Gaborone, 14 July: “Marang a letsatsi a tlisa tsholofelo” in Setswana means “Sunshine brings hope.” That is exactly what the Marang Southern Africa LGBTIQ Fund plans to do.
With the support of the European Union, Gender Links and the Botswana Network on Ethics, Law, HIV and AIDS BONELA have taken the bold step of launching this fund amid the surge of anti-rights sentiments and homophobia across the globe and in our region. The Fund aims to counter the culture of keeping LGBTQI people’s lives in the shadows, shaming their experiences, and treating them like second-class citizens.
The Fund also aims to shine a light on the triumphs of LGBTIQ individuals and organisations in Southern Africa, promoting visibility and acceptance while empowering them to live authentically with pride.
A careful evaluation of the region’s movement requirements, legal frameworks, and funding deficiencies influenced the choice of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Madagascar, and Mauritius as the five countries of focus in this first round.
In these five nations, LGBTIQ communities are resisting criminalisation, a lack of visibility, and inadequate funding. In most of these countries, relationships between people of the same sex are still criminalised, while trans, non-gender-conforming, and intersex individuals are systemically excluded and routinely refused care, often compromising their safety and dignity.
The Marang Fund aims to convert their challenges into opportunities to put the power back in their hands.
At the same time, there are some wins to recognise and celebrate, like the recent decriminalisation milestone that happened in Botswana in 2019. This changed public discourse and allowed room for advocates to challenge the nation’s harmful narratives and demand overall inclusion. Although activism is thriving and growing, LGBTIQ movements often function with little to no support, enduring persistent stigma, which in most cases is life-threatening, legal risks, and scarce public services.
These circumstances make resourcing not merely beneficial but essential. The intention is to empower community-driven approaches, increase capacity, and create secure, sustainable avenues for advocacy, healing, and visibility.
To merely insist on wanting a safer, more connected Southern Africa for every citizen in the region without financially supporting that would not allow us to fully realise that goal. Thus, resourcing the possibility of a marginalised community such as this one is crucial in addressing the systemic barriers they face and creating lasting change. By investing in the empowerment and capacity building of queer individuals, we are working on having a more inclusive and equitable society for all.
Marang is more than just a name; it is intentionally affirming and refusing to be complicit in the discrimination, systemic marginalisation and unjust treatment of queer individuals. It is a commitment to creating a world where everyone can live authentically and without fear of persecution. Investing in LGBTIQ movements today is to build a more liberated future, benefiting not just queer communities but also the societies they aim to heal and change.
Pride Month ended in June, but our struggles have just begun. Pride is not just a celebration; it is a political act. It is rooted in protest, in reclaiming space, in asserting the right to exist, love, resist, and thrive. While the rainbow flags may come down in many spaces, for queer people, the work continues long after June. Pride is lived daily in countries where existence itself is a risk but where resistance also blooms.
The Marang Fund will officially be launched in South Africa on 8 August, the eve of Women’s Day, a day that commemorates women from across a range of divides standing up against the apartheid pass laws in 1956. The Fund will continue its march to launch in the wings of the Southern Africa Development Community Heads of State summit in Madagascar on 21 August.
As we take this stand for gender justice, let us commit to doing more than promoting visibility during Pride Month. Let us explore what justice, healing, and safety look like all year round. Let us create ecosystems of care and solidarity where queer communities are not only seen but supported, not just included but centered. Be seen. Be supported. Be powerful.
(Neo B. Nthepha Kitso, is Project Assistant – Marang LGBTIQ Fund, Gender Links Botswana. For more information on LGBTIQ rights in the region please refer to the Sexual Diversity chapter in the Voice and Choice Barometer)