So much of what we hear from the African continent with regard to the rights of LGBTQ people is discouraging. Hard Copy has run stories about severe legal persecution in Uganda, Nigeria, and Senegal, among others. However, Africa is not a monolith: South Africa has long maintained very progressive policies in defense of its LGBTQ community, and now one of its neighbors, Botswana, has officially removed the colonial-era ban on same-sex activity from its legal code. That ban had been unenforceable since court rulings in 2019 and 2021, holding it unconstitutional. But removing it from the criminal law code completely is an important symbolic step.
Good News for African Gays
