Angola’s National Assembly approved a final reading of the new Penal Code which will go into effect in February 2021. The code removes the phrase “vices against nature” which had been used to criminalize same-sex sexual activity. The code also expands protections from discrimination to include threats “directed at a person because of their race, color, ethnicity, place of birth, sex, sexual orientation, illness or physical disability or psychic, belief or religion, political or ideological convictions, condition or social origin or any other forms of discrimination.” The first reading of the new code was voted on in January 2019, although the full draft text was not released publically. Many praised reports that the code was moving towards these positive changes for gay, bisexual, and lesbian people. During the last year the code has been finalized. The text of the Penal Code was published on 11 November in the Angola’s official Diário da República