Opinions
The long exhale to recognizing same-sex unions in Namibia
May 16 ruling a landmark moment for LGBTIQ+ rights
The Supreme Court of Namibia on May 16, 2023, issued a judgment recognizing same-sex unions of two non-nationals after they were denied immigration status by the Namibian government.
The story of Daniel Digashu, a South African national, and his family challenging the decision of the Namibian government denying him immigration status based on his same-sex marriage to his Namibian husband is just one of the many ways African governments continue to oppress and erase queer existence.
In 2015, Digashu married his partner Johann Potgieter in South Africa, where same-sex unions have been legal since Nov. 14, 2016; this, however, is not the case in Namibia. In 2017, after he and his family relocated to Namibia, Digashu applied for a work permit but got rejected by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration based on his same-sex relationship status. The social inequality many LGBTIQ+ people face daily, and the lack of recognition and protection of LGBTIQ+ rights make them more vulnerable to stigma, discrimination and exclusion. Denying LGBTIQ+ people the right and the opportunity to marriage and family life has significant implications on their mental, emotional and overall well-being.
Heterosexual marriage is widely and legally recognized in Namibia and is often seen as the fundamental foundational family institution in society, including the church. The mainstream practice of marriage is deeply rooted in traditional, cultural and religious beliefs and practices. Marriage is not only a union between individuals but also a union between families and even different communities.
The denial to recognize Digashu and Potgieter’s marriage had deprived them of a chance and a right to have a family, a community and a sense of belonging in society. The couple has been in and out of court since 2017, when they approached the High Court after several unsuccessful engagements with the ministry.
On March 20, 2021, the High Court heard the case and dismissed the matter on Jan. 20, 2022, citing that they cannot legally overrule a previous judgement by the Supreme Court, which found that same-sex relationships are not recognized under the Immigration Control Act of Namibia.
Constitutional violation of human rights
The refusal of the recognition of same-sex unions is an infringement on several fundamental human rights recognized and protected under regional and international human rights instruments — including the Constitution of Namibia. Denying the recognition and protection of LGBTIQ+ marriage and family violates their rights to dignity, liberty, privacy and protection under the law. Such human rights violation is also discriminatory and violates the constitutional right to non-discrimination, equality before the law and freedom of expression based on one’s sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. Recognizing same-sex marriage ensures that LGBTIQ+ people have the same legal protections and rights.
If it pleases the court
In its 2022 judgment, the High Court of Namibia 2022 made favorable pronouncements noting the need to recognize same-sex relationships and that LGBTIQ+ people must be protected from discrimination. The court stated that: “Homosexual relationships are, without doubt, globally recognized, and increasingly more countries have changed their laws to recognize one’s right not to be discriminated against based on one’s sexual orientation. It is time to recognize that homosexuality is part and parcel of the fabric of our society and that persons — human beings — in homosexual relationships are worthy of being afforded the same rights as other citizens.”
Both the High Court and the Supreme Court pronounced that the values, freedoms and democracy that Namibia was founded on have no place for discrimination and the violation of human rights. Everyone, including LGBTQI+ people, has the right to dignity, equality and protection under the law. This call for recognition by the courts is a significant victory for Namibia’s LGBTIQ+ community and advocacy.
The Supreme Court went on to say that the “court has made it clear that this recognition of the equal worth of all human beings is at the very root of the Constitution and that this is ‘further echoed and implemented in various articles of Chapter 3, and others of the Constitution.’ The value attached to dignity is at the very heart of our constitutional framework and fundamental to it as a value of central significance. Although it is entrenched as a self-standing right in Art 8, it relates to the protection of other rights and in particular, the right to equality.”
Colonial remnants and state-sponsored LGBTIQ+-phobia
To understand the continuous exclusion of LGBTIQ+ groups in progressive civic developments, it is essential to understand the impact and role that colonial laws have played in shaping the perception, attitudes and legal status of LGBTIQ+ people in society.
Colonial laws were discriminatory and repressive, resulting in the “othering” and, ultimately, the existence of vulnerable and marginalized groups. These laws were based on conservative religious and cultural values prevalent in Europe at the time and criminalized groups based on their gender, race, ethnicity and even sexual orientation and gender identity. Such laws continue to be in practice worldwide, including in Africa.
Like many other African nations, Namibia has an unfavorable history regarding recognizing and protecting LGBTIQ+ people. Identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender is not illegal in Namibia. However, the country does criminalize consensual same sex-sexual activities between people of the same gender in terms of its Roman-Dutch common law.
These provisions are part of what was inherited from colonial laws during colonization and into the new constitution. Such laws continue to sideline LGBTIQ+ people, as they face daily stigma, discrimination and violence, including inaccessibility to healthcare, education, employment, and housing.
In December 2020, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights found that vagrancy laws or bylaws in nearly every country in Africa discriminate against marginalized and vulnerable populations, including women, children, people with disabilities, LGBTIQ+ people and others. Namibia is no exception in adopting such laws as the Roman-Dutch common laws criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations. This imprint on the State still upholding oppressive colonial laws regarding LGBTIQ+ rights is part of why LGBTIQ+ people and families face daily exclusion. Consensual same-sex relations are still criminalized in Namibia. The repressive and colonial legislation still engraved in Namibia’s laws provides many challenges for same-sex couples and LGBTIQ+ families, like Digashu and Potgieter, and many other same-sex couples seeking legal recognition status in Namibia.
Regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, everyone should have social, economic and legal stability and equal opportunities. Still, discrimination against LGBTIQ+ people is a significant barrier to full social and legislative inclusion.
Same-sex relationships are currently criminalized in 32 African countries, with the death penalty in three African states if convicted and found guilty.
Namibia, formerly known as South West Africa, was a former colony of Germany and later came under the authority of South Africa. Namibia gained independence on March 21, 1990 and celebrated its 33rd independence anniversary on March 21 this year. The constitution of Namibia came into being when the country gained independence. Namibia’s Vision 2030 concerns itself with the population concerning their social, economic and overall well-being and that all people enjoy high standards of living, good quality of life and economic and overall well-being and that all people enjoy high standards of living, good quality of life, and have access to quality social services. All of these aspirations translate into equity, equality and respect for human rights for all people, regardless of one’s social standing. By 2030, Namibia aspires to be a just, moral, tolerant and safe nation with legislative, economic and social structures in place to eliminate marginalization and ensure peace and equity between of all people of different ages, interests and abilities.
The evolution of society
Society is evolving and becoming increasingly aware of its rights and existence. In advocating and asserting their rights, communities realize that such common laws are outdated and contribute to the discrimination faced by vulnerable groups. Colonization fostered environments in which such rules were applied in policy and practice to deter, conceal and repress freedoms of expression, identity and association of groups that did not fit the colonial setting. Such groups were made to feel inferior and less valuable to society, leading to segregation practices such as apartheid, tribalism, classism and discrimination and exclusion of sexual and gender minorities.
In a modern-day democratic, independent state like Namibia, colonial remnants are still widely evident in specific laws and policies, so people like Daniel and Johan, and others, must seek justice from the courts to validate their relationship and belonging. There needs to be a correlation between the legislation and the vision that the country is working towards.
The Bill of Rights is in place to protect and promote the fundamental human rights of Namibians and promote equality before the law and the need for fair, just and speedy court processes. The constitution promotes the rights to liberty, respect for human dignity, equality and freedom from discrimination regardless of a person’s sex, race, or social or economic status association, and even the right to marriage and having a family between same-sex spouses. The blatant denial of the recognition of same-sex marriages by the State violates the right to dignity. It amounts to multiple layers of discrimination by the State, which contrasts with the constitution of Namibia.
Powering forward
Despite these challenges, there have been continuous efforts by LGBTIQ+ advocates and allies to push for greater recognition and acceptance of LGBTIQ+ individuals in Namibia. These efforts include taking an intersectional advocacy approach that is results-based. There is still a long way to go to achieve full equality and protection for LGBTIQ+ individuals in Namibia. In the long exhale process, Digashu has found public support and joined LGBTIQ+ human rights defenders to continue raising awareness and educating the public on human rights and the challenges faced by LGBTIQ+ people. The Digashu matter highlights the need for LGBTIQ+ inclusion and acknowledgement. In its judgment, the Supreme Court noted the need for social and legislative inclusion of LGBTIQ+ persons in Namibia.
Bradley Fortuin is the LGBTIQ+ Program Officer at the Southern Africa Litigation Center and is social justice activist with over 10 years of experience in program design and strategic management, focusing on developing, implementing and strengthening LGBTIQ+-led movements.
Commentary
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy paved the way for today’s transgender rights revolution
The annual Transgender Day of Remembrance is Nov. 20
I’ll never forget the moment Miss Major Griffin-Gracy looked me in the eye and said, “Baby, you can’t wait for permission to exist. You take up space because you deserve to be here.” It was 2016, and I had just finished interviewing her at Northeastern University. What began as a professional encounter became something far deeper. She welcomed me into her chosen family with the fierce love that defined her life’s work.
That advice didn’t just change my perspective; it changed my life. Miss Major had an extraordinary ability to see potential in people before they saw it themselves. She offered guidance that gave permission to dream bigger, fight harder, and live unapologetically in a world that often told transgender people we didn’t belong.
Today, as we reflect on her legacy, we must remember that Miss Major didn’t simply join the transgender rights movement. She helped create it. Her activism laid the foundation for every victory we celebrate today and continues to shape how we fight for justice, dignity, and equality.
To understand her impact, we return to June 28, 1969, when a 27-year-old Black transgender woman stood her ground at the Stonewall Inn. While history often overlooks the transgender women of color at the heart of that uprising, Miss Major was there, refusing to back down when police raided the bar that night.
After Stonewall, she dedicated her life to building what became the infrastructure of liberation. When she fought that night, she wasn’t only resisting police brutality, she was declaring that transgender people, especially Black trans women, would no longer be invisible. Her message was simple: We exist. We matter. We’re not going anywhere.
Miss Major coupled courage with care. She knew that real change required systems of support. While many focused on changing laws, she focused on changing lives. Her work with incarcerated transgender women stands as one of her most powerful legacies. She visited prisons, wrote letters, sent commissary money, and made sure these women knew they weren’t forgotten. It wasn’t glamorous work, but it was transformative.
She built a model of organizing rooted in love and mutual aid communities supporting each other while demanding structural change. That approach became the blueprint for today’s transgender rights organizations, especially those centering Black trans women.
In a time when invisibility was often the safest choice, Miss Major chose visibility. She shared her story again and again, using her own life as proof of transgender resilience and humanity. Her openness created connection and understanding. People who heard her speak couldn’t ignore the truth of our existence or the strength it takes to live authentically.
Miss Major also believed leadership meant creating space for others. After our first meeting, she connected me with other activists, shared resources, and reminded me that my voice mattered. Talk to any transgender activist who came up in the last two decades, and you’ll hear a similar story. She saw something in others and nurtured it until it bloomed.
Her fingerprints are everywhere in today’s movement: in grassroots organizing, in the centering of the most marginalized voices, and in the insistence that liberation must be rooted in love and community. The victories we see (from healthcare access to broader public recognition) are built on the foundation she laid.
In one of our last conversations, Miss Major told me, “This movement isn’t about me. It’s about all of us. And it’s about the ones who come after us.” Her life reminds us that movements are sustained by love as much as protest, by the daily act of showing up for one another as much as by the marches and rallies.
As anti-trans violence rises and our rights face relentless attacks, we need Miss Major’s example more than ever. We need her fierce love, her unwavering defiance, and her belief that we deserve to take up space. Her legacy reminds us that the fight for our lives is also the fight for our joy.
This Transgender Day of Remembrance, we honor those we’ve lost and celebrate those who dared to live fully, people like Miss Major, who taught us that remembrance must come with responsibility. Her life calls us to protect one another, to build systems of care, and to keep fighting for a world where every trans person can live safely and proudly.
The mother of our movement may be gone, but the family she built lives on. The best way to honor her is to continue her work: to build, to protect, to love without limits, and to remind every trans person that they belong, they matter, and they are loved.
Chastity Bowick is an award-winning activist, civil rights leader, and transgender health advocate who has dedicated her career to empowering transgender and gender-nonconforming communities. She led the Transgender Emergency Fund of Massachusetts for seven years, opening New England’s first trans transitional home, and now heads Chastity’s Consulting & Talent Group, LLC. In 2025, she became Interim Executive Director of the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, continuing her mission to advance equity, safety, and opportunity for trans people. Her leadership has earned her numerous honors recognizing her impact on social justice and community care.
Opinions
Democratic Socialism won’t win the whole country
We must work toward a blowout on Nov. 3, 2026
It was a great win for Zohran Mamdani, and his voters, in New York City. His message of hope and change clearly resonated with younger generations, and that is exciting. But while Democratic Socialism, and Eugene Debs, may be the future of New York City, they won’t win the country. Mamdani is a young, smart, charismatic, politician. He is a great speaker, and in his campaign made many promises. Keeping those promises won’t be easy, but whether he can keep them will be what he is judged on. I wish him much success as what he envisions is important. But as Democrats, we need to understand, his brand is not going to be what wins it for Democrats in 2026. It will not win the swing Districts we need. We know that by looking at history.
I am a proud New Yorker by birth. When traveling the nation as a teenager with the Boy Scouts, going by bus across the country to the 25th Jamboree in Colorado Springs, I understood we in New York were the different ones, not the rest of the nation. I understood at an early age how important it is to respect those differences and they still exist today. If we are to move the nation forward, we have to do it with respect, and together.
I looked at how Mikie Sherrill won the governorship in New Jersey, and Abigail Spanberger won in Virginia. Their strong messages, more in line with the majority of voters in the nation who see themselves as moderates, are likely to resonate with Democratic voters across the swing congressional districts Democrats need to win in 2026, if they are to take back the House. Based on exit polling their messages also invigorated many young voters. We will need everyone to take back Congress and doing so is a must if we are to save our country from the felon in the White House.
There are countless reasons to stop Trump. He wants to be a king, and has said so. He acts like a despot declaring war on foreign countries without congressional consent, and even declaring war on American cities. He doesn’t understand the United States is a nation of immigrants and without them we are in trouble. I guess the only immigrants he found of value were two of his wives, and he even screwed around on them. He uses ICE as if it were his personal Gestapo. He sends National Guard troops across the nation and into D.C. where some picked up trash in the parks and spread mulch. Not what they signed up for, and a total waste of taxpayer’s money. He threatens the world’s nations, allies, and foes alike, with tariffs that end up being a heavy tax on the American taxpayer. He pretends to negotiate deals, like one with China, not even getting us back to the positive relationship we had with them when Biden was president. Trump screws up everything he touches. He plays footsie with Putin. He refuses to actively support the brave people of Ukraine whose war against Russia is in essence, a proxy war with the West. He gives tax breaks to the rich, and is willing to close the government instead of ensuring everyone has affordable healthcare. He threatens the poor with starvation, and screws with the nation’s healthcare, destroying the CDC, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world’s premier medical research institute. He threatens law firms, universities, and the media, holding them hostage for money. He uses the Department of Justice as his personal law firm to get revenge on anyone he thinks did him wrong. He fires thousands of government workers, and when his incompetent appointments screw up, has to rehire many. He is a grifter, exchanging favors for money for himself, with countries around the world. A plane from Qatar, and billions for his crypto company.
What Americans are seeing as the result of his incompetence, are prices for food, rent, and education, all going up. Farmers are suffering. All this is what Democrats will campaign on across the nation.
But they must also campaign on what they will do to make things better. They must talk to their constituents in each District, and determine the focus of their campaigns. What issues to campaign on. Those campaigns could look different in each District. That is how Democrats will win. That is how Democrats won last Tuesday, and that great start will lead to a huge Blue Blowout, on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026.
Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist.
Voters handed Democrats a sweeping victory across the country in the Nov. 4 elections. Donald Trump’s Republicans paid dearly for their inability to restrain or conceal their recklessness and cruelty.
In response to being roundly repudiated at the polls, Trump boasted, lied, made insults and threats. Mind you, this is a man who confuses dementia screening with an IQ test. And he once proposed nuking hurricanes.
Trump’s howlers, including the claim that every election he loses is rigged, are persuading fewer and fewer people.
You would never know, on this bright autumn morning, that a pitched battle is underway for the soul of America. As I sip my coffee in the McDonald’s, a little girl walking by with her daddy climbs into the chair at the next table. She is holding a TV remote control for some reason. I ask her not to point it at me because I don’t want to be switched off.
To be honest, there are people I wouldn’t mind switching off, at least from my newsfeed. For example, I saw this headline concerning an obnoxious congresswoman: “Nancy Mace escalates fallout from foul-mouthed airport meltdown with legal threats after criticism from fellow Republicans.”
Is it possible that Rep. Mace, who is running for governor of South Carolina and has been calling trans people crazy, is so starved of attention that she has to scream at officers in airports and threaten lawsuits? I stress that I’m just a humble commentator and do not mean to provoke her.
I can’t help recalling that the phrase “Trump Derangement Syndrome” arose not as a reference to Trump’s own mental health issues but as an effort to deflect such concerns onto his critics. Lately, however, we who wish to be rid of the Worst President Ever have gone from being mad to being domestic terrorists in the eyes of Trump diehards. We are also called insurrectionists, despite never having incited a riot at the U.S. Capitol, because the leading insurrectionist—who deems himself above the law—is considering invoking the Insurrection Act to consolidate dictatorial power.
Are you keeping up with all this? I know it sounds crazy. You never know what jarring images you’ll stumble upon. On election night I switched to CNN, saw former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, and immediately reached for my remote control like that little girl in the McDonald’s. And Rahm is a Democrat!
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is an immigrant who grew up in New York. I am a native Washingtonian who grew up in Maryland’s 8th congressional district, currently represented by constitutional scholar Jamie Raskin. Raskin has happily dubbed Mamdani an FDR Democrat.
You might think comparing a gifted young politician to Franklin Delano Roosevelt would not scandalize anyone at this point; but you would be wrong. Lots of Republicans still decry FDR as a socialist. These are the same people set on robbing millions of their healthcare and nutritional assistance.
Trump, who hosted a Great Gatsby-themed party at Mar-a-Lago hours before millions of Americans lost their SNAP benefits, touted the Roaring Twenties as a high point in America’s past. I don’t want to burst his bubble, so please don’t tell him that the 1920s ended in a stock market crash that ushered in the Great Depression. God forbid his tariffs lead to another crash. He would likely blame it on Mamdani, rebrand it a communist Islamic jihad, and deport it to Eswatini.
Democrats like me support capitalism, but with guardrails. By contrast, the oligarchs—epitomized by Elon Musk with his recently approved $1 trillion pay package—love to blame others for the harm they cause, while making off with the moolah. Do not fall for it.
I am rooting for Mamdani, who wants working people to be able to afford to live in New York. He includes trans people in his vision. His victory speech was a far cry from the Islamophobic caricature painted by his detractors, who range from right-wing pundits to Andrew Cuomo.
Based on the smears, you might expect the mayor-elect to rush to Washington to demolish part of the White House, had the president not beaten him to it. Yet in the wake of Mamdani’s historic victory, billionaires who fought tooth and nail to defeat him bent the knee and pledged their help.
Mamdani is not the model for all Democrats; he reflects but one part of our diverse coalition. The midterm elections are a year away. All our voices and votes will be needed to defeat the authoritarians.
Copyright © 2025 by Richard J. Rosendall. All rights reserved.
Richard Rosendall is a writer and activist who can be reached at [email protected].
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