In Namibia, same-sex parents pin hopes for change on courts

Daniel Digashu didn’t set out to become a symbol. When he brought his case to a Namibian court in 2017, he had a simple request. He wanted them to recognize his South African marriage to his Namibian husband Johann Potgieter, so that the couple and their son could stay together in Mr. Potgieter’s home country.

“One of us is from here,” Mr. Digashu reasoned, “so we should have the choice to live here, the same as any couple.”

Phillip Lühl and Guillermo Delgado weren’t trying to become activists either, when they asked a Namibian court earlier this year to grant citizenship to their infant twin daughters, who were born by a surrogate in neighboring South