“Sex is fundamental to the human experience, yet for so many people it is one of the hardest things to talk about.” – Tanlume Enyatseng.

GABORONE BOTSWANA — ARTvisim blog, Bananaemoji.com held the first of its 2020 edition of BANANA CLUB, a platform aimed at informing and engaging with key Publics in an effort to lead relevant and dynamic conversations with the youth, creative and queer community .

Under the theme, “Sexual Health and Wellbeing in the LGBTQI+ Community” the engagement set out to provide the LGTBQI+ community of Botswana a platform to explore issues around queer sex, consent, pleasure and sexual health and wellbeing within the community, all in the hopes of encouraging people to think differently about sex in an environment that was truly inclusive.

Facilitated by the Founder Tanlume Enyatseng, a panel of experts addressed and embraced the diverse sexual health issues faced by the queer community in Botswana while aiming to identify what is currently in place and what more can be done to ensure a more inclusive approach.

The panelists included Botshelo Madeluka from the STI Clinic, Sex positivity advocate Thato Semele of Autonomy Project, Bradley Fortuin of Legabibo and social media activist Neelo Rooi.

On the day photojournalist Fifi Monosi documented the different faces that attended the 2020 club session following the engaging conversation. With the help of the community, BANANA CLUB seeked to pinpoint where health institutions and practitioners are failing LGBTQ+ people and propose ways that might remedy this. BANANA CLUB welcomes the support of allies that agree with its manifesto and wish to work with them to achieve a certain aim.

Stated Tanlume, “As BANANA CLUB we seek to work with relevant parties towards promoting engagements that foster a world that reflects equity with universal respect for human dignity.

This is the first of many more club sessions this year and our wish is to provide a platform for our communities to connect and achieve a common goal of inclusion through informed and open dialogues.”