LONDON, Dec 13 (Openly) - Gabon has passed a law against gay sex, becoming the 70th country to ban the practice, an official confirmed, as the global pace of reform falters.

The central African country banned "sexual relations between people of the same sex" in a new penal code earlier this year, according to copies of the law online. A government official who declined to be named confirmed the change, which happened in July but was not widely reported. The minister of justice declined to comment.

Davis Mac-Iyalla, an activist who monitors LGBT+ rights in West Africa, said he had spoken to two Gabonese men arrested under the new law who had to bribe police to be released. Read more via Openly Reuters