LGBT rights in Africa

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LGBT 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 8 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

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Africa are in most countries very poor in comparison to the Americas, Western Europe and Oceania.^[a]

Out of the 54 states recognised by the United Nations or African Union or both, homosexuality is outlawed in 31 African countries as of October 2023. Human Rights Watch notes that another two countries, Benin and the Central African Republic, do not outlaw homosexuality, but have some laws which discriminate against homosexual individuals.^[1] Many of the laws that criminalize 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, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, and Rwanda, and has been decriminalised in Angola, Botswana, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, the Seychelles and South Africa. However, in 6 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.

In November 2006, South Africa became the first country in Africa and the fifth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. In May 2023, the Supreme Court of Namibia ruled foreign same-sex marriages must be recognized equally to heterosexual marriages. LGBT anti-discrimination laws exist in eight African countries: Angola, Botswana, Cape Verde, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, and South Africa.

In some of the 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, 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 LGBT people.^[5] In spite of this, many African countries have refused to consider increasing LGBT rights,^[6] and in some cases have drafted laws to increase sanctions against LGBT people.^[7] Past African leaders such as Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Uganda's Yoweri Museveni claimed that LGBT behaviour was brought into the continent from other parts of the world. Nevertheless, most scholarship and research demonstrates that homosexuality has long been a part of various African cultures.^{[8][9][10][11]}

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