Earlier this month Dutch fashion designer Mattijs Van Bergen premiered his latest creation; a large dress made up of 72 national flags. The 72 flags are of the 72 countries were (male) homosexuality (or more precisely male sodomy) is illegal. The dress was photographed in a gallery of Rijksmuseum in front of the famous painting The Night Watch by Rembrandt.
The dress is supposed to represent the idea that much of the world remained deeply homophobic and activists must work on tackling homophobia in Other countries.
What we are seeing here is an example of homonationalism. Homonationalism is the idea that “acceptance” of homosexuality has become part of the state apparatus (and all the violence and hegemony that entails). While historically Euro-American states where deeply heteronormative, and criminalized and often persecuted homosexuality; starting in the 20th century, states in Europe and later the Americas began to incorporate homonormativity into their frameworks, where gays and lesbians were viewed to be as exceptional citizens. This helped to distinguish themselves as tolerant and morally superior to countries where homosexuality remained a crime. Part of the homonational project was to differentiate between between “good” counties - countries that decriminalized and celebrated homosexuality, and “bad” countries - countries where homosexuality remained illegal and a social taboo. Thus a dichotomy is created between the “good” Euro-American countries and the “bad” non-Euro-American countries. Sometimes homosexuality has been used as an excuse for neocolonial domination in Other countries. It is part of the larger process of Orientalism in how knowledge is created in Euro-America about the Other. It helps Euro-American countries forget their own homophobic pasts as well as presents by calling attention to homophobia in Other places.
What is missing from the ideas around the dress are Europe’s own homophobic and colonial history; and how European colonialism created much of the homophobia we see in many of those 72 countries today. Europe, and to a lesser extent the US has had a particularly violent and oppressive history towards homosexuals. Prior to legalization (only through foreign domination) in 1811, the Dutch state murdered and tortured 100's of homosexuals. The second execution in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, which would later become Manhattan were carried out against a man for the crime of “sodomy.” It was during this same time that men were publicly writing love poetry to each other in the Middle East and being entertained by men who dressed up as women and seductively dance. The Ottoman Empire which controlled much of the Muslim world at the time decriminalized homosexuality in 1858 and virtually never tired men for homosexuality prior to that.
Almost all of the 72 countries are former colonies of European countries. Colonialism helped to shape countries’ legal codes and processes and many countries looked to emulate European laws and ideas when creating their own laws. Pakistan’s law against homosexuality is a British colonial era law, as is India’s. Former British colonies are especially noteworthy. England only decriminalized homosexuality in 1967, Scotland in 1980, and Northern Ireland in 1982. The British brought laws with them against homosexuality when they colonized a place. Therefore we see larger numbers of former British colonies where homosexuality remains illegal. The 10 countries in the Americas where homosexuality is illegal are all former British colonies inhabited primary by the descendants of African slaves who the British converted to Christianity.
The inverse can be seen in former French colonies. Since France had legalized homosexuality in 1791 when it colonized areas after that time, it did not bring those laws with it. Therefore the African former French colonies of Chad, Djibouti, Mali, the Central African Republic, and Cote d’Ivoire have never had anti-homosexuality laws, which cannot be said for the majority of Euro-American countries. This also means there were African and predominately Muslim countries where homosexuality was legal before it was legal in the US, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The location of the photoshoot couldn’t be more ironic. In the background of the photograph is the famous The Night Watch by Rembrandt painted in 1642. The 1600's were an especially rich period of Dutch history, both in terms of cultural output and finance. Wealth was being poured into the Netherlands as a result of the Netherland’s colonialism and domination of world trade through the Dutch West India Company. Some of that trade included slaves. The first Africans to be brought to Jamestown in 1619 were brought by Dutch traders.
In this current discourse of gay rights and Other countries, we cannot forget how European colonialism helped to build and spread the very homophobia they are now crusading against.