Country Overview
Seychelles
At a glance
Same-sex Relations for Men Legal Throughout the Country?
Same-sex Relations for Women Legal Throughout the Country?
Legal Gender Recognition Possible?
LGBTI Orgs Able to Register?
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Under British colonial rule, Section 151 of the Penal Code (1955) criminalized consensual same-sex relations, imposing a penalty of three years in prison. This penal provision was retained when the country gained independence in 1976. In 2011 and 2016, Seychelles accepted UPR recommendations to decriminalize consensual same-sex intimacy between adults in private. In February 2016, President Michel announced that Section 151 would be repealed. Within four months, the National Assembly adopted the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2016, ending the criminalization of same-sex intimacy in July 2016.
On September 18, 2024, Seychelles passed an amendment to the Penal Code that recognizes hate crimes. The law ensures that the court, at the sentencing stage, considers whether a crime was motivated by prejudice against one or more of the victim’s protected characteristics, which now include sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics.
Organizations in the country can legally register even where they clearly identify themselves as working with LGBTIQ populations.
*Outright research indicates that the bodily autonomy of intersex people is not respected and protected in this country.
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