to justify the non-negotiable aspects of gender ideology.

For the Maasai, it is clear that a man cannot become a woman, and vice versa. In Western countries, however, pro-LGBTQ activists have worked for decades to undermine that simple belief and build a new progressive consensus in America and Western Europe. Now activists are exporting gender ideology to Africa as well.

“From Kenya to Cameroon, Ghana to Tanzania, local archbishops tell the Register that Western aid workers, government officials and even tourists are promoting secular views of sexuality and the human person that are not only incompatible with African cultural values ​​but also with the timeless teachings of the Catholic faith.” wrote Jonathan Liedl, editor-in-chief of the National Catholic Register.

‘Missionaries of Evil’

In Tanzania and Kenya, where the Maasai live, Catholic leaders are trying to protect young people from exploitation by foreigners. Tanzania, home to Mount Kilimanjaro, relies on foreign tourism to estimated 17 percent of Tanzania’s GDP. In some regions, such as Zanzibar, tourism is an even bigger part of the local economy. But these tourists don’t just bring income to the region — some also bring progressive sexual mores.

Archbishop Renatus Leonard Nkwande compares the influx of progressive Westerners to Christian evangelists who once brought the gospel to Africa. said that the West is now sending its country “missionaries of evil.”

Archbishop Nkwande told the Register that “the fear that Westerners promote sexual deviance is so widespread that ‘the first time you meet someone from Europe,’ whether it’s a tourist or an NGO worker, ‘you’re just scared. You try to stay away.’”

Tourists are responsible for only part of the cultural conversion; foreign nongovernmental organizations are the main culprits. Despite the name, many NGOs receive government support through grants and funding. In recent years, foreign organizations operating in Africa have come under fire for their role in the economic development of African countries, in what critics see as a new iteration of the “scramble for Africa.”

Although NGOs promise to help, foreign organizations and workers carry cultural baggage that conflicts with the traditions and beliefs of many Africans. In Tanzania, for example, Western NGOs have to divide “lubricants used in homosexual sex.” Archbishop Nkwand said that these products were widely distributed during the Biden-Harris administration, but were halted under President Donald Trump.

NGOs and social media promote gender ideology and abortion in Africa

In neighboring Kenya, foreign workers promote gender ideology in schools and “providing financial support to young people who adopt a homosexual lifestyle, which in turn attracts other young people”, Register reports. In Cameroon, where abortion is illegal, the French embassy promoted abortion and NGOs provided funding for free abortions.

Even without foreign aid workers, social media has become a major force behind the growing presence of liberal Western culture in Africa. In Cameroon, Catholic leaders have noted the impact of French social media content on the country’s younger generations. Bishop Sosthène Léopold Bayemi Matjei told the Register that he has noticed “changes in speech and dress,” and heard “reports of young boys organizing sex groups after being exposed to the idea through online videos.”

Unlike NGO activism, which relies on foreign funding, the promotion of gender ideology through social media can reach anyone with internet access. As internet use continues to increase across the continent, leftist Western ideology could leave an indelible mark on African countries. (RELATED: The LGBTQ Conquest of America)

Pope Francis has specifically warned against the “ideological colonization” that occurs when countries weave LGBTQ ideology and pro-abortion positions into the wealth and aid that developing countries need. Across Africa, Catholic bishops are aware of the growing threats to traditional morality.

But if the past few decades of American culture have proven anything, it’s that a sea of ​​change in sexual morality can happen in a single lifetime. There’s no guarantee that an interview with the Maasai would elicit the same incredulous laughter in a generation or two — Americans laughed once, too.

Mary Frances Myler is an editor at The American SpectatorShe graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2022.

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