Botswana elects pro-gay president!

From the article:

[quote] In March 2019, the 54-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer shared his views on Sections 164 and 167 of Botswana’s Penal Code, which criminalised same-sex relationships.

[quote] “We will ensure that Sections 164 and 167 are decriminalised,” Boko stated in a video shared on Facebook. “That’s the argument I raised back then, and that’s the position I still hold even now.”

Botswana is a remarkable country. In the big sea of dictatorships, failed states and corrupt regimes, this country has been steadily democratic. Would like to travel there and experience it myself for a week or two.

R2, completely agree. I'd rather go there than murder/rape capital South Africa.

That’s fabulous! Thanks for posting, OP.

Correction to the body of text...

[quote] Why do the southern African countries seem more progressive on gay rights than the rest of sub-Saharan Africa?

My partner and I went to Botswana (along with Namibia and South Africa) last summer and really liked it there. In fact, we got to know some South African gay couples who moved there since they felt safer there (in terms of crime) than in South Africa.

And, yes, Southern African countries are more liberal. In Namibia, being gay was a non-issue as well.

It's almost like the further you get away from the supposed religion of Peace known as Islam the less f***** up they are.

He’s cute

r7 I hope you're joking. Uganda is probably the most homophobic place in Africa and that's all due to Christianity. American evangelicals were even being bankrolled by the American taxpayers to evangelise there during the Trump regime.

R6, I wonder why the southern countries are more liberal though? Is it due to the legacy of human rights leaders like Mandela and Desmond Tutu?

[quote] It's almost like the further you get away from the supposed religion of Peace known as Islam the less f***** up they are.

Uganda is Christian.

Botswana is economically stable--more so than South Africa on whom it relies for exports of agricultural goods. Economic stability fosters democratic government.They've made steady progress in using the measured prosperity to build infrastructure and institutions, unlike the dictatorships elsewhere.

Botswana is also largely one tribe, so not a lot of conflict in that regard.

Am I the only one who's read the [ITALIC]No 1 Ladies Detective Agency[/italic] series? The video adaption, with Jill Scott and Anika Noni Rose, includes an added gay character (doesn't appear in the books).

R7, Cape Town is probably the most gay city in the southern hemisphere and it has a very sizeable Muslim minority largely due to all the Indonesian indentured workers that were brought over - the Bo Kaap with its iconic popsicle-colored houses is an area that was mandated as Cape Malay during apartheid. Funny enough, it directly abuts the historically gay neighborhood of De Waterkant.

In South Africa particularly, I’d say that Mandela and Tutu’s incredibly humane ethos ensured the codification of a very progressive view of human rights in the post-apartheid era and that white South Africans of English descent who still make up the country’s economic elite -have largely progressive views on race relations, feminism and gay rights, especially compared to the typical socially conservative Afrikaners.

Ahh .... Bechuanaland.

[quote] Cape Town is probably the most gay city in the southern hemisphere

More than Rio, Buenos Aires, Sydney and Melbourne?

He IS hot!

R16, glad I'm not the only one who thinks he's hot!

What kind of cookies do they have in Botswana? Because he's been sniffing some of them.

R6 my partner and I made the same trip in April. Second time in Botswana for me. The people are very friendly and are proud of their country. Is it as materially wealthy as South Africa? No, but it’s a far more egalitarian society which is probably why crime is much lower there (although I was told it was becoming a problem in Gaborone since the pandemic).

Being gay there was a non-issue, we also met a lesbian couple from Atlanta staying at the same lodge (one of them was kind of a bitch though).

I’m so glad they did, and also I sense that he’s very phallically gifted.

[quote] What kind of cookies do they have in Botswana? Because he's been sniffing some of them.

He does not look like he's sniffing cookies, to me. But agree that he's very handsome and attractive.

R21, agreed, he's extremely attractive, educated and liberal, the perfect mix!

He’s also kinda cute.