Erasing 76 Crimes article leads to discussion of LGBT+ rights in Gabon
In recent vote, Central African nation ‘enshrines the protection of privacy’.
Erasing 76 Crimes covered last month’s vote for a new constitution in the West Central African nation of Gabon with the article “In new constitution, Gabon rejects appeals to criminalize homosexuality (Nov. 25).
In it, reporter Moïse Manoël-Florisse interviewed French-Gabonese musician Jann Halexander about what that vote means for Gabon. In turn, Manoël’s article led to coverage of Halexander and LGBT+ rights in Gabon itself.
Here is a rough translation of the article “Jann Halexander, happy that the Constitution protects the privacy of LGBT+ people!” published in Gabon Media Time.
By Lyonnel Mbeng Essone
Validated by 91.64% Yes votes on Nov. 16, the new Constitution of Gabon does not take aim at homosexuality.
On the contrary, it enshrines the protection of privacy and only criminalizes marriage between people of the same sex. Legalizing same-sex marriage is not the object of LGBT+ activism [in Gabon], according to Jann Halexander in Erasing 76 Crimes.
If the recommendations of [Gabon’s earlier national study group] called for a criminalization of homosexuality, the final report did not. This was a strong choice of the military, which was welcomed by groups defending the rights of sexual minorities. Contacted by us, one of them emphasized that “unlike people who do not want to move forward, they heard us.” In line with Jann Halexander’s arguments, one victim of repeated attacks insists that the LGBT+ community in Gabon “has never demanded the right to marriage but just to their private life”.
Privacy is now a fundamental right appreciated by LGBT people!
The draft constitution enacted by the vote in favor of “Yes” during the constitutional referendum included important provisions protecting the rights of LGBT+ people. Halexander analyzed the positive effects of the articles enshrining the protection of privacy. …
“Today, I welcome the liberal intentions of this text, which already stipulates in its Article 18 that everyone has the right to respect for their private life”, he stressed.
Article 19 states that “the secrecy of correspondence, postal, telegraphic, electronic, telephone and telematic communications is inviolable”. All this, according to Halexaner, is a small victory since members of the LGBTQ community have long been the subject of all kinds of attacks under the prism of a rejection of their sexual orientation and their morals.
For Halexander, this is a step forward for Gabon and the rights of individuals. “There is now a framework that protects the privacy of individuals, and this is in itself a great step forward, which for me in no way contradicts Article 169 which stipulates that marriage in Gabon is the union of two people of the opposite sex,” he notes. While emphasizing that LGBT+ mobilizations “are not aimed at demanding the right to marriage and adoption between people of the same sex”.
The ban on same-sex marriage does not constitute a threat to the lives of members of the LGBT+ community. This position in Gabon is the opposite of that taken by countries in the North. For Halexander, LGBT+ people in Gabon “aspire to the right to indifference and respect due to human dignity, like other societies” — a right now acquired by the validation of the new Constitution. “I am proud of Gabon, where the authorities have chosen not to intervene in the most intimate affairs of individuals”, he concluded.
The author of this Gabon Media Time article, Lyonnel Mbeng Essone, is deputy editor-in-chief of Gabon Media Time. He has a degree in private law and worked at law firms before launching into web journalism, where he specializes in social issues, justice, news and sports news.
