The essence of a liberal democracy is to let people whose lifestyles we disapprove of remain equal before the law. Such restraint is needed in the debate across Africa about LGBT rights.

One of the surprises I had living in Australia was discovering that democracy does not require agreement.

During the marriage equality debate, many African migrants, including friends whose religious convictions I respect, sincerely believed same-sex relationships were sinful. They were free to hold that belief, campaign for it and vote accordingly. That is precisely how democracy should work.

What surprised me was something else. Some people of African descent I knew accepted that freedom of choice in Australia but also supported stronger criminal penalties for same-sex relationships in Africa. I found myself wondering why we could accept moral disagreement without imprisonment in the democracies that had become our homes, yet urge a different standard for the continent we still called our own.

That question has become increasingly important. Today, 31 of Africa’s 54 countries criminalise consensual same-sex relations while 23 do not, reminding us that Africa itself has never spoken with a single voice on this issue. Nor has the debate been entirely home-grown. International progressive organisations and governments have promoted greater recognition of LGBT rights, while an openDemocracy investigation found that more than 20 US Christian conservative organisations spent at least US$54 million in Africa between 2007 and 2018 supporting campaigns centred on traditional family values and opposition to LGBT rights. Too often, Africa has become the arena in which competing moral certainties imported from abroad seek local victory.

The deeper question is not whether same-sex relationships are morally right or wrong. People of good faith will continue to disagree. The question is what democracy asks of us when those disagreements persist. A liberal democracy does not require approval of another person’s........

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