Country Overview
Angola
At a glance
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Angola has made progress on LGBTIQ people’s rights. However, LGBTIQ people still face barriers to full equality. In 2019, Angola adopted a new penal code, which removed the colonial era crime of “vices against nature.” It also criminalizes discrimination in employment, goods and services, and contracting, as well as various forms of hate crimes. This new penal code went into effect in 2021.
Despite these protections, LGBTIQ identities are still stigmatized, and LGBTIQ people continue to face discrimination in employment, education, housing, and health care. There are no procedures for legal gender recognition or legal protections based on gender identity, so transgender and gender nonconforming people are particularly vulnerable to discrimination. While Section 87 of the Civil Registry Act (2015) permits name changes, the act has yet to be widely tested or successfully utilized for gender marker changes, leaving transgender individuals without a clear administrative process for recognition.
Although one LGBTIQ organization, Associação Íris Angola, is legally registered and publicly known as an LGBTIQ advocacy group, other activists say that it is generally not permissible for groups to explicitly register as LGBTIQ organizations.
In February 2024, Carlos Fernandes, the founder of LGBTIQ organization Associação Íris Angola, was murdered in his home. No one has been arrested for the murder, and calls for justice continue. Vigils, marches, and memorials for Fernandes have become a rallying symbol for LGBTIQ communities.
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