By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NEW YORK (IDN) \u2013 If a democratic society is characterized by \u201ctolerance, diversity and open-mindedness,\u201d three countries in Africa have now reached that pinnacle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Botswana joined Angola and Mozambique in de-criminalizing same-sex relations in June 2019. High Court Justice Michael Lebruru, in his defining decision, added: \u201chuman dignity is harmed when minority groups are marginalized.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ruling decided a case brought by Letsweletse Motshidiemang, 24, a student at the University of Botswana. Society has changed, he argued, and Botswana\u2019s colonial-era prohibition on gay sex also needed to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Motshidiemang was emotional at the news of his victory. \u201cOf course I wanted to win, but I didn\u2019t expect it,\u201d he said through tears on the phone. \u201cI did it just because I felt it was something I had to do for my community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Botswana\u2019s courts were enforcing the archaic law which brought a prison term of up to 7 years, England and Wales had already lifted these punishments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been stuck with these provisions when [the British] have long discarded them,\u201d said Tshiamo Rantao, the lawyer for the Lesbians, Gays & Bisexuals of Botswana (LEGABIBO), an advocacy group that joined the case as a friend of the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sadly, a similar case in Kenya took a different route. The High Court there upheld that country\u2019s ban on gay sex, finding that \u201cthe time has not yet arrived to decriminalize homosexual practices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGay men and women do not represent a group or class which at this stage has been shown to require protection under the Constitution,\u201d the Kenyan judges agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The judges in Botswana firmly disagreed. \u201cAs society changes, the law must evolve,\u201d explained Judge Leburu. The law in Botswana, he said, was a \u201cBritish import\u201d and had been developed \u201cwithout consultation of local peoples.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tshepo Ricki Kgositau, a transgender woman who in 2017 successfully challenged this same court to have the gender marker on her driver\u2019s license changed from male to female, applauded the court\u2019s ruling. \u201cIt\u2019s about time Botswana sheds this colonial legacy and interprets its own humanity,\u201d she declared. [IDN-InDepthNews \u2013 04 July 2019]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photo: Botswanans celebrate the high court\u2019s decision decriminalizing homosexuality. Credit: LEGABIBO (Lesbians, Gays & Bisexuals of Botswana) via Facebook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) \u2013 If a democratic society is characterized by \u201ctolerance, diversity and open-mindedness,\u201d three countries in Africa have now reached that pinnacle. Botswana joined Angola and Mozambique in de-criminalizing same-sex relations in June 2019. High Court Justice Michael Lebruru, in his defining decision, added: \u201chuman dignity is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,18,16,32],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6159","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa","8":"category-injustice-corruption","9":"category-news","10":"category-regions"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6159"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6160,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6159\/revisions\/6160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}