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The Rights of the LGBT Community in Mauritius Mauritius is an island which is situated in the Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of the African continent. It is considered as a multicultural and multilingual country where different ethnic and sexual minorities live. While the Mauritian policy encourages each minority to assert their differences in term of ethnicity, homosexuals are still fighting for the rights of equal opportunities and the legalisation of sodomy. On the 17th of June in 2011, Mauritius was among the countries which the supported for the rights of LGBT in the resolution made by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The last statistics made in 2009, reported that there was only 10% of homosexuals on the island. There have been no recent statistics made on homosexuality till now. CAEC (2012) claims that the constitution does not attempt that much to speak about homosexuality in the parliament or to include a policy to protect homosexuals. CAEC is the first NGO created in 2005 to bring their support to the LGBT community. It is the only main association which organises the Gay Pride march every year. The NGO is still fighting for the legalisation of sodomy which is considered as a crime in the laws. In spite of the fact that the state does not oppose laws on homosexual acts where mutual consent is present, the state has not completely decriminalised homosexual acts such as sodomy. The article 250 of the Mauritian criminal code states and maintains that: Any person who is guilty of the crime sodomy or bestiality shall be liable to penal servitude for a term not exceeding 5 years. In one way or the other, homosexuality is still regarded as a wrongful act in the Mauritian society. In 2014, Young Queer Alliance has led its way to help some youngsters who still have not come out of the closet or who are bullied because of their sexual orientation. However, despite the support from NGOs, homosexuals are still fighting for their rights in the workplace. There is still the stigmatisation that Gay men are associated with HIV which has increased more homophobic behaviours in the Mauritian society. While it has been reported that 1 in 5 MSM (Men having sex with Men) is HIV positive, most gay men are discriminated and dismissed of their rights for health care. Therefore, this article will provide an insight on the laws, sensitisation campaigns around homosexuality.

1	Laws concerning LGBT Jean Luk Ahnee (2006; cited in the Mail Guardian) states that homosexuality is “neither legal nor illegal”, hence pointing out that if a person complains of sexual discrimination in any fields, s/he will have no legal references. In a certain way or another, Mauritius can still be considered as homophobic because of not legalising sodomy. The factors which are still leading to view sodomy as an illegal act are because of the strong sense of religious belief in the country (Gay Mauritian News 2009). While the debate has been on and off in the parliament, in 2009, the leader of the MSN party, Pravind Jugnauth has considered the act of sodomy as “illegal” and if it is legalised, the Mauritian society will be losing “its values”. On the other side, in 2011 a brief move was made to protect the LGBT community by the Ex minister of Human rights, Rama Valayden. He included in the Equal Opportunities Commission that any person regardless of their sexual orientation have equal choices at work. Nevertheless, homosexuals have been victimised and discriminated despite the changes made in the laws. The Integrated Biological and Behavioral survey has conducted research between 2010 and 2012 to demonstrate significant discrimination against homosexuals in the public workplace. The study was printed in the local newspaper Le Mauricien (2014). 17% 	Gays were refused service in the public workplace 10%	Were refused employment 8%	Were refused housing 8%	Were hit or kicked in the past years (2010) 84%	Homosexuals reported receiving verbal assaults 7.4%	Assaulted because they were perceived to have sex with men (2012)

Table 1 show the percentage of homosexuals who were discriminated due to their sexual orientation and were not given any equal opportunities, despite legal provisions protecting their rights. Furthermore, there has been another issue on the Blood Donation Association (BDA) which had excluded homosexuals from donating their blood. In the questionnaire which the BDA requests the donors to fill in, it is asked if ever they are involved in any homosexual acts. Hence, the BDA excluded 15% of the population who they think might from the LGBT community to give blood. There is still a prevalence prejudices and discrimination that homosexuals are HIV positive. The irony is that 0.204% of heterosexuals are HIV positive whereas 0.109% of MSM have HIV which shows clear discrimination against the latter. The reasons why homosexuals are excluded from blood donation are because (from the LGBT, HIV/AIDS & Blood Donation in Mauritius): •	there is no proper study on the HIV prevalence in the LGBT population, •	the pretence of public health is used •	Prejudices related to the LGBT community The result shown above clearly demonstrates a violation of the EOA, thus showing that homosexuals are dismissed of their rights and choices to make. It also points out to the fact that a negative image is projected which reinforces the belief that HIV and AIDS are associated to them.

2	NGOs supporting the LGBT community The first NGO was founded on the 17th May 2005 which known Collectif Arc-En-Ciel (CAEC). Some of their main aims are to fight against homophobia, equal rights to same sex couples to adopt, creation of laws to penalise homophobic acts and so on. CAEC later added a platform on their site to encourage homosexuals to express themselves and to share their plight. A psychologist responds to all the queries to support the gay community In 2014, a new NGO has been created, known as Young Queer Alliance which targets most particularly youngsters who have difficulties to coming out. However CAEC still remains the pioneer main organisation which organises events to bring its support to the LGBT community.

3	Homosexuals in the public sphere- A change in 2015 and 2016 2016 marked the year where a sensitisation about homosexuality was made more visible in the media such as newspapers and billboards. There was roundtable discussions conducted on LGBT situations to bring awareness. The high commission of Canada funded the CAEC to launch a promotional campaign to support understanding and acceptance of the LGBT community in Mauritius. CAEC was given $19,807 by the High commission of Canada to launch its campaign. Pauline Verner who is a member of the CAEC claimed that the sensitisation was much needed because homosexuals still find it difficult to come out, because of family and social pressures. Verner stated that it was a good initiative to start educating the population around homosexuality and to remove certain prejudices around it. In 2015, Transgender Beauty Contests were organised in which one transgender Paola Anthéa won the first prize. She will be currently participating in Miss International Queen in Thailand. She participated in Miss Trans France (2009) and won the second prize. She participated in several competitions such as the Dance Fever which is a local competition, the Miss Transformiste (2011) and Queen Trans International (2012).

References: Chinnapen.S (2015). Paola Anthea, Une Miss Fashion Mauritius 2015 Transgenre. [online] : www.5plus.mu Gay Mauritius News & Report (2009). Accessed [online]. Archive.global.gayz.com Fokeerbux (anon). LGBT,HIV/AIDS & Blood Donation in Mauritius: A compilation of Data and Information. [online]: http://theenlighteneddarkmage.files.wordpress.com Fokeerbux (2014).Protection from Homophobia for Freedom of Expression: The next issue on Mauritius LGBTQI Agenda? [online]: www.LeMauricien.mu High Commission of Canana in South Africa (Anon). [online]: www.canadainternational.gc.ca Homososexualité: Le Collectif Arc-en-ciel demande la legislation de la sodomie. (2015). [online] : www.L’Express.mu. http://www.collectifarcenciel.org/ [online] https://youngqueeralliance.wordpress.com/ [online]