Venezuela decriminalizes homosexuality in the military

Venezuela’s Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) on Thursday struck down a controversial article in the military justice code that punished homosexuality in the armed forces with up to three years in prison.

The Court “cancelled (…) the provision contained in the single section of Article 565 of the Organic Code of Military Justice, for lack of sufficient legal clarity and precision with respect to the conduct it was intended to punish said the Supreme Court of Justice on its webpage.

“The provision in question, questioned by international organizations, imposes a sentence of one to three years in prison on soldiers who commit “unnatural sexual acts”, without defining what is meant by such acts” , considers the court in its note.

The court also considers that “this interpretation, in the light of current scientific, social and legal conceptions, is not compatible with the Constitution or international instruments (…) because it is contrary to the fundamental postulate of progressiveness in the guarantee of human rights”.

After several reforms, most recently in September 2021, article 565 of the military justice code had remained unchanged, despite calls for its repeal by activists in parliament.

Several defenders of the rights of LGBT + people in this conservative South American country have welcomed this victory.

“After so many years of struggle, we obtained the nullity of the article of the code of military justice”, declared to AFP the activist Leandro Viloria, who had defended the repeal of this text.

A soldier who was expelled after his homosexuality was discovered told AFP that the cancellation of the article opened up the possibility for him to apply for reinstatement in the Bolivarian National Armed Forces.

“It is now a question of assessing whether, given this situation, my reinstatement is appropriate. At least it takes the fear away,” he said on condition of anonymity.


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