Young Namibian voters push for LGBTQ+ equality

• Campaigners feel political parties ignore LGBTQ+ rights
• Only one party openly supports LGBTQ+ rights
• Legal gains for LGBTQ+ rights meet conservative pushback

WINDHOEK - As Namibia heads to Nov. 27 presidential and parliamentary elections, young LGBTQ+ voters say political parties are out of touch, failing to evolve with the times and have prejudiced views that marginalise LGBTQ+ people.

Of around 1.5 million registered to vote, people born in 1982 and after make up 62% of the electorate, according to the Electoral Commission of Namibia.

But despite concerns among young people about economic and social inclusion, including LGBTQ+ rights, political parties have so far paid little attention to the issues.

Elaine Chanel Forbes, a 25-year-old transgender activist in the capital Windhoek, said she felt insignificant and "less of a human being" as party manifestos did not mention LGBTQ+ rights.

"The people we're supposed to look up to and who are supposed to make us feel safe are plotting our demise. They discourage me from voting," she said.

"LGBTQ rights are human rights," said Zindri Swartz, a 32-year-old queer man in Windhoek. "It's not about asking for special treatment, just the same rights everyone else has."

Absent from party platforms

The southwest African country of some 3 million people directly elects a new president, who has wide executive powers, and a 104-seat National Assembly from which ministers are drawn.

The election pits the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO), which has ruled Namibia since independence from South Africa in 1990, against longstanding political rival, the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), and the newer Landless People's Movement (LPM) and Independent Patriots for Change (IPC).

All parties have promised jobs and investment, but analysts say the polls are as much about personalities as policies.

SWAPO, which led the country's liberation movement, faces its possible first defeat since independence, analysts say. Among the older generation, party loyalties remain strong, but more than half of Namibians were born since independence and are less swayed by history, ethnicity or regional loyalties.

All the parties have, however, ignored LGBTQ+ rights in their manifestos, despite pledges to champion gender equality and rights for all Namibians. The SWAPO Party Youth League said it does not recognise the LGBTQ+ community.

The only party that openly supports LGBTQ+ rights is the All People's Party (APP), but it currently only has two seats in the National Assembly and has never gained more than 3% of the vote.

Meanwhile, William Minnie, the 21-year-old LPM youth league spokesperson, has become that party's first openly gay parliamentary candidate.

Court verdicts stir backlash

Namibia's tops courts have issued rulings in the last two years recognising LGBTQ+ rights, but polls show much of society remains opposed to further liberalising the country's laws.

In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriages conducted abroad between Namibians and foreigners must be recognised and this year the High Court decriminalised sodomy, overturning a law the country inherited from South Africa.

Namibia is now aligned with the majority of the 16 countries in the Southern African Development Community that have now decriminalised same-sex sexual activity.

"Despite recent challenges, Namibia remains one of the more tolerant countries in Africa for LGBT people," said Rosie Brighouse, a senior lawyer at the Human Dignity Trust, a

London-based international organisation that uses the law to defend the human rights of LGBTQ+ people.

While LGBTQ+ campaigners hailed both court verdicts as victories, there was a backlash in parliament with bills proposed that could, if passed, overturn the rulings.

"While winning court cases is vital to our progress, the true threat to our democracy lies not in an independent judiciary, but in an autocratic parliament that could drag us back to the oppressive practices of the Apartheid era," said Omar Van Reenen, co-founder of rights group Equal Namibia.

Human rights for all

Ndumba Kamwanyah, an academic at the University of Namibia, said the conservative pushback underscored the disconnect between progress in the courts and the prevailing views in parliament and society, which he said remained entrenched in traditional, often religious, values.

"The majority of parliamentarians and ordinary citizens lean heavily towards conservative ideologies that suppress LGBTQ+ rights, including same-sex marriage," Kamwanyah said.

This was borne out by a survey this year by Pan-African research network Afrobarometer that found 64% of Namibians disagreed with granting equal legal rights to same-sex couples.

While 51% said they would not care, or would like to have an LGBTQ+ neighbour, more than 60% of respondents were against LGBTQ+ people having the right to marry or be parents.

Kamwanyah said older politicians were resistant to progress and so advancing LGBTQ+ rights was likely to be difficult.

"Without substantial changes in the parliamentary make up, or pressure from broader civil society, LGBTQ+ rights in Namibia may continue to be vulnerable despite constitutional protections," Kamwanyah said.

Equal Namibia co-founder Patrick Reissner said the political class must recognise the momentum of the civil rights movement.

"If political parties continue to ignore this movement's momentum and fail to address LGBTQ+ rights, they will miss an historic opportunity to harness the energy of a generation that will shape the country for decades to come," he said.

"This election is not just about securing political power; it's about securing human rights for all born-free Namibians."

This story is part of a series supported by Hivos's Free To Be Me programme

(Reporting by Arlana Shikongo; Editing by Jonathan Hemming and Sadiya Ansari.)