Ally Angula says no to same-sex marriage

Independent presidential candidate Ally Angula says she will not support same-sex marriages under her administration if voted into power in this year’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.

She aired her views on the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) community on Desert Radio yesterday.

“No. For me marriage should have an element of reproduction. Reproduction comes from a woman who has a womb and a man who has sperm,” she said.

Angula joins McHenry Venaani from the Popular Democratic Movement as presidential hopeful who made his stance against same-sex marriage clear.

Angula, who says she was told by God to contest for the presidential position, says her beliefs are based on the Bible, which she says does not condone homosexuality.

McHenry Venaani

“I go on the word in the Bible, and I have got people in my family who are from the alphabet community [sic]. Homosexuality is like a perversion of the natural order. You are born a man, but in this life you are living as if you want to be a woman,” she said yesterday.

“My understanding is, in a homosexual relationship you will have somebody who fulfils the role of a man, and you will have somebody who will fulfil the role of what you will ordinarily have as a female,” the accountant-cum-politician said.

On whether homophobia in Namibia could be linked to the recent deaths of members of the LGBTQI+ community, she said: “Anything you repeat over and over again unto a human being . . . there will be some form of reaction.”

The Namibian recently reported that six LGBTQI+ Namibians were killed since September last year.

HOMOPHOBIA AND THREATS

Various politicians at the time declined to comment on the matter, with some suggesting a link between homophobia and threats against the LGBTQI+ community.

“Obviously, these impressions have been created by some of the leaders repeating homophobic tendencies,” Landless People’s Movement’s Duminga Ndala said.

Angula, however, yesterday said she was unsure of such a link.

“I’ve got someone in my family who is of that orientation. I would not want harm to be done to them. I would not want them to be walking down the street because they are that.

“If you repeat something over and over again, then you will get somebody else to react in the way is not the way that they should be reacting, but I also don’t want them to overshadow the other types of murders we’ve been seeing in Namibia,” she said.

Outright Namibia director Agapitus Hausiku yesterday said he does not understand why politicians insist on using the Bible to justify their stance on issues, considering that Namibia is a democratic, secular state.

“We may as well throw away the Constitution and use the Bible as the supreme law. The very same Bible that won’t allow her to contest and cut her hair like a man.

“The continuous disregard, violation and disrespect of the dignity of the individual by these leaders are disingenuous,” he said.

“People should be allowed to be who they are, and not be subjected to some religious dogmas. I have respect for their opinions, but we can’t impose our personal values, beliefs and opinions on the entire country,” Hausiku said.

Henning Melber

SECULAR STATE

Political analyst Henning Melber yesterday said while the Bible is a respected and recognised guideline for the religious community, it should not be the normative framework for a secular state and government.

“In a democratic society such as Namibia, the Constitution respects and recognises different faith groups, and also those with no religious belief, as equal citizens before the law. “Therefore, policy and the legal frameworks should not be limited to one faith-based normative orientation,” he said.

Melber said Angula is entitled to her personal faith-based views, and policy must be in recognition and respect of other orientations, both in faith and lifestyle.

“Otherwise Namibia ends in a faith-based governance, such as the undemocratic regimes in Afghanistan under the Taliban, in Iran, or other Arab Muslim states, which impose a specific (and often contested) notion of the Qur’an as a strictly enforced and applied legal framework on the people.

“This discriminates in many ways and limits civil liberties,” he said.

Melber said Namibians should resist all forms of religion seeking to determine governance and law on certain matters.

‘DISRESPECTING SUPREME COURT’

“A presidential candidate who bases governance matters on what her understanding of the Bible is, thereby disrespecting a ruling of the Supreme Court and the civil liberties and human rights of the Constitution, deserves, in my opinion, no vote,” Melber said.

He said Angula is being inconsequential.

“She denies same-sex relations any recognition, and thereby fuels homophobic trends and exclusion.

“At the same time she cares about the one in her family and does not want him/her to face any discrimination, danger or harm,” he said.

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