Botswana’s High Court on Tuesday declared that colonial-era laws criminalizing gay sex were unconstitutional, in a huge boost for LGBT rights in Africa. The unanimous decision, handed down by Justice Michael Leburu in the capital of Gaborone, comes less than three weeks after the Kenyan High Court decided to uphold similar laws that prohibit gay sex.
LGBT activists hope that today’s decision will mark the beginning of a shift in attitude toward people who have faced discrimination, violence, and isolation as a result of their sexuality. Botswana is the latest country in Africa to decriminalize same sex relations, with Amnesty saying it follows Angola in January, Seychelles in June 2016, Mozambique in June 2015 and Sao Tome and Principe, and Lesotho in 2012.
South Africa is the only African nation to have legalized gay marriage.
Via Buzzfeed
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