Many African countries penal codes criminalize homosexuality and the punishment varies from years in prison to death penalty. The classification of homosexuality as a crime and a disease in many African countries propels the alienation of the LGBTQIA+ communities, making them a marginalized and vulnerable group. There is a false belief in many countries that homosexuality is "un-African" and something that has been imported from the West.

The penal codes are often remnants of inherited laws from the colonial era, while research shows that in many African communities it was accepted with fluid sexual identities. What are the roots of queerness in African societies, how did colonialism and their penal codes impact the situation for queer African people and what is the way forward?