Botswana: After the 2019 Decriminalization ruling, where are we now?

In 2019, Botswana garnered international acclaim when the High Court decriminalized consensual same-sex relations—a historic decision that was upheld by the country’s apex court in 2021. Yet, six years on, a pressing question remains: Has this legal milestone led to tangible improvements in safety and dignity for LGBTQI+ individuals?

This article revisits Botswana’s landmark 2019 High Court ruling asking a critical question: where are we now? While the decision marked a historic victory for LGBTIQ+ rights and positioned Botswana as a regional leader, recent suspected hate-motivated killings underscore a troubling reality that legal reform has not automatically translated into safety, acceptance, or full inclusion for LGBTIQ+ people.

Through interviews with a LEGABIBO representative, LGBTIQ+ community members, a legal expert, and broader community voices, the story examines the gap between rights on paper and lived experience. It explores how the ruling has shaped visibility, rights, and representation, while also interrogating persistent stigma and violence. Timed amid renewed attention to hate crimes, the article offers a nuanced, people-centred analysis that balances progress with ongoing challenges and highlights emerging community-led responses. In doing so, it contributes to more inclusive reporting by centring LGBTIQ+ perspectives and reframing decriminalisation as a starting point, rather than the endpoint, of true equality and social change.

View the YTV TV clip