‘Hate Has No Home Here’: One LGBTQ+ Community’s Pursuit To An Equal Namibia
- Teneal Koorts
- Feb 21, 2022
- 6 min read
Updated: Feb 22, 2022
Here in Windhoek, the capital city of Namibia, the LGBTQ+ community has risen from the ashes of what they call state-sanctioned homophobia to fight for the realisation of LGBTQ+ rights in the country’s constitution – the largest civil rights movement the country has seen since apartheid.
In 2021 alone, there were at least 10 cases brought to the country’s courts by same-sex couples seeking marriage equality, trans activists and victims of homophobic violence, and queer families fighting for their rights to live together.
The fight for fair treatment came as a result of the detrimental impact the country’s stringent laws - against transsexuality, sodomy and same-sex marriages - have had on the community.
These cases, albeit tragic, have led to the unwavering coming together and activism of the queer community under the Namibia Equal Rights Movement, or in short, Equal Namibia – a youth grassroots led movement fighting for the emancipation and protection of LGBTQ+ Namibians and their constitutional rights.
On 21 March 2021, the 31st anniversary of Namibia’s independence, the movement was officially established and introduced to the public. The biggest queer protest in the country’s history followed a few days later and today they have a great deal of achievements to celebrate.
Some of them being the commemoration of a LGBTQ+ landmark; the Minister of Justice,
Yvonne Dausab, accepting a report to abolish the sodomy law pending on parliamentary approval.
Another encouragement was Namibian president, Hage Geingob’s recent statement: “There is no place for laws which are discriminatory on the grounds of gender, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, creed as well as social and economic status in the Namibian House.”
Although this is a fight that has been fought for many years, by LGBTQ+ identifying persons and allies, it‘s only now that it‘s on the forefront of Namibian social and political concerns – a shame considering that an entire community of people had and still have to live with the consequences of colonial era common laws that discriminate against their being.
The impact
Patrick Reissner, 34, was born and raised in Windhoek where he says he endured years of severe bullying because he was “different”.
There he learned to suppress any form of self- actualisation to avoid being ridiculed in front of his peers. After school he left to study in Cape Town, South Africa, where he said he felt more free. Although SA has had its own challenges with accepting the community - it has often been described by some as having some of the most progressive laws compared to other countries in the continent.
“I still didn’t come out at that point although I was in a surrounding where I could have. After school I was still questioning my own sexual orientation and basically lived in denial. You tell yourself all of these different stories to avoid the thought that you might be non-heterosexual. It is internalised homophobia because you are told by society that you are disgusting, unwanted and ‘illegal’,” Patrick says with a heavy heart.
After living in South Africa he explored different countries but says it was only when he moved to Texas, United States where he could really find himself and that eventually led to him coming out in 2018.
“Just because I came out doesn’t mean everything is sunshine and roses, I am back in Namibia now. I lived in different countries, like Germany, New Zealand, France, Italy and Mexico, all with different takes on LGBTQ+ rights and expressions of queerness.
“Here it is just not something that is generally accepted in our society. That sits with you and creates suppressed frustration, anger and anxiety.”
With laws like the one Namibia has on sodomy, Patrick can be arrested if caught engaged in
same-sex sexual activities. That raises the question of what kind of life he will have if he stays.
Although he loves his country, he doesn’t have the same rights as the person next to him.
“Essentially you are forced to live in exile and find a better life somewhere else.That is so sad and depressing to me and it is simply not fair. I do wish to have a family of my own one day, ideally within the next five or six years, but what good is it to live here when I know down the line I will run into legal issues because I am in a relationship with a man.”
Patrick says he always wanted to do good and evoke change in some way and when Equal
Namibia held their first march he knew that was his calling. After the protest Patrick became a member of the movement so that he could be part of the change, so that he could fight for his own rights.
Moving back
Venicia Shanjenka, 27, was also born and raised in the capital and moved to Cape Town for a few years for her studies. In this port city on the southwest coast of South Africa Venicia witnessed firsthand the open-mindedness and support to the queer community.
“I identify as bisexual and South Africa was such an open environment where people expressed that duality which made me comfortable and willing to be myself freely. The discrimination in Namibia upsets me because it is an injustice, degrading and needs to change. This is what makes the fight personal for me, I want to have an inclusive Namibia – and it can be done,” she said.
Three years after moving back to Namibia Venicia joined the Equal Namibia movement. Driven by dignity, respect and freedom of expression she marched the streets of Windhoek fiercely and ready to demand equality.
“It was liberating to stand up for our rights, but doing the actual groundwork, like participating in the strikes, gave me mixed emotions. It was extremely mentally straining and we all have jobs and lives to get on with, so it needs to be done in our own time.
"However, if you understand the point of the fight, it gives you the motivation to keep going. It gives you hope and excitement over what the future might hold. Activism is a lot like love, it has good and bad, but at the end of the day it brings people together.”
Venicia says she is frustrated with the government because they are infringing on freedom of expression, family and civil rights, but she still finds hope in President Hage Geingob’s support for the community.
Omar van Reenen,25, the spokesperson and one of the founders of Equal Namibia, said it all started with one court case and the coming together of the community.
After welcoming two surrogate daughters into the world, via a legal surrogacy agreement in Durban, South Africa, a Namibian father attempted to get travel documents from the Namibian ministry of home affairs to join his partner with their daughters. This application was however denied as the Ministry unconstitutionally demanded proof of the fathers’ paternity – disregarding the valid birth certificate issued by the South African High Court.
“Equal Namibia started with a roundtable discussion on how we can rally and protest to bring the children home and a few weeks later we called on the community to join the fight. This resulted in a breathtaking, people-powered LGBTQ+ rally with more than 500 people to protest against state-sanctioned homophobia. We could not allow the government to separate families, solely based on who their fathers love,” Omar says.
This was only the beginning, after the first protest Equal Namibia continued to put pressure on the government by showing up to all the court cases and hearings, having more protests and meeting with government officials.
Omar says although these actions were extremely important to take, they also had a goal to create an environment where the LGBTQ+ community can express themselves without judgement. This included pride parades, intersexual events, university LGBTQ+ pride societies and of course the beautiful rainbow sidewalk landmark.
“Our main goal is to fight for social change and for our rights to be recognised. It is our
obligation to build an equal Namibia and in community we are stronger together. I believe things have and are already changing.
"Namibia is only 31 years old, we have young democracy and to me that is so beautiful and inspiring. The LGBTQ+ judgements made now are going to set forth what equality means in Namibia and history will know it was the youth that breathed life into the constitution. What a time it is to be alive as a Namibian and to see the community stand up and say hate has no home here.”
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