The subject of homosexuality is one that has always been met with mixed reactions.
While many European countries have since legalised homosexuality with the law protecting members of the LGBT community, many African countries have steep punishments for people with what is considered “unnatural desires”.
However, some African countries in recent times are making moves to ensure that the discrimination faced by members of the LGBT community is reduced by enforcing laws to protect their basic human rights.
Angola is the latest African country to decriminalise homosexuality by adopting a new penal code, dropping the “vices against nature” provision from its colonial era, and
Under the country’s new law, members of the LGBT community can now seek legal redress in a court of law and people who discriminate against members of the LGBT community will be subject to up to two 2 years in prison, Human Rights Watch revealed.
It is noteworthy that the country’s old penal code was put in place by its colonisers, Portugal, in 1975, allowing discrimination of LGBT people in terms of education, employment, and even healthcare.
Other countries to have decriminalised discrimination against the LGBT community include South Africa, Lesotho and Seychelles.