<
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/mauritius-supreme-court-decriminalises-same-sex-relations-2023-10-05/>
'PORT-LOUIS, Oct 5 (
Reuters) - The Supreme Court of Mauritius has struck out
a colonial-era law criminalising same-sex relations, bucking a trend elsewhere
in Africa where a string of countries have passed or proposed anti-LGBT
legislation.
In a ruling on two cases brought by members of the gay community in the Indian
Ocean island nation, the court said section 250 of the Mauritian criminal code,
which dated back to 1898 during British colonial rule, was unconstitutional.
"Section 250 was not introduced in Mauritius to reflect any indigenous
Mauritian values but was inherited as part of our colonial history from
Britain," the court said in a ruling handed down on Wednesday.
Jean-Daniel Wong, the manager of the Arc-en-Ciel Collective, the largest LGBT
advocacy group in Mauritius, said the ruling was a huge relief.
"As an out gay man in Mauritius, personally, there was kind of this Damocles
sword hanging over our head," he told Reuters. "There is still a lot to do but
... we have faith in our public institutions."
He said the group's next priorities were to achieve legal recognition for
transgender people, legalise same-sex unions and fight hate crimes based on
sexuality.'
Via
Future Crunch:
https://futurecrunch.com/226-eighth-continent/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
