It wasn’t just the film Rafiki - a joyful lesbian love story - but also the experience of going to watch it after it was unbanned that created a new kind of freedom.
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.
Robert Tshabalala/Business Day/Gallo Images/Getty Images
Desmond Tutu is by far the most high-profile African, if not global, religious leader to support lesbian and gay rights, and he has done so since the 1970s.
Activists celebrate outside the High Court in Gaborone, Botswana on June 11, 2019. Botswana became the latest country to decriminalize gay sex.
(AP Photo)
Family support, being valued in their own homes and enjoying strong support from their social structures helped instill lesbians in a conservative South African province with a strong sense of self.
Until African political systems become less majoritarian and do a better job of protecting the rights of minorities, the true benefits of a democratic government are unlikely to be realised.
Education and awareness about gender identity and sexual orientation are crucial.
EPA/Kim Ludbrook