Another country decriminalizes gay sex

And transphobia loses at the polls in Canada

The Supreme Court of Mauritius decriminalized gay sex this morning – finally bringing a conclusion to a case that began in 2019. The court found the sodomy ban unconstitutional. Mauritius is a multi-ethnic island nation in the Indian Ocean that is considered part of Africa, and it inherited its sodomy law from the British Colonial administration. It’s now the latest former UK colony to have its gay sex laws scrapped. The total number of countries that criminalize gay sex now drops to 66.

The tiny South Pacific nation of Tuvalu passed a new constitution that for the first time bans discrimination based on sex and disability, however some observers complain that drafters left out protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The rights listed in the constitution are also meant to be balanced with traditional culture and the declaration that Tuvalu is a Christian nation, so ultimately what these rights mean in practice will eventually get sorted out by courts. Tuvalu is also a former UK colony with a sodomy law, though no known prosecutions have occurred. The country also maintained its ties to the monarchy.

Voters in Manitoba, Canada gave the boot to the incumbent Conservative government, after it had turned to open racism and transphobia during its reelection campaign. This was the first provincial government to go to the polls after pledging to introduce “parental consent” legislation around trans kids’ name/pronoun use in schools, and it lost badly. This hasn’t deterred the British Columbia Conservatives, who are doubling down on anti-trans rhetoric. (The BC Conservatives are the farther right fringe of BC’s two conservative parties – the more mainstream on is BC United).

For trivia buffs, Wab Kinew of the left-leaning Manitoba New Democratic Party is now also the first Indigenous premier of one of Canada’s ten provinces (the territories have had Indigenous premiers before), and the Manitoba NDP caucus will also include the province’s first openly trans legislator, Logan Oxenham.

Meanwhile, gay Conservatives in the UK are pleading with their party to come to its senses on LGBT issues, and we should all know where this storyline is heading now. The UK Tories are going all-in on transphobia in an effort to stave off huge electoral losses projected in 2025, and continuing to run the country into the ground until then.

Theatre artists in Czechia have issued an open letter calling on the Prime Minister to pass same-sex marriage legislation, echoing a recent letter issued by business leaders.