LGBTQ rights in Africa

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LGBTQ rights in Africa
Same-sex marriage   Limited recognition (foreign residency rights)   Homosexuality legal but no recognition   Prison but unenforced   Punishable by prison   Death penalty but unenforced   Enforced death penalty
Status	Legal in 23 out of 54 countries; equal age of consent in 17 out of 54 countries Legal, with an equal age of consent, in all 8 territories
Gender identity	Legal in 4 out of 54 countries Legal in 7 out of 8 territories
Military	Allowed to serve openly in 1 out of 54 countries Allowed in all 8 territories
Discrimination protections	Protected in 10 out of 54 countries Protected in all 8 territories
Family rights
Recognition of relationships	Recognized in 2 out of 54 countries Recognized in all 8 territories
Restrictions	Same-sex marriage constitutionally banned in 9 out of 54 countries
Adoption	Legal in 1 out of 54 countries Legal in all 8 territories

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Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in Africa are generally poor in comparison to the Americas, Western Europe, and Oceania.^[a]

As of December 2024, homosexuality is outlawed in 30 out of the 54 African states recognised by the United Nations or African Union. Human Rights Watch notes that another two countries, Benin and the Central African Republic, do not outlaw homosexuality but have some laws that discriminate against homosexual individuals.^[1] Many of the laws that criminalise homosexuality are colonial-era laws.^[2] Most states which have legalised homosexuality do not have legislation specifically protecting homosexuals from discrimination in areas of life, such as employment.^[3]

Homosexuality has never been criminalised in Benin, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Djibouti, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Niger, and Rwanda, and was decriminalised in Angola, Botswana, Cape Verde, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, and South Africa. However, in six of these countries (Benin, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Congo, Niger, and Madagascar), the age of consent is higher for same-sex sexual relations than for opposite-sex ones. Namibia is currently the most recent country in Africa and in the world to decriminalise homosexuality.^{[citation needed]}

In November 2006, South Africa became the first country in Africa and the fifth country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage. In May 2023, the Supreme Court of Namibia ruled foreign same-sex marriages must be recognised equally to heterosexual marriages.^{[citation needed]} LGBTQ anti-discrimination laws exist in ten African countries: Angola, Botswana, Cape Verde, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, and South Africa.

In some countries with criminal punishments for homosexuality, governments have recently been enforcing the law more harshly, and many legislators have recently proposed stricter sentences for same-sex activity. Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023, which allows the death sentence for certain types of consensual same-sex activities, has attracted international attention.^[4]

Since 2011, some developed countries have been considering or implementing laws that limit or prohibit general budget support to countries that restrict the rights of LGBTQ people.^[5] Despite this, many African countries have refused to consider increasing LGBTQ rights^[6] and, in some cases, have drafted laws to increase sanctions against LGBTQ people.^[7] Past African leaders such as Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Uganda's Yoweri Museveni claimed that LGBTQ behaviour was brought into the continent from other parts of the world. Nevertheless, most scholarship and research demonstrate that homosexuality has long been a part of various African cultures.^{[8][9][10][11]}

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