7 January 22 - 28, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents They remember chaos erupting as people wagged their fists about Obama “bringing queerness to the country.” But Adeb insists that queerness has always been there. They referenced the Maale people’s broad gen- der expression. In southern Ethiopia, the Maale people have a term called “ashtime.” “In modern day, we would describe them as non-binary, or trans — specifically trans women,” Adeb says. “This group was perceived as closer to God. They were spir- itually pure, so they were the only ones who were able to go into the high courts. Historically, Africa is the birthplace of queerness. There’s so much queer culture in every single country, but that part of his- tory gets erased, it gets hidden, it gets whitewashed. So there’s this belief — even amongst Africans — that queerness is a Western import.” A Gathering Place Q ueer Motherland is working to illumi- nate similarly hidden aspects of Afri- can history. The group regularly posts informative content across social media, shares posts celebrating African queerness and plans events for the community. Recently, about 30 people convened at Pan-African Con- nection with plates of jollof rice, a traditional West African dish, in celebration of Queer Motherland’s first Queersgiving event. Hosted in collaboration with Dallas Black Queer Collective, Queersgiving offered Dal- las’ Black queer community a space to gather and celebrate chosen family. Late last month, the organization hosted its first digitally global event, Queer African Vision Board Circle, to plan for the new year. “Our goals center around our three pillars: education, advocacy and community,” Okoro tells us. “I want to build more chapters across the U.S. and in different parts of Africa and make sure we’re having events every single month. We also want to make a Queer Moth- erland Scholarship fund. I know a lot of queer people in African and Black families can be ostracized from their homes, and I want peo- ple to be able to continue their education.” Queer Motherland also plans to partner with more African organizations doing ad- vocacy work on the ground. “South Africa has the biggest queer Afri- can conference in the world,” Okoro says. “I want to partner with them, maybe be a ven- dor at their event next year, and make sure that we are actually advocating for the people in Africa so their voices are heard as well.” For Adeb, joining Queer Motherland has given them the opportunity to understand that, much like the African community, the queer community is vibrantly diverse. This has allowed Adeb a lifeline for their own identity and has connected them with oth- ers from Ethiopia who have reached out to discuss their own personal journeys. “Access is so important,” Adeb says. “There is so much fear for people — specifi- cally in African countries, to access this kind of space. To see representation of someone that looks exactly like them, living the lives that they could live, shows them it’s possible.” Scan Here to Enter to Win 2 Tickets
