Botswana Court Begins Hearings on Same-Sex Marriage Legalization

The Botswana High Court has begun hearing applications to participate in a case challenging the constitutionality of the ban on same-sex marriage. The main hearings for the lawsuit, filed by lesbian couple Bonolo Selelo and Tsholofelo Kumile, are scheduled for October 2026.

The couple argues that the current Marriage Act, which uses gender-specific language, discriminates against them and violates their constitutional rights to equality and dignity. Both human rights organizations, including the country’s leading LGBT group LEGABIBO, and religious associations opposing changes to the legislation plan to join the case.

The Botswana government also opposes the lawsuit, stating that the refusal to register the marriage was lawful because current legislation does not provide for unions between people of the same sex.

If the court rules in favor of the plaintiffs, Botswana will become the second country in Africa after South Africa to legalize same-sex marriage. In 2019, the Botswana High Court made a historic ruling to decriminalize homosexual relations, which was upheld by the Court of Appeal in 2021.