Gay sex will be decriminalised in the African country of Namibia.
It comes two years after an LGBTQIA+ activist launched legal action in the Namibian High Court.
a current national ban on sex between men is “unconstitutional and invalid”.
Same-sex relationships are currently outlawed in 30 of Africa’s 54 nations.
Here’s what you need to know.
Background
Namibia was part offor most of the 20th Century.
Anti-LGBTQ+ rules introduced during that time were carried over when Namibia became independent in 1990.
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In 2022, activist Friedel Dausab launched legal action challenging Namibia’s ban on gay sex.
The following year, the Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriages held overseas were legally recognised in Namibia.
In response, the country’s Parliament passed a bill banning, which the President has yet to sign into law.
The ruling
Dausab called the ban on consensual sex between men “irrational” and “unfair”.
He argued the ban on gay sex in Namibia violated the Constitutional right to “Equality and Freedom from Discrimination”.
After pushback from religious groups, the High Court ruled in favour of Dausaub.
In its decision, the court said it wasn’t right “to make an activity criminal just because a segment, maybe a majority, of [people] consider it to be unacceptable”.
