News (World)

Angola becomes the first country to legalize homosexuality in 2019

Members of Iris Angola standing around a flag
Photo: Facebook/Iris Angola

Angola overturned a law that was used to prosecute people for homosexuality and banned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

This past Wednesday, Angola’s parliament passed a new penal code to replace the one it inherited from Portugal when it won its independence in 1975.

The new penal code does not have a ban on “vices against nature,” a law that was used to prosecute people for being gay.

The law also includes a ban on discrimination that’s includes sexual orientation. Employment and public accommodations discrimination are now punishable with up to two years in prison.

Related: India’s Supreme Court overturns sodomy ban in a landmark ruling

Last year, Iris Angola became the first LGBTQ organization officially recognized in Angola, one of the government’s first moves to support its LGBTQ population.

69 countries still ban homosexuality, according to Human Rights Watch.

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