Saso people

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The Saso people (also known as Sasofo in Twi) are a community of men in southern Ghana who have sexual relationships with other men. The term "Saso" means "my mate" or "my colleague."[1][2]

Leadership

The Saso community has a leadership structure that includes a figure known as the Nana Hemaa (queen mother). This title comes from the traditional female leadership role in Akan people.[3]

Indigenous religious priests hold leadership positions in Saso communities. They lead engagement rituals, perform wedding ceremonies, and give spiritual guidance.[4][3]

Gender system

The Saso community has its own way of understanding gender. People are divided into two groups based on the role they take during sex. One group takes the insertive position. They are called εsor and are expected to behave in a masculine way. The other group takes the receptive position. They are called ase and are allowed to act in a more feminine manner. Some Saso people in the receptive group are called kojobesia. This is a Twi word for men who act like women.[5][1]

Ntete

Saso people take part in a practice called ntete, which means "training" in Twi. Ntete is how some men learn to have sexual relationships with other men within the community.[1][6]

Engagement and marriage

Saso people celebrate same-sex partnerships through engagement ceremonies (kakaka) and wedding ceremonies (aware).[7][3]

Cultural foundation

The Saso community relies on indigenous Akan social structures, traditional titles, and Twi linguistic terms to organize itself and define social and ritual roles within Ghana.[2]

References

  1. Banks, William (2011). "'This thing is sweet': ntetee and the reconfiguration of sexual subjectivity in post-colonial Ghana". Ghana Studies. 14: 265-290.
  2. Otu, Kwame Edwin (2022). Amphibious Subjects: Sasso and the Contested Politics of Queer Self-Making in Neoliberal Ghana. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520381858.
  3. Banks, William D. (2012). "Remembering Okomfo Kwabena: 'motherhood', spirituality, and queer leadership in Ghana". African Historical Review. 44 (2): 1-17.
  4. Banks, William D. (2013). Queering Ghana: Sexuality, Community, and the Struggle for Cultural Belonging in an African Nation (PhD dissertation). Wayne State University. p. 1.
  5. Banks (2013), pp. 67-68.
  6. Banks (2013), p. 95.
  7. Banks (2013), p. 123.