Between HIV Prevention and LGBTI Rights: The Political Economy of Queer Activism in Ghana

Between HIV Prevention and LGBTI Rights examines how global development's sexual rights agenda has affected queer politics and activism in Ghana. While queer men in Africa face disproportionate HIV burden, rights-based health interventions aim to address the epidemic by organizing, educating, and empowering queer African communities. Ellie Gore argues that queer Ghanaian men have not benefited from development's focus on sexual health and sexual rights. Instead, HIV and sexual rights initiatives operate through neoliberal frameworks that reinforce class divisions and reduce queer activism to depoliticized concerns. These dynamics interact with the politicization of homophobia within Ghana's state. Gore combines original ethnography, documentary analysis, and examination of development and global health data to connect queer liberation struggles in Ghana to broader patterns of capitalist transformation, crisis, and colonial legacies. The book offers insights into the political economy of sexuality and global development for scholars, activists, and policymakers working to understand sexual injustice and oppression in Africa and elsewhere. The open access edition was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (UK).