Hundreds of people protested on Saturday in Botswana’s capital Gaborone against a bill seeking to make same-sex relations legal.
Botswana’s parliament was forced to introduce the bill legalizing same-sex relations pursuant to a 2019 ruling of the High Court of Botswana, which held that laws criminalizing same-sex relations are unconstitutional. The case was brought by a gay man in Botswana, contending that two provisions in the Botswana Penal Code relating to same-sex sexual intercourse had infringed his rights to dignity, liberty and to be free from discrimination. The two challenged provisions stated that:
Art. 164 – Any person who (a) has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature; … or (c) permits any other person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature, is guilty of an offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years.
The High Court, upholding the plaintiff’s contentions, held that there was no public purpose in continuing the criminalization. The government sought to revoke the court ruling through an appeal, which was rejected by the Court of Appeal of Botswana, the country’s highest court, in 2021. As a result, Parliament introduced a bill which to repeal the two contested provisions.
The bill has sparked protest from religious groups, who organized Saturday’s protest in Gaborone to express their opposition to the law. Protestors held banners with slogans such as “we say no to homosexuality” and “protect our children against homosexuals.” Reportedly, pastors and churches in Botswana had already presented a petition to the Parliament requesting a referendum on the bill.
The Kenyan parilaiment is set to introduce a bill strengthening the country’s ban on same-sex relations, including capital punishment for “aggrivated homosexuality,” and prohibiting the “promotion” of homosexuality. Earlier this month, Ghana passed a bill that bans same-sex relations, and Uganda’s president signed a law similar to the looming Kenyan legislation in May.
