Mauritius decriminalizes gay sex in historic ruling

The Supreme Court of Mauritius has decriminalized gay sex in a landmark ruling overturning a colonial-era law that penalized the act with up to five years in prison.

The court ruled that the law “was not introduced in Mauritius to reflect any indigenous Mauritian values but was inherited as part of our colonial history from Britain.”

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Two decisions by the country’s Supreme Court sparked violent protests led by clerics and homophobic politicians.

The Court also asked, “Are there any valid reasons for the State to discriminate against the plaintiff having sexual intercourse in the only way available to him? The present case concerns the most private and intimate aspects of the identity of homosexual men, namely the manner in which they have sexual intercourse. Accordingly, there must exist particularly serious reasons for the State to justifiably interfere with the manner in which homosexual men choose to have consensual sexual intercourse in private.”

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The ruling came about as a result of Ah Seek vs. State of Mauritius, a case in which activist Abdool Ridwan Firaas Ah Seek sued the East African nation to overturn the law. The Human Dignity Trust, an international LGBTQ+ rights ignoration that supported Ah Seek in the suit, called the ruling “a momentous victory for human rights.”

Téa Braun, leader of the Trust, added, “This decision finally topples 185 years of state-sanctioned stigma against LGBT people in Mauritius and sends yet another important message to the remaining criminalizing countries in Africa and beyond: these laws must go.”

Ah Seek added his own celebratory statement, saying that the ruling is “an enormous relief” after four years of fighting (the suit began in 2019).

“From today, as a citizen and a human being, I am now free to love whoever I want to without fear. Above all, it also means that the next generations can fully and freely embrace their sexuality without fear of being arrested. This victory is undoubtedly a major step towards the full inclusion of our community in Mauritian society.”

“I am overjoyed that after 185 years of LGBTs being criminalized in Mauritius, this homophobic law has finally come to an end,” said Pliny Soocoormanee, executive officer at the Peter Tatchell Foundation. “We were never asking for special treatment – just equality and respect. Mauritius may be small but the message this sends to the world is huge. Criminalization in every country belongs in the past. As a gay Mauritian, this day will live with me forever.”