Quansah gay

Changes to the status quo depends more on the actions of those affected by these laws than on judicial interpretation. Exclusive interview: Meet Meg Jones and Celia Quansah - 'It's easier to be gay in rugby than other sports' England Sevens stars Jones and Quansah - team-mates in a same-sex relationship - open up.

On the other hand, the South African Constitutional Court invalidated statutes criminalising consensual sexual conduct between men in private. Furthermore, the alleged offences, it was contended, were committed in private between two consenting male adults. In recent years there has been a wave of agitation for reform in many countries for the decriminalisation of homosexual activity, with some measure of success.

Meg, who came out as gay to her friends aged 16 and to her family at 18, is in a relationship with fellow rugby star and ‘soulmate’ Celia Quansah. They spoke to the BBC about the “confidence” they took from seeing Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh win gold for Great Britain in hockey at Rio Who is Jarell Quansah?

In his view, the criminal law has as its basis the public morality or moral values or norms as cherished by members of the society concerned, and is influenced by the culture of the moment of such society. Accordingly, in terms of section 18 3 of the Constitution, the case was referred to the High Court for determination.

The appellant pleaded not guilty to both charges and averred that the sections of the Penal Code under which he was charged were ultra vires section 3 of the Botswana Constitution. The particulars of the second offence were that the appellant, a male person, on 26 December , at Maun Village, 'committed an act of gross indecency with Graham Norrie, a male person'.

The essence of the appellant's contentions in the High Court was that the stated sections of the Penal Code, a discriminate against male persons on the ground of gender and offend against their right of freedom of conscience, of expression and of privacy, assembly and association entrenched in section 3 of the Constitution, [8] and thus contravened that section; and, b hinder male persons as contained in sections 13 [9] and 15 [10] of the Constitution by discriminating against males on the basis of their gender and thus contravened those sections.

Section 18 3 provides:. The main explanation for the difference is the fact that the South African Constitution outlaws unfair discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, while the constitutions of the other two countries do not. In March , the appellant was brought before the Magistrate's Court and charged with the commission of two offences, namely committing an 'unnatural offence, contrary to section c of the Penal Code', and committing 'indecent practices between males, contrary to section as read with section 33 of the Penal Code'.

If in any proceedings in any subordinate court any question arises as to the contravention of any of the provisions of sections 3 to 16 inclusive of this Constitution, the person presiding in that court may, and shall if any party to the proceedings so requests, refer the question to the High Court unless, in his opinion, the raising of the question is merely frivolous or vexatious.

Sexual behaviour in society is generally predicated on heterosexuality and as a result, any exhibition of homosexual tendencies is regarded as deviant behaviour and an affront to morals and decency. In relation to the first offence, it was alleged that on 26 December , at Maun Village, the appellant 'permitted Graham Norrie, being male, to have carnal knowledge of him Utjiwa Kanane against the order of nature'.

In this article, the author examines constitutional challenges to statutes criminalising same-sex behaviour in three Southern African countries. In this regard, the identification of any such moral values or norms as being of importance to the welfare of society as a whole and for the promotion of the dignity, rights and freedoms of its members is the preserve of the society concerned.

The learned judge was of the view that the application essentially concerns the place and extent of public morality or moral values in the criminal law of a given society. He added that the conduct of any person that is seen to threaten the fabric of a given society is what falls to be proscribed under the criminal law of the society concerned.

It follows, therefore, that with offences of the type the appellant was charged with, great care must be taken by the courts in interpreting the relevant provisions of the Penal Code, lest they be trapped in unconsciously importing alien notions of moral values or norms into Botswana.

This paper examines the issues raised in the case, comparing them with those raised in South African and Zimbabwean cases and ascertaining whether same-sex relationships have a future in the law of Botswana. However, the author argues that the courts in Botswana and Zimbabwe could have reached a different conclusion, had they creatively applied a broad and generous interpretative approach.

Any male person who, whether in public or private, commits any act of gross indecency with another male person, or procures another male person to commit an act of gross indecency with him, or attempts to procure the commission of any such act by any male person with himself or with another male person, whether in public or private, is guilty of an offence.

English professional football player Jarell Amorin Quansah plays centre defender for Liverpool in the Premier League. On the one hand, in Botswana and Zimbabwe, the highest courts found in the Kanane and Banana cases, respectively that such statutes are not unconstitutional.

Such moral values regulate the conduct of individual members of society for the good of society and provide a conducive environment for the exercise and enjoyment of the individual rights and freedoms of members of such society. Mwaikasu J, in a lengthy and detailed judgment, [12] held that the sections of the Penal Code complained of did not violate any of the provisions of the Constitution and were in accordance with them.

This decision comes in the wake of a number of similar decisions in neighbouring countries such as South Africa and Zimbabwe. At the age of five, Quansah left his hometown of Warrington’s Woolston Rovers and Winwick Dragons to join Liverpool. It was common cause that this averment raised a constitutional issue, which ought to be determined by the High Court before the trial could proceed.

Megan Jones and Celia Quansah: Finding acceptance in the rugby sevens community Jones and Quansah aren’t the first couple to play together at the Olympics. On February 4, , Quansah agreed to his first deal with the Premier League team. Any person who. Great reliance was placed on the Wolfenden Report [13] and the response to it by Lord Devlin in a series of lectures.

In Botswana there has not been any noticeable agitation for such reform, but the recent decision of the Court of Appeal in Utjiwa Kanane v The State [4] has brought into the public domain same-sex relationships which had hitherto been discussed, if at all, by whispers and innuendos in private.

The true principle is that the law exists for the protection of society. It was submitted on behalf of the defendant that the traditional legal attitudes to sex were founded on a procreation fetish, and therefore under such an approach, all non-procreative sex was deemed aberrational, deviant and unnatural, thus making the ambit of the so-called 'unnatural offences' being far from clear, so that it was impossible for any charge under section c of the Penal Code to satisfy the requirements of section 10 2 b of the Botswana Constitution.