The new penal code, which takes effect Monday, also decriminalizes abortion after lobbying by civil rights organizations located in Mozambique.
On Monday, Mozambique decriminalized homosexuality by removing colonial-era laws criminalizing homosexual activity and inaugurating a new penal code.
While the law has not been enforced since the country became independent in 1975, it has been illegal to commit “vices against nature,” which included homosexuality, and was punishable with up to three years of hard labor.
The new penal code, which takes effect Monday, also decriminalizes abortion after lobbying by civil rights organizations located in Mozambique.
This news comes days after the United States Supreme Court legalized same-sex across the the United States in a landmark ruling.
Mozambique has seen little friction over the issue of same-sex relations despite the recent wave of homophobic laws in African countries.
Homosexuality is criminalized and sometimes punishable by death across much of the continent, including Nigeria and Uganda.