Angola Becomes First Country To Legalize Homosexuality In 2019

LGBTQ people are celebrating after one African country recently decided to legalize gay sex and gay people.

The country of Angola decriminalized gay sex on Wednesday (January 23). Lawmakers in the Southwestern African country passed a bill to update their penal code.

155 politicians voted in favor of the update which eliminated a section prohibiting “vices against nature.” That law, which was established during Portuguese rule over the country, was largely interpreted as a ban on gay sex.

Even better, the law also places protections against discrimination to LGBTQ people in the workplace. This is a great step up from other countries that simply legalize gay sex without offering any protections or rights for LGBTQ people.

With Angola now on the journey towards protecting its LGBTQ citizens, the number of countries that ban homosexuality has decreased. There are now 69 countries that ban gay sex and homosexuality, according to the Human Rights Watch. Hopefully, some of the others will follow in Angola’s footsteps.