The old Wolof name for homosexual men is gor-digen, or men-women. (photo right, gay couple Baba and Baidy had to flee Senegal after a local newspaper printed their photo) Indeed, homosexuality has been a visible and well-known part of Wolof traditions, and only moralist opinions of the colonialists, later adopted by an increasingly dominant Muslim clergy, led to the suppression of this culture. Dakar’s gay history is the best example demonstrating that homosexuality is not un-African.
