Abstract

Excerpted From: Tsion Gurmu and Nekessa Opoti, Homophobia in Africa and Xenophobia in the United States Create Perilous Conditions for Black LGBTI Migrants, 50 Human Rights 18 (March, 2025) (Full Document)

Laws affecting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals in Africa are disparate. Globally, South Africa was the first to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, and then in 2006, became the fifth nation to legalize same-sex marriage. In other African nations, homophobic laws vary from one-year imprisonment in Liberia to the death penalty in Mauritania, Somalia, and parts of Nigeria. Anti-LGBTI rhetoric is weaponized by African politicians to legislate hate through the creation and expansion of anti-homosexuality laws. Uganda, which has one of the harshest anti-LGBTI laws, penalizes consensual same-sex sexual activity with life imprisonment and penalizes “aggravated homosexuality” with the death penalty. In Kenya, where consensual same-sex activity is already illegal, the proposed 2023 Family Protection Bill seeks to penalize consensual same-sex sexual activity as well as gay rights activism with a minimum of 10 years in prison and the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.” Ghana's parliament approved an anti-LGBTI bill that increased the maximum sentence for being gay and makes gay rights activism and advocacy punishable with up to five years imprisonment. Ghana's bill has prompted a sharp rise in violence. These laws continue to serve as models for copycat legislation, driving LGBTI Africans to seek protection as refugees and asylum seekers in Western nations.

However, refuge from hate is nearly impossible for Black LGBTI asylum seekers. As African leaders fuel anti-LGBTI sentiment and stiffen anti-homosexuality legislation on the continent, Western politicians are utilizing xenophobic rhetoric and expanding anti-immigrant legislation. In the United States, recent immigration policy proposals include increasing racial profiling so anyone who “looks like an immigrant” can be detained; laws permitting law enforcement to carry out raids at schools, hospitals, and houses of worship; and ending birthright citizenship, deferred action for childhood arrivals, and other pathways to immigration. President Trump began mass deportations when he resumed office in January 2025 and has threatened on multiple occasions to “carry out the largest deportation in American history.” Black migrants will be significantly impacted as he has vowed to prioritize deporting Haitians, stating that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” Historically, Black immigrants in the United States have been subjected to dehumanizing stereotypes like false accusations of spreading crime and disease. The combination of expanding anti-homosexuality legislation in Africa and anti-immigrant laws in the United States creates hostile and dangerous conditions for LGBTI Africans.

This article first examines the expansion of anti-homosexuality legislation and counteracting efforts to advance LGBTI rights in Africa. Next, we look at challenges confronting LGBTI migrants during their journeys to seek refuge, including how marginalization and discrimination continue and oftentimes heighten during migration. We also discuss how the existing systems of protection in the United States are inadequate and must be strengthened to meet the unique challenges LGBTI African migrants face. Finally, we conclude by discussing examples of resistance and community power building led by LGBTI African migrants in the United States.

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While limited, there are creative initiatives that address the unique needs of Black LGBTI asylum seekers in the United States. Below are a few of these critical community resources.

The Queer Black immigrant project (QBip) is a Black radical lawyering initiative that provides legal representation to LGBTQIA+ Black immigrants while creating a safe space for clients to regain control over their voices through oral storytelling that elevates narratives illuminating the global injustice of state-sponsored homophobia and xenophobia.

The Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP) is a multi-generational member organization that works toward creating communities across the United States that are home for Black queer and trans migrants. The power of BLMP's community building is rooted in organizing impacted people who are engaged in advocacy.

The Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) fights for the rights of Black migrants and African Americans through organizing, legal advocacy, research, policy, and narrative building to improve the conditions of Black communities by advancing racial justice and migrant rights. Most recently, BAJI has been actively supporting the work of LGBTI activists in Ghana to create safety and resistance plans as the country passed its latest anti-homosexuality bill.

Protecting the rights of Black queer and trans migrants is crucial, especially with the rise of authoritarianism, racial and gender hierarchies, criminalization of homosexuality, and increasing nationalism and xenophobia. There is an urgent need for attorneys to understand the plight of Black LGBTI immigrants and to show up in substantive ways that challenge the societal and institutional discrimination that they experience.

Tsion Gurmu is an Ethiopian-American attorney, futurist, writer, and researcher on migration, with a focus on gender and sexuality.

Nekessa Opoti is a communications strategist whose work articulates and amplifies the stories of Black people living at the intersections of migration, gender, class, and sexuality.