Mozambique drops anti-gay law, as blog readers know

Colin Stewart is a 45-year journalism veteran living in Southern…

Hurray for Mozambique, where a new Penal Code took effect this week, eliminating a previous law against same-sex intimacy. Many publications reported the change this week and last, which is appropriate. It’s big news, because so many other African nations remain firmly anti-gay.

L'organisation pour la défense des LGBTI du Mozambique, Lambda, peut célébrer l'abrogation de la loi anti-gay du pays, mais elle n'a pas encore gagné sa bataille pour la reconnaissance officielle du gouvernement, dont elle recherche depuis 2008. (Photo de Lambda) — Mozambique’s LGBTI advocacy organization, Lambda, can celebrate the repeal of the country’s anti-gay law, but it has not yet won its battle for official government recognition, which it has been seeking since 2008. (Photo from Lambda’s website)

This blog reported the news in January, not too long after the new Penal Code was adopted. (“Mozambique: Anti-gay law is gone, anti-gay bias remains,” Jan. 16, 2015)

Yay for us, but more important, “Yay for Mozambique.”

A decade of failure at the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights

However, as the January article notes, although the anti-LGBTI law has vanished, anti-LGBTI discrimination has not. The government of Mozambique has repeatedly refused to grant official recognition to Lambda, the country’s LGBTI advocacy group.