This study explores how same-sexed partners navigate marriage through the Zulu conceptualisation of marriage as a ritual, to investigate the nexus of counter-heteronormative ontologies and Zulu culture. Amid draconian laws being passed criminalising homosexuality and growing conservative movements against LGBTQIA+ expression across the African continent; I sought to examine how African cultures could be used to affirm individuals who exist beyond the bounds of heteronormativity. Qualitative research methods were employed which involved semi-structured, conversation-styled, interviews with cultural experts and lived experience experts who solemnised their union to a same-sexed partner through Zulu marriage rituals. The findings illustrate that same-sex marriages do exist in the Zulu culture and are ritually negotiated. Subsequently manifesting in rituals that resemble heterosexual marriages or adaptations to heteronormative rituals. The research underscores how same-sexed partners solemnise through Zulu marriage rituals while leaving room for possibilities of how these rituals could be negotiated by other couples. It contributes to the growing body of research on count-heteronormative ontologies and African indigenous ways of doing things. Although this study broadly addressed the topic future research could focus on particular social groups within the Zulu community. 

Research in progress...