A holiday visit to the tropical Seychelles islands might have become a little more appealing with the country moving to drop it’s outdated laws against homosexuality.
Section 151 of the country’s Penal Code states that a man who has sex with a man “against the order of nature” can be jailed for up to fourteen years.
The law is a hang-over from British colonial rule, and convictions are already very rare – but the Seychelles government this week announced a renewed a push to get rid of the old fashioned law.
The island nation lies 1,500 kilometres east of mainland Africa and is famed for it’s white beaches and clear ocean waters. Tourism is one of the nation’s biggest industries.
According to the Seychelles News Agency, Attorney General Ronny Govinden has acknowledged that international pressure had been a motivator in bringing forth the change to the laws.
“It is a priority for the country because whenever the Seychelles is participating in an international convention… we face pressures from other countries who are asking us to remove this law.”
The Attorney General has also dismissed suggestions that the change needs to be presented as a referendum declaring that a simple vote by parliament is all that is required to make homosexuality legal.
OIP Staff
