Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in Africa are generally poor in comparison to the Americas, Western Europe, and Oceania.

However, in six of these countries (Benin, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Congo, Niger, and Madagascar), the age of consent is higher for same-sex sexual relations than for opposite-sex ones.

[4] LGBTQ anti-discrimination laws exist in ten African countries: Angola, Botswana, Cape Verde, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, and South Africa.

[8] Past African leaders such as Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Uganda's Yoweri Museveni claimed that LGBTQ behaviour was brought into the continent from other parts of the world.

[9][10][11][12] In a 2011 UN General Assembly declaration for LGBTQ rights, state parties were given a chance to express their support, opposition, or abstention on the topic.

Only Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritius, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, and South Africa expressed their support.

[citation needed] In southern Somalia, Somaliland, Mauritania, northern Nigeria, and Uganda, homosexuality results in the death penalty.

In addition to criminalising homosexuality, Nigeria has enacted legislation that would make it illegal for heterosexual family members, allies, and friends of LGBTQ people to be supportive.

According to Nigerian law, a heterosexual ally "who administers, witnesses, abets or aids" any form of gender non-conforming and homosexual activity could receive a ten-year jail sentence.

However, despite legal recognition, social discrimination against South African LGBTQ people does still occur, particularly in rural areas, where it is fueled by a number of religious figures and traditions.

Some scholars believe that the paintings reflect an example of homosexuality between two married men and prove that the ancient Egyptians accepted same-sex relationships.

Transvestic homosexuality also existed amongst the Moru, Nyima, and Tira people, and reported marriages of Korongo londo and Mesakin tubele for the bride price of one goat.

In the Korongo and Mesakin tribes, Nadel reported a common reluctance among men to abandon the pleasure of all-male camp life for the fetters of permanent settlement.

British social anthropologist Rodney Needham has described such a religious leadership role called "mugawe" among the Meru people and of Kenya, which included wearing women's clothes and hairstyle.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church plays a significant role in maintaining society’s opinion against homosexuality, and some members form anti-gay movements.

Among the Maale people of southern Ethiopia, historian Donald Donham documented "a small minority [of men] crossed over to feminine roles.

Called ashtime, these (biological) males dressed like women, performed female tasks, cared for their own houses, and apparently had sexual relations with men".

[32][33][34] Swedish anthropologist Felix Bryk reported active (i.e., insertive), and also mentioned "homo-erotic bachelors" among the pastoralist Nandi and Maragoli (Wanga).

[36][37] Writing in the 19th century about the area of today's southwestern Zimbabwe, David Livingstone asserted that the monopolisation of women by elderly chiefs was essentially responsible for the "immorality" practised by younger men.

Nicholas Hersh reports how in Morocco, LGBTQ asylum-seekers and refugees fear for their lives due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

[147] In 1997, a court found Canaan Banana, Mugabe's predecessor and the first President of Zimbabwe, guilty of 11 counts of sodomy and indecent assault.

[149] In the Gambia, former President Yahya Jammeh led the call for legislation that would set laws against homosexuals that would be "stricter than those in Iran", and that he would "cut off the head" of any gay or lesbian person discovered in the country.

[155][156] British newspaper The Guardian reported that President Yoweri Museveni "appeared to add his backing" to the legislative effort by, among other things, claiming "European homosexuals are recruiting in Africa", and saying gay relationships were against God's will.

This led to widespread criticism from the scientific community, with an academic of the National Institutes of Health calling on his Ugandan counterparts to reconsider their findings.

[158] Uganda passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 on March 22, 2023, making it illegal to identify as LGBTQ, punishable by life in prison, and imposing the death penalty for aggravated gay sex.

[159][160] Abune Paulos, the late Patriarch of the ancient Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which has a very strong influence in Christian Ethiopia, stated homosexuality is an animal-like behaviour that must be punished.

Conversely, some African states like Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Seychelles, have abolished sodomy laws in the 21st century.