In a momentous case that prompted celebration among gay people and civil rights activists around the continent of Africa, Botswana’s High Court overturned laws on Tuesday that criminalized homosexuality. Yet the ruling was delivered only weeks after the High Court of Kenya upheld laws that criminalize gay sex, underscoring the wide differences in how L.B.G.T. people are treated across Africa, where views have been shaped by religion, diverse governments and colonial history. An anonymous plaintiff, identified in court papers only as L.M., challenged the anti-sodomy laws last year. In a written statement read by the applicant’s lawyers in court, L.M.

Source: New York Times June 11, 2019 21:40 UTC