Ever since the fusion of four lodges into the Grand Lodge of London in 1717 and the subsequent spread of Freemasonry to different corners of the globe, it has been associated with alternative and more or less illicit forms of power. In some settings (but certainly not everywhere) rumors about transgressive forms of sex, and notably same-sex practices, played a key role in such associations. Over the last decades such linkages became a popular obsession in some parts of Africa. In this paper I will base myself on examples from Francophone Africa, especially from Cameroon and Gabon. In Cameroon people refer to the political elite as les pédés de la République, who are supposed to corrupt ambitious young men and women by same-sex initiations associated with Freemasonry. This is one of the justifications people mention to explain the recent proliferation of homophobia in Cameroonian society. There is an intriguing contrast with Anglophone parts of the continent, where Freemasonry is very present as well, equally linked to illicit forms of empowerment and enrichment, but much less with same-sex practices (as in Anglophone settings elsewhere in the world).
The aim of this paper is to explore how people link supposed same-sex practices to empowerment and enrichment. Do specific aspects of Freemason culture play a role in this? How are they articulated to local perceptions and practices? A difficult challenge in all this is to relate rumors to practices. Transgression is seen as productive, but how is this effected in everyday life?