ABOUT US

The initial spark for LEGABIBO emerged in the late 1990s: we are the oldest LGBTIQ+, community organisation in Botswana. Advocating for change is in LEGABIBO’s DNA. We have fought for justice and the realisation of human rights for LGBTIQ+ people in Botswana from the very beginning. Also significant is the fact that LEGABIBO has contributed to the formation of most of the leaders and organisations that make up the Botswana LGBTIQ+ sector. For most of the past twenty years, LEGABIBO remained unregistered because of policy barriers. It was hosted by two other civil society organizations, first Ditshwanelo – The Botswana Center for Human Rights, a human rights organisation, and then, for many years, by the Botswana Networks on Ethics, Law and HIV/Aids, a national HIV and human rights body. In 2016 – after a long struggle – we won our court appeal, and with it, the right to register as an LGBTIQ+ organization. Therefore, from a formal perspective, LEGABIBO is two years old, although we have a rich twenty-year history.