Eswatini Supreme Court hears LGBTQ rights case
Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities, an LGBTQ and intersex rights group, is hopeful the country’s Registrar of Companies will allow it to register after the Supreme Court heard its case on May 5.
The Registrar of Companies in 2019 first denied Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities’s request on grounds the organization advocates for LGBTQ and intersex rights that are illegal.
Consensual same-sex sexual activity is prohibited under common law, which criminalizes sodomy. The law, however, has never been enforced, but Emaswati who identify as LGBTQ or intersex still face discrimination.
Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities in 2020 approached the Supreme Court with the case. The Supreme Court dismissed it in 2022, but Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities appealed the ruling.
