Nicaragua to
Decriminalize Gay Sex
Consensual gay sex will
no longer be a criminal
offence in Nicaragua
under a new penal code
due to come into effect
on March 2008. The
surprise news was
announced earlier this
week by the Nicaraguan
National Assembly,
reports La Prensa,
Nicaragua's leading
daily newspaper.
Under old legislation
passed in 1992, "anyone
who induces, promotes,
propagandises or
practices sexual
intercourse between
persons of the same sex
commits the crime of
sodomy and shall incur
one to three years'
imprisonment."
This article
criminalises not only
gay men, lesbians and
bisexual people in
same-sex relationships,
but is vague enough to
permit the prosecution
of individuals for
activities such as
campaigning for LGBT
rights or anyone
providing sexual health
information or services.
Nicaragua's new penal
code removes all
reference to this,
reflecting changing
social mores in a
country which Amnesty
International targeted
this year for
contradicting numerous
provisions in
international human
rights law.
The vast majority of
countries throughout the
Americas have abolished
their sodomy laws.
José Pallais, president
of the Nicaraguan
Parliament's Commission
of Justice and Legal
Issues, said the changes
marked a modernisation,
placing legal rights
over the state's moral
code.
He added: "We are not
creating a code of the
Catholic Church here, we
are creating a
democratic code under
modern principles and
principles of legality."
Abortion will remain
illegal, however, after
insufficient legislative
support to change the
law.
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