Botswana los urt bid to revoke gay rights | Ainews

Contents:

• A W FOR GAY RIGHTS BOTSWANA IS A ‘STEP AGAST THE CURRENT’ AI
• BOTSWANA PRINT VOWS TO HONOUR GAY RIGHTS JUDGMENT
• BEG GAY IN BOTSWANA IS LEGAL NOW
• BOTSWANA APPEALS URT UPHOLDS LG THAT CRIMALISED GAY SEX
• IT'S NO LONGER A CRIME TO BE GAY BOTSWANA
• BOTSWANA LOS URT BID TO REVOKE GAY RIGHTS
• BOTSWANA ERNMENT TO APPEAL AGAST LAW LEGALISG GAY SEX

A W FOR GAY RIGHTS BOTSWANA IS A ‘STEP AGAST THE CURRENT’ AI

The sectn prohibs oral and anal sex for both homosexual and heterosexual upl. India is the latt a strg of former Brish loni that have removed their anti-gay laws.

The suatn Botswana is most parable to the suatn Kenya where the high urt is expected to le on the untry’s anti-gay law May. The prohibn of same sex relatns also ntribut to creased HIV fectn rat as fear of mistreatment disurag gays and lbians om gettg tted and accsg health re.

Three years ago, the Court of Appeal led that the ernment’s failure to officially regnise LeGaBiBo (Lbians and Gays of Botswana) was unnstutnal. In 2016, Mmegi, one of Botswana’s ma daily newspapers, reported that 43% of Batswana are not opposed to havg homosexual neighbours, makg among the more tolerant untri Ai.

BOTSWANA PRINT VOWS TO HONOUR GAY RIGHTS JUDGMENT

But as is the se elsewhere the world, acceptance of homosexualy vari by age and tn level. Gay rights mpaigners exprsed joy at the Botswana urt of appeal’s cisn to uphold a lg that crimalised same-sex relatnships, sayg the untry’s judiciary had set an example for other Ain ernment had appealed a 2019 lg that crimalisg homosexualy was unnstutnal. The lg had been hailed as a major victory for gay rights mpaigners on the ntent, followg an unsuccsful attempt Kenya to repeal lonial-era laws crimalisg gay sex.

BEG GAY IN BOTSWANA IS LEGAL NOW

”Before the 2019 lg, gay sex was punishable by up to seven years jail. I have all sorts of emotns, but the bottom le is I am really happy, ” said Cae Youngman, head of policy and legal advocy for the anisatn Lbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana. Homosexualy is illegal many Ain untri, wh nvictns rryg a ath sentence some stat.

Tshekiso Tebalo/Agence France-Prse — Getty ImagJune 11, 2019In a momento se that prompted celebratn among gay people and civil rights activists around the ntent of Ai, Botswana’s High Court overturned laws on Tuday that crimalized the lg was livered only weeks after the High Court of Kenya upheld laws that crimalize gay sex, unrsrg the wi differenc how L. Said, “We are not lookg for people to agree wh homosexualy but to be tolerant.

Deliverg the lg, Judge Michael Lebu said the laws were “discrimatory” toward gay people and vlated Botswana’s Constutn, argug that overturng them was a matter of protectg human do the rt of Ai pare? ]South Ai beme the first natn on the ntent to crimalize homosexualy 1998, when the Johannburg High Court led that the natn’s sodomy laws vlated the untry’s newly adopted, post-apartheid 2010, several more untri Southern Ai have crimalized same-sex relatns, cludg Mozambique, Angola and Lotho.

BOTSWANA APPEALS URT UPHOLDS LG THAT CRIMALISED GAY SEX

In 2006, South Ai legalized gay marriage, beg the fifth untry the world to do chang often followed general efforts to reform the penal and mpaigns by public health officials to unter the spread of H.

V., said Neela Ghoshal, a senr rearcher wh Human Rights said that broad societal movements, such as the end of apartheid South Ai the 1990s or the Arab Sprg uprisg that began Tunisia 2010, had also created space for gay rights movements to spe South Ai’s tolerant laws, gay and transgenr people rema the target of vlence there, exemplifyg the wi dispari some Ain untri between what the legal says and how the thori choose to enforce some untri, Ms.

Ghoshal said, longstandg laws crimalizg homosexualy are not enforced at all, while untri that have never had anti-gay laws, there remas social stigma, vlence and noted that Kenya — where the High Court upheld laws that crimalize gay sex last month — people the pal were largely tolerant while those parts of the untrysi tend to be more ernments have taken an active role crackg down on gay people. Ghoshal said, movements for gay rights were stifled after the Arab Sprg by the rise of Print Abl Fattah el-Sisi, and the police began to target activists.

IT'S NO LONGER A CRIME TO BE GAY BOTSWANA

Siarly, Uganda’s legislature has adopted hostile posns toward gay people, part fluenced by nservative evangelil Christian misters, said Adotei Akwei, the puty director for advocy and ernment relatns for Amnty Internatnal.

BOTSWANA LOS URT BID TO REVOKE GAY RIGHTS

A Ugandan urt stck down a punive anti-gay law 2014, but left open the possibily that the measure uld be Akwei said that the Botswana cisn was “a wonrful step agast the current” a ntent that largely “has had a very nservative and hostile view of L.

BOTSWANA ERNMENT TO APPEAL AGAST LAW LEGALISG GAY SEX

Many of the anti-gay laws have been place sce the 19th century, when Ai was rved up to loni by European powers.