Oarabile*, a gay man in his early 20s never missed church as a child.
“Once I started opening up about my sexuality, people started looking at me differently. I could see the disgust in their faces. My parents started being ashamed of me. They would ask me why I could not behave like other ‘normal’ boys,” Oarabile said.
“My pastor made things worse. He used to call me upfront with the claims that he was revoking the evil spirits in me. I felt betrayed and hurt, so I decided to quit church. I now hang out with people [who] understand and respect me. I don’t feel judged with my people from the LGBTQI community,” he added.
Uyapo*, a lesbian woman in her early 20s who lives in Gaborone, still goes to church but is afraid to disclose her sexuality.
“I always hear how my churchmates talk about the LGBTQI community, and it is not amusing. I sometimes ask myself if going to church is worth it because many people there are judgmental, even the pastors,” she said.
Uyapo said she does not mind that some people at her church suspect or have heard rumours that she is a lesbian and therefore gossip behind her back. If God created her the way she is, Uyapo reasons, no one has the right to judge her.
Jubang*, a transgender man who no longer attends church, said he didn’t face personal discrimination in religious spaces because he has always been able to “pass” as a man.
“However, I have seen other churchmates discriminate [against gay people] who are open about their sexuality. Pastors tended to remind [gay worshippers] of ‘their sin,’ and most church members disregarded them and hoped God would change them,” Jubang said.
This negative attention took its toll. Jubang said one friend started lying about his salvation, telling people Jesus made him straight because he was tired of being judged.
“I am glad I left the church. I remain accountable for myself and the people around me, but I have done away with the cult of self-hate,” Jubang said.
Reverend Thabo Mampane, who is gender non-conforming and uses he/him pronouns, said he faced abuse from fellow members of his Lutheran Church and was demoted because church leaders suspected him to be gay. He describes the church as being “lost”.
“We are one body. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it,” Mampane said, paraphrasing 1 Corinthians 12:26. “What is the role of the church in the context of violence against marginalised groups such as LGBTQI people? The church must restore human dignity.”
Reverent Mpho Moruakgomo of the Botswana Council of Churches (BCC) said not enough pastors and church workers are equipped to sensitively handle issues around gender and sexuality.
“Sexuality is very complex. We have to rethink and teach the church and church workers to understand [LGBTQI people],” he said.
To this end, BCC and Kgolagano Technical College are collaborating to create spaces within churches and the community where pastors, church workers and congregations can discuss issues that affect LGBTQI people without judgment.
Desmond Lunga, team leader at Men & Boys for Gender Equality, a Gaborone-based NGO that works to reduce gender inequalities and promote health and wellbeing, said religious and cultural leaders need to be educated about the LGBTQI issues in the same way they were educated about women’s empowerment decades back. If pastors and cultural custodians are educated about LGBTQI communities, he reasons, they will be able to accept and peacefully coexist with them.
“It will take a few members of the community, chiefs, and pastors to understand and embrace that human rights are human rights for all and to not discriminate against the LGBTQI community. Everyone has to understand that being gay or lesbian is not a choice but by creation, and God has created all of us differently. Who are we to judge? From that concept, all pastors would be able to educate their followers to live with LGBTQI persons, with respect and without stigma,” Lunga said.
Lunga sees signs of positive change in people like Mampane, who have been key in advocating for the LGBTQI community.
“Through such pastors, we see a light of hope. We call upon all the other pastors and religious leaders to do the same. Our legal arms have proven that there is need for [all people] to live together, and therefore we call upon our religious and traditional leaders to learn and open their minds to issues of human rights and educate their followers accordingly,” Lunga added.
In September, in a report issued by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry reviewing Botswana’s Constitution, commission members agreed that the rights of LGBTQI people should be included in the Constitution, noting that the LGBTQI community must be protected from discriminatory religious and cultural ideologies. The Commission also noted suggestions that Constitutional provisions be made for LGBTQI persons to marry, adopt children and have children via surrogacy so as to enjoy the right to a family of choice.
In their submission to the inquiry process, the Botswana Council of Churches stated that wider sexuality issues, including same-sex marriage, are delicate and divisive issues that require utmost care for the sake of peace and national stability. BCC’s submission further stated that those issues should not be addressed through legislative transformations, as there is no consensus on them.
