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Gay Life in Benin

Benin has suffered the historic fate of being a major slave trade center in the 19th century as well as a victim of French imperialism from 1892 to 1960. After independence there was warfare between competing tribes for power which destabilized the country, becoming a Marxist country for 20 years, in the 1970s and 80s. More recently, with acceptable elections, the country seems stabilized. But there is much recovery to be made. The literacy rate in Benin is among the lowest in the world: in 2002 it was estimated to be 34.7%. Same-sex sexual acts are recently legal in Benin but this does not mean that they are approved by the general population. This story is in four parts.