Lawmakers in the Seychelles on Wednesday approved a bill that will add an LGBTQ-inclusive hate crimes provision to the country’s penal code.

The National Assembly by an 18-8 vote margin approved the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2024.

The hate crimes provision specifically includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and HIV/AIDS status, among other factors. The bill states anyone convicted of a hate crime based on the outlined characteristics could face a fine and/or up to two years in prison for the first conviction and a fine and/or up to three years in prison for any subsequent convictions.

“The inclusion of hate speech as an offense within the penal code (Cap. 158) provides for the intention to incite hatred towards a person or group of persons based on their protected characteristics, through various forms of communication or behavior, if the expression is perceived to be threatening, abusive or insulting,” said Attorney General Frank Ally in a July 1 letter that detailed the bill.

Human Dignity Trust, a London-based NGO, in a press release notes it has since 2020 “provided legal assistance” to Ally’s office “to draft the hate crime components of the bill.” The group also highlighted Mark Walters, a professor at the University of Sussex in England, “for his invaluable expertise and contribution to the drafting process.”

“The changes to the penal code will provide new and meaningful protections for people targeted simply because of who they are, and encourages marginalized communities to report crimes,” said Human Dignity Trust Chief Executive Téa Braun. “By enacting this law, the Seychelles has taken a strong stance against hate-motivated violence, ensuring that the most vulnerable members of society are protected.” 

South Africa is the only other African country that includes sexual orientation and gender identity in its hate crimes law.

Seychelles in 2016 decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations.

Kenya’s LGBTQ community has decried homophobia in the country’s places of worship leaving some of them with the option of embracing a new queer-friendly church in the capital Nairobi.

The queer people, while sharing homophobic experiences they encountered in Kenyan churches, stated that clerics and other believers have weaponized religious faith as a tool of violence against them.

This hate and discrimination, according to the LGBTQ community, has driven most of them into religious trauma and they are seeking spiritual refuge in the Cosmopolitan Affirming Church (CAC), which is open to queer individuals.   

“As a pastor, I have worked in a [religious] space that as someone who I identify myself as a queer priest, I have been excluded from that very space out of lies that lack the truth to justify my exclusion,” said Godfrey Adera, an associate pastor at CAC.   

Adera spoke during the International Day commemorating victims of violence based on faith and belief marked last Thursday where more than 1,700 queer Kenyans engaged in an X forum.

The forum organized by the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) noted that Uganda’s enactment of the draconian anti-homosexuality law last year has contributed to an increase in homophobic hatred and discrimination in Kenyan churches.

“I have seen a queer person talk about how he was in a church just last week and there were overtly no queer undertones going on in the church and the pastor unprovoked spoke about how he supports President Yoweri Museveni’s decision to deal with gays in Uganda, which is basically calling for a lot of homophobic violence,” said Elle Khaoma, the forum’s moderator from NGLHRC.

The queer community also noted that the plan by Kenya’s opposition MP Peter Kaluma to introduce a punitive anti-homosexuality draft law in parliament and supported by religious leaders and others has increased homophobic hate and stigma in places of worship.

Such actions have seriously impacted the LGBTQ community in terms of religious trauma, mental health, falling away from faith, feeling discriminated against and being perceived as outcasts, and battling stigma to the point of dying by suicide, according to experiences shared by several queer persons.

Some disclosed they decided to flee their homes after being disowned by their parents and siblings for identifying as LGBTQ contrary to religious faith and belief their families and churches subscribe to.

“After the hate and discrimination, I started to recognize my religious trauma. My motivation to overcome it has been that I’m not alone as a queer person to be impacted by religious trauma,” said Wanjiku, a journalist and lawyer.

She reiterated that sharing experiences with other queer persons about religious trauma from various churches, how they have dealt with it, and deconstructing hateful religious ideologies have helped her overcome the stigma.

Pastor Adera affirmed that queer persons should first acknowledge that religion and belief are used as a tool of violence in diversity to target them.

“After acknowledging, it is important to ask critical questions by interrogating the scriptures and finding alternative messages of love, justice, fairness, and God the creator of all humanity then making these messages more heard than the messages of hurt and hate that come with religious narratives,” he said.

He stated that alternative and balanced scriptures that promote inclusivity, diversity, and love that every church should stand for are what the Cosmopolitan Affirming Church teaches to demystify religious narratives of hate against queer individuals in mainstream churches.    

“Religion comes with social control in terms of shaping what morality and norms look like and how we relate to each other, which is not a positive thing as it forms the basis of excluding other people like the queer,” Adera said. “It needs to be talked about and challenged in queer forums and advocacy by calling out people using religion to fuel bigotry, hate, and hurt in the nation.”

The CAC cleric asked the queer persons to take religion seriously since it has a huge influence on society and also urged them to examine it critically to push for inclusive conversations and accommodative norms to enhance social cohesion.  

Adera assured the queer Christians that CAC is one of their alternative religions with resourceful materials like theological books, articles, and scriptures that are interpreted to suit their faith and belief.   

“Mainstream churches have been more of gatekeepers by barring us, the queer persons, from experiencing our religious beliefs like other believers,” he opined.       

During the forum, the queer persons were advised to have trusted and supportive allies who readily come to their protection and deconstruct religious narratives of hate and homophobia passed from generation to generation.     

The LGBTQ community was further urged to be alert and proactive in countering legal, social, and cultural norms or violence that come with religious stigma both at small and large scale.

LGBTQ activists in Mauritius have applauded Michelle Karla, the first transgender woman to reach the final of the Miss Universe Mauritius pageant that took place on Aug. 10.

Karla was among the top 15 finalists who were vying for the ultimate crown, which Tania Renée, a cisgender woman, won.

“Queer visibility has often been weaponized against the LGBTQ community and the participation of Karla in Miss Universe Mauritius one year after the advancement of the transgender rights project where trans people have started being positively represented is a powerful message and symbol of a door being opened by us for us,” said Hana Telvave, an LGBTQ activist. “It is important that we back Karla up so that, she knows that the whole community is behind her and that her participation is courageous in a climate that still encourages online transphobia and online hate speech.” 

Telvave added Karla’s participation in the pageant was a powerful message of hope to other aspiring trans models.

“Now we get to write our own history and our own journeys, and it is through such powerful opportunities where the whole nation can see us perform, represent and being our best where we can in a subtle way start positive change,” said Telvave. 

Telvave noted the Miss Universe organization has allowed trans women to compete since 2012, but added “it took a long time for one transgender woman to join Miss Universe Mauritius, and it shows the gap between our administrative and legal systems.”

However, this is a powerful message of hope but it also shows us how much work we still have to do when it comes to legal gender recognition so that people can freely express their gender identity, and their dreams,” added Telvave.

Daniel Wong, another LGBTQ activist, said Karla’s participation in the beauty pageant is an epitome of the inclusion of LGBTQ people in society.

“This is a true and real example of inclusion that says much about moving into the right direction for the advocacy work for transgender persons to acquire equal civil rights,” said Wong. “The participation of Karla is a milestone that values and respects all transgender women wishing to participate in future beauty pageants. Hats off to the Miss Universe Mauritius organization for that bold and pioneer move of supporting the LGBTQIA+ cause in Mauritius.” 

Wong, however, criticized the lack of full consultation of LGBTQ people and organizations in the drafting of the Gender Equality Bill, which would ban discrimination based on gender identity in Mauritius.

“Long is the way though, as the policy makers in Mauritius are demonstrating a lack of political will as the Gender Equality Bill is not being given its due recognition because most of the civil society organizations are yet to be consulted,” said Wong.

Miss Universe Mauritius says Karla is the first trans woman to work in the country’s financial sector, and is studying to become Mauritius’s first trans flight attendant. She is also the vice treasurer of the Young Queer Alliance, and has won several pageants that include Miss Fashion Mauritius 2015 and Miss Universe T International 2023/2024. 

The Supreme Court last October declared unconstitutional Article 250 of the country’s penal code that criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations. This landmark ruling also paved way for Mauritius’s first Pride month in two years.