A colonial-era law that criminalizes
sex between men could be on the chopping block in Namibia.
According to Reuters, a reform
commission has advised the government to abolish the law.
Justice Minister Yvonne Dausab told
Reuters that the law is “outdated and discriminatory.”
“The LGBTQI community are human
beings and we must not allow them being excluded from the bouquet of
rights enunciated in our constitution,” Dausab said.
“This sodomy law is outdated and
discriminatory,” she continued. “All Namibians should enjoy life,
dignity, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Dausab said that the cabinet is
expected to review the recommendation at its next meeting.
Omar van Reenen, a co-founder of the
Namibia Equal Rights Movement, an LGBT rights group, said that while
the law rarely results in convictions, its existence is an attack on
the LGBT community.
“The fact that the law even exists
leaves gay men feeling stigmatized, ostracized, and marginalized,”
he said.
“These laws were written by
colonialists and imposed on the Namibian people … the whole
narrative of homosexuality being a Western import is false;
homophobia is the Western import,” he said.
Police arresting men suspected of
having gay sex are allowed to use “deadly force” under the law.
Namibia won independence from South
Africa in 1990.