Gender and sexuality diversity in Southern Africa

I write this chapter from the position of an Australian Gender and Sexuality Diversity (GSD) academic who regularly visits and collaborates with GSD organisations and individuals in Southern Africa in support of United Nations-supported initiatives and other efforts to promote GSD rights. Southern African nations vary greatly with respect to the legal rights of relevant populations. Comoros and Tanzania still criminalise same-sex sexual practices for both men and women, and eSwatini criminalises these for men only, while six countries protect GSD rights to a substantial degree (most notably South Africa, Mozambique and Seychelles). Overall, the southern part of the continent shows a stronger trend towards non-discriminatory legislation compared to the north, west, east or central regions and has contributed significantly towards regional and global rights recognition in ways assisting Australia (my context). Against this background, this chapter identified a number of Southern African transnational contributions to GSD issues, with a particular focus on education, drawing on recent research.