Consensual same-sex activity is banned in more than half of the 54 African countries, according to ILGA, an international organization that supports LGBTQ rights.
“This victory also brings much-needed and renewed energy to other decriminalization efforts across Africa,” said Téa Braun, CEO of the Human Dignity Trust.
Rights campaigners say that while convictions under “sodomy” and “unnatural sexual offences” laws have been relatively rare in Namibia, they have perpetuated discrimination against the LGBTQ community and left gay men living in fear of the arrest.
John Nakuta, a law professor at the University of Namibia, said the Namibian government could appeal the court’s order within 21 days.
Namibia inherited the laws when it gained independence from South Africa in 1990, although same-sex acts between men were initially criminalized under colonial rule.
South Africa has since decriminalized same-sex sexual activity and is the only country on the African continent that allows LGBTQ couples to adopt children, marry and enter into civil unions.
Last year, Uganda enacted one of the harshest anti-LGBTQ laws in the world, which included the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” despite widespread condemnation from the West.
LGBTQ supporters gathered outside the court holding banners reading “Get the law out of my love life” and “Peace, love, unity”, telling Reuters they were overjoyed.
Omar van Reenen, co-founder of the Namibian Equal Rights Movement, welcomed the court’s decision and said the LGBTQ community in Namibia could finally feel like equal citizens.
“The message the court sent today is that we have every right to belong and exist in this country and that the constitution protects us,” van Reenen said.