A Chronicle of Queer Activism in Namibia

2021

10th April: Slutshame Walk in Windhoek1

25th March: Protests against the “Ministry of Home Affairs”2

20th March: Pride Pop-Up Volume 2

5th March: First Drag Night Namibia at Café Prestige in Windhoek3

2020

December: Pride Pop-Up Volume 1

November/December: 16 Days of Activism and Pride March in Windhoek4

October: Shut It All Down (series of demonstrations against sexual and gender based violence)5

August: “Kapana” (first Namibian gay love movie)6

18th July: Pro-Choice Protest

2019

November/December: 16 Days of Activism and Pride March in Windhoek7

July: Ombudsman John Walters declares support for same-sex marriage in Namibia8

April: Play “Battered” which deals with the life of sex workers and in which a transgender person plays an essential role9

2018

December: Pride March in Windhoek in front of the Sam-Nujoma Statue with the focus on Transvisibility10 and Swakop Pride

2017

Founding of the LGBTIAQ+ umbrella organization “Diversity Alliance Namibia”

December: Swakop Pride on Human Rights Day11

July: Pride March in Windhoek with 250 participants

2016

August: Founding of Namibia Diverse Women’s Association12

June: First Pride March in Swakopmund (Swakop Pride) with 150 participants13

2015

October: Founding of Wings To Transcend Namibia14

2014

First LGBTIAQ+ play “Prime Colours” at the Windhoek State Theatre15

2013

December: Pride March in Katutura (Windhoek) with 100 participants16

2010

Founding of Out-Right Namibia “after closure of TRP [The Rainbow Project] by the community’s decision”17

Founding of Y-Fem The Young Feminists Movement Namibia18

2005

July: Pride week in Windhoek through The Rainbow Project with panel discussions, workshops and a human rights march with about 50 participants through the capital city19

1996

December: Founding of The Rainbow Project20

1989

Founding of Sister Namibia (feminist NGO)21


1https://www.facebook.com/OutRightNamORN/posts/2903169199901567

2https://land-of-the-queers.com/protests-against-ministry-of-home-affairs/

3https://www.facebook.com/events/699129160779444

4https://www.facebook.com/OutRightNamORN/posts/2829219840629837

5https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3921390781207641

6https://www.paff.org/films/kapana/

7https://www.namibian.com.na/196207/archive-read/Out-Right-Namibia-hosts-Pride-march

8https://www.namibiansun.com/news/walters-backs-lgbt-marriage2019-07-10

9https://www.facebook.com/LandOfTheQueers/

10https://www.facebook.com/WingsToTranscendNamibia/

11https://www.az.com.na/nachrichten/fr-toleranz-und-respekt-in-swakopmund-wehen-regenbogen-flaggen2017-12-13/

12https://www.facebook.com/pg/NamibiaDiverseWomenAssociationNDWA/about/?ref=page_internal

13https://www.mambaonline.com/2016/06/07/namibias-swakopmund-celebrates-first-pride-march/

14http://wttnamibia.org/about/

15http://www.taz.de/!5560874/

16https://www.mambaonline.com/2013/12/09/namibia-celebrates-pride/

17https://www.facebook.com/pg/OutRightNamORN/about/?ref=page_internal

18https://www.facebook.com/pg/YFemTheYoungFeministsMovementNamibia/about/?ref=page_internal

19https://web.archive.org/web/20120309041005/http://www.az.com.na/kultur/rainbow-project-will-massen-erreichen.11812.php

20https://www.facebook.com/pg/OutRightNamORN/about/?ref=page_internal

21https://www.facebook.com/pg/SisterNamibia/about/?ref=page_internal