Proud: all smiles at Belgrade’s Pride march in 2021. This year’s march has been banned.
Zorana Jevtic/Reuters/Alamy Stock Photo
Despite an openly lesbian prime minister, Serbia’s deep-seated problems with homophobia remain.
A Nairobi protest against homophobic statements made by a government minister.
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Kenya’s LGBTI community continues to face the deadly consequences of homophobia, transphobia and biphobia.
A church-goer attends an inclusive church for the LGBTI community in Rwanda.
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A significant number of Rwanda’s LGBT community experience hostility. This includes at work and when trying to access health services.
An activist leaves Kenya’s high court after a 2019 ruling refused to scrap laws criminalising homosexuality.
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LGBTI refugees from other countries expect Kenya to be safer but are quickly disillusioned.
A still from Rafiki, a film by Wanuri Kahiu, Kenya (2018)
Rafiki/Big World Cinema
Discussions about the films on social media and online forums show that African queer lives are complex and don’t tell a single story.
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Despite same-sex relations being criminal, social media is a space to come out and speak back to homophobia for the Nigerian tweeters in the study.
Author Akwaeke Emezi.
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Despite Nigeria’s draconian laws against homosexuality, authors like the award-winning Akwaekwe Emezi are important new voices that add complexity to the question of identity.
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The book is a departure from despair and crippling homophobia. It records the experiences of people who refuse to be hopeless victims.
An activist poses for the camera outside Botswana High Court which ruled in favour of decriminalising homosexuality in June 2019.
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Predominant public sentiment remains largely anti-homosexual and overshadows constitutionally guaranteed rights in Africa.
A protest against Uganda’s anti-gay bill in front of the Ugandan High Commission in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2014.
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To address homophobia in Uganda, sexual rights must draw on the need for justice and social obligation.
Participants strut their stuff at Miss Gay Western Cape.
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There were secretive, intimate spaces in South Africa during the 1950s that paved the way for modern drag pageants.
The change in leadership is one of the factors that led to the decriminalisation of homosexual relationships in Angola.
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Angola’s new President João Lourenço has shown some willingness to engage in more inclusive politics.
Kewpie at the site of a demolished building after the forced removals from District Six, Cape Town.
Kewpie Collection/GALA
Despite South Africa’s progressive constitution, LGBTIQ people continue to face discrimination in all social spheres.
Homosexuality is criminalised in Morocco, and LGBTI people struggle to imagine a life of visibility and freedom.
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Morocco’s law combines with a strongly conservative society to create a real sense of danger among LGBTIQ people.
Education and awareness about gender identity and sexual orientation are crucial.
EPA/Kim Ludbrook
Many people use religion and culture as explanations for their homophobic attitudes.
In Malawi men who have sex with men can access healthcare services but they do not always get adequate treatment, care and support.
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Malawi and Tanzania have created programs to provide sexual and reproductive health services and HIV interventions. But men who have sex with men say it’s still difficult to access care.