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‘I’m fighting for my community’

‘I’m fighting for my community’

NQOBILE DLUDLA and SISIPHO SKWEYIYA The first transgender contestant in South Africa's national beauty pageant, 24-year-old Lehlogonolo Machaba hopes she will inspire greater acceptance of the LGBTQI community. Machaba, a fashion model, is competing for the Miss South Africa title, which opened to transgender contestants in 2019. "Being the first is a bit overwhelming and I'm also anxious that people do know now that I'm a trans woman," Machaba said. South Africa is the only African country where same-sex marriage is legal and which enshrines LGBTQI rights in its constitution. People can change their identity in the national birth register.…
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Namibia to scrap colonial-era gay sex ban

Namibia to scrap colonial-era gay sex ban

KIM HARRISBERG NAMIBIA could soon scrap a colonial-era law that criminalises gay sex between men, the justice minister said on Friday, calling the legislation "outdated and discriminatory". The law is rarely enforced in the Southern African country and is among several dozen laws that the government will consider abolishing following recommendations by a reform commission. "The LGBTQI community are human beings and we must not allow them being excluded from the bouquet of rights enunciated in our constitution," Justice Minister Yvonne Dausab told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "This sodomy law is outdated and discriminatory ... All Namibians should enjoy life,…
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