Deadline for Extended Abstract Submissions: 9th October 2026
All submissions and enquiries should be emailed to: contact@feministafrica.net and copy info@feministafrica.net
Issue Editors: Amanda Odoi and Audrey Gadzekpo
Background
The last two decades have seen intense debates and attempts to (re)criminalise same-sex loving relationships and the activities of same-sex loving individuals, including lesbian, gay and transgender persons across the African continent (Ako and Odoi 2022; Awondo et al. 2012). Countries such as Nigeria (2014), Uganda (2023), Burkina Faso (2025) and Senegal (2026) have tightened existing laws banning homosexuality by passing harsher legislation (Human Dignity Trust n.d.). Ghana’s Parliament followed this trend when it passed the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill in February 2024. The law lapsed when it did not receive presidential assent from then-president Nana Akufo-Addo before the new government took office. On 29 May 2026, a revised version of the bill was passed and will need presidential assent before becoming law. Accompanying these laws are draconian measures that deny LGBTQ+ persons any form of support, even from family members and other critical service providers in the countries.
At the centre of these attempts to (re)criminalise the LGBTQ+ community are existing colonial-era laws that criminalise same-sex loving relationships (e.g., Ghana’s Criminal Offences Act, 1960, Act 29) and claims that same-sex loving relationships are alien to African culture (e.g., Odoi 2021). A seeming misunderstanding or lack of knowledge among citizens about the sexual histories and cultures of African societies, aided by fearmongering and misinformation driven by moral entrepreneurs such as religious and political leaders and other opinion leaders, has propelled this belief and the push for draconian laws targeting same-sex loving relationships and transgender persons (Ako and Odoi 2022; Otu 2022; Rodriguez 2026). However, evidence suggests that same-sex loving relationships have been practised on the African continent since before colonialism. Researchers, through anthropological studies among others, have pointed to the sexual fluidity of African societies (e.g., Ako 2023; Ajen 1998; Ambani 2017; Awondo, Murray and Roscoe 1998; Ngwena 2018; Signorini 1973; Tamale 2011; Odoi 2021). The colonial introduction of laws criminalising these relationships can also be viewed as proof that same-sex loving relationships existed before colonialism, and were likely not considered a problem until the introduction of these laws.
Some African countries have, however, decriminalised same-sex relationships between consenting adults, including South Africa (1998), Mozambique (2015), Seychelles (2016), Gabon (2020), Botswana (2019 and 2021) and Namibia (2023). In May 2023, Namibia’s Supreme Court even upheld the recognition of same-sex marriages contracted outside the country and involving a citizen. In addition, the foreign spouse of a Namibian is to be recognised and granted the same legal rights as a heterosexual partner who is a foreigner living in the country. In South Africa and the Seychelles, the laws allow LGBT persons the right to adopt and ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. While decriminalisation efforts on the continent predate the surge in discourses pushing for (re)criminalisation, there have also been sustained efforts by various groups, individuals, and institutions calling for the (re)criminalisation of LGBTQ+ issues. Sexual and human rights defenders, activists, and advocates have responded to these efforts by countering anti-LGBTQ+ narratives and working to halt the ongoing (re)criminalisation.
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