Following the marriage of two lesbians of African descent in New York earlier this year, Nick Mwaluko asks whether their historic act will help change perceptions towards same-sex relationships in Africa, not just in the US.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/547/gay_wedding1_tmb.jpg[/img">http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/547/gay_wedding2_tmb.jpg[/img">http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/547/gay_wedding3_tmb.jpgOn 24 July 2011, New York State legalised same-sex marriage. Masotho Kelebohile Nkhereanye and her African-American wife Renee Boyd were among the couples that made US history by marrying that day. A few months later Nick Mwaluko spoke to them about their decision and what same-sex marriage might mean to Africans on the continent and in the diaspora.

‘Before leaving, the wind blows so I turn, take one long, last look at circle of candles to keep their flame burning in my memory forever. Dead, the wind blew them out. But there is one that stands alone, free, and still burns bright to this day. David Kato.’

David Kato, a prominent Ugandan gay rights activist, was bludgeoned to death with a hammer in broad daylight at his home in Uganda, dying on his way to hospital. News of Kato’s death reverberated throughout the world as friends, leaders, activists and human rights organisations paid tribute to a man whose lifelong legacy championed human dignity in the face of man’s inhumanity to man.