Namibia: Parliament Backs Anti-Gay Bill Despite Supreme Court Ruling

Harare — In what the LGBTIQ+ community views as an unlawful assault, Namibia's upper chamber of parliament enacted a law on July 19 outlawing same-sex marriages and penalising anyone who supports them, according to AFP.

The bill, which sought to overturn a Supreme Court decision allowing the recognition of some unions formed overseas, was passed by the upper house of parliament without any opposition. However, for it to take effect, the lower house must still approve it and President Hage Geingob has to sign it.

"The marital union is between a man and a woman and that must be respected," Elder Filipe, a member of the ruling SWAPO party, reportedly told parliament.

The text defines "marriage" as a union "between persons of opposite sexes" and "spouse" as "half of a legal union between two persons born genetically male and female".

The new legislation states that marriages between people of the same sex that are concluded overseas cannot be recognised in Namibia. It also makes the solemnisation, participation in, promotion, or marketing of such a marriage a crime punishable by up to six years in jail and a fine of up to 100,000 Namibian dollars which is approximately U.S.$6,700.

The country's sodomy legislation passed in Namibia in 1927 is rarely used. The southern African country has witnessed multiple court disputes in recent years over the rights of same-sex couples to marry, have children, and immigrate.

Just in May, Namibia's Attorney General Festus Mbandeka said the government was conducting a legal assessment on the recent groundbreaking ruling of the Supreme Court to recognise same-sex marriages solemnised outside the country.

"Given the magnitude of this judgment and its wider legal implications, government is in the process of conducting a legal assessment of this constitutional ruling before determining the appropriate course of action within the available constitutional parameters," Mbandeka said in a press statement.

The Supreme Court of Namibia recognised same-sex marriages between citizens and foreign partners, a historic decision in a nation where homosexuality has been against the law. The verdict overturned a High Court decision from 2022 that refused to recognise same-sex unions contracted outside of Namibia. After the ministry of home affairs and immigration declined to provide permits to same-sex foreign spouses whom they had married outside of the country, two Namibian nationals sought redress from the courts.

"This Court accordingly found that the approach of the Ministry to exclude spouses, including the appellants, in a validly concluded same-sex marriage... infringes both the interrelated rights to dignity and equality of the appellants," the ruling said.

The continent's LGBTIQ+ communities continue to face attacks on their basic human rights and their ability to access services such as healthcare by governments and religious groups. Zambia's government has said it will not tolerate the promotion of LGBTQI+ rights, saying such rights are against the country's Christian values. In Kenya, Catholic-allied MPs have vowed to mobilise to disband the NGO Board to preempt the imminent registration of a gay rights lobby group.

In Burundi, prosecutors have charged 24 people with engaging in same-sex acts and inciting homosexuality in others, part of a crackdown on LGBTQI+ rights that has been criticised by the United Nations. In southern Africa, Anglican bishops have agreed at a meeting to prepare formal prayers suitable for providing pastoral care to couples in same-sex civil unions.