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.
The court declared 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 of South Africa for most of the 20th Century.
Anti-LGBTQ+ rules introduced during that time were carried over when Namibia became independent in 1990.
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 same-sex marriage, 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”.
“With this ruling, I hope people can start dreaming of a love that is not a crime.”
LGBTQIA+ activist Friedel Dausab after Namibia’s High Court ruled to decriminalise sex between men.
