By: Natasha Archary

Protests have erupted in Botswana over Government’s proposed legislation to legalize same-sex relationships.
Religious organizations and families in their hundreds, came out in protest on Saturday, 23 July in Botswana’s capital, Gaborone to voice their concerns over the proposed new legislation.
Holding signs that read, “We say no to homosexuality,” and “Protect our children against homosexuality,” the staunch naysayers believe the legislation of same-sex relationships will open a floodgate of immorality and abomination.
Pastor Pulafela Mabiletswane Siele of the Evangelical Fellowships of Botswana wants the proposed bill scrapped.
However, a court ruling in 2019 ruled in favour of the LGBTQIA+ community, and Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi vowed to comply with the court order.
Masisi who had a meeting with members of the Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals of Botswana (Legabibo), said, “We ask and expect everyone to respect the decisions of our court.”
This after Botswana’s government lost the appeal to overturn the court’s initial ruling that homosexuality be decriminalized.
The appeal was rejected in November 2021, and Masisi’s invitation to the LGBTQIA+ community was a turning point in Botswana’s history.
The Legabibo group went to court to fight for their rights, and in 2019, A Gaborone court ruled that government does away with its laws to punish people in same-sex relationships, calling the law, “relics of the Victorian era that oppresses a minority.”
🇧🇼 Anti-LGBTQ Protest in Botswana as Government Seeks To Legalise Same-Sex Relationship
— BantuPage (@BantuPage) July 22, 2023
Residents of Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, have protested a proposed measure that would legalise same-sex relationships.
Pastor Pulafela Mabiletswane Siele of the Evangelical… pic.twitter.com/queOLTd8tl
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