Culture, Religion and Sexual Diversity in Lesotho

This paper explores community dialogues as social interaction in search for sexual diversity in Lesotho, in an effort to influence positive and more directional thinking towards sexuality and sexual behaviour. Guided by queer theory, we firstly explore cultural and religious dimensions defining acceptable and unacceptable sexual behaviour; their influence on attitudes towards the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (or queer) and intersex (LGBTQI) community, leading to their daily negative encounters; and, lastly, we suggest community dialogues as a mediator that influences more positive attitudes and guides acceptability towards this vulnerable population. Three main themes emerged after the adoption of a thematic analysis: there is denial of the LGBTQI existence; stigma and discrimination towards this minority population also prevail; and the LGBTQI population in Lesotho experience emotional and physical attacks