This article explores the universe of affective relations in Cabo Verde, especially those aspects related to conjugality and sexuality. Our interest begins with the demands for same-sex marriage made by a gay Cabo Verdean association and the ethnographic data on the gay marriage issue when it was debated by homosexual militants in Mindelo (São Vicente Island). These facts will be analyzed in the context of conjugal arrangements and heterosexual sexuality in the country. We argue that analyzing the debate on gay marriage and broadening the discussion to understand how affective relationships are lived between men and women in the archipelago, it is necessary to reflect not only on the dynamics of local affections, but especially how the circulation of discourses and values within global social movements impinges on the situation in Cabo Verde.
Cabo Verde; homosexuality; conjugality; globalization; anthropology