Desmond Tutu is being remembered for his passionate advocacy on behalf of LQBTQ people as well as his fight for racial justice. But the South African archbishop’s campaigning against homophobia had limited impact in the rest of Africa before he died.
Homosexual activity remains outlawed in more than 30 of Africa’s 54 countries; in a few, it is punishable by death. Many LGBTQ Africans are subject to stigma and abuse, facing unemployment, homelessness and estrangement from their families.
In Cape Town, where Tutu was the Anglican archbishop, members of the LGBTQ community reacted to his death with tributes. — In Botswana, the Court of Appeal last month unanimously upheld a 2019 ruling that decriminalized consensual same-sex activities. Previously, gay sex was outlawed and offenders faced up to seven years in prison. A few other African countries also have decriminalized same-sex relationships in recent years, including Angola, Mozambique and the Seychelles.
Last month, according to Human Rights Watch, a mob in Cameroon beat and sexually assaulted a 27-year-old intersex person. The perpetrators made videos of the prolonged attack that circulated on social media.In Senegal, 13 opposition legislators recently introduced a bill to toughen penalties against homosexuality, doubling the maximum sentence to 10 years. Parliament members from the governing coalition say such a measure is unnecessary since homosexual acts are already illegal.
“A lot of African preachers hold a lot of prejudice, hate and disgust for the LGBTQ community,” he said. He issued a statement reminding Ghana’s Anglican leaders that the global body of Anglican leaders had committed itself to opposing anti-LGBTQ discrimination and the criminalization of same-sex activity.
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