'Our mere existence is illegal.' As Mosw toughens anti-gay law, LGBTQ Rsians fear for the future | CNN

Contents:

• HOMOSEXUALY: THE UNTRI WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY
• WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY?
• MAP SHOWS WHERE IT’S ILLEGAL TO BE GAY – 30 YEARS SCE WHO DECLASSIFIED HOMOSEXUALY AS DISEASE
• WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY? THE UNTRI WHERE HOMOSEXUALY IS STILL AGAST THE LAW
• ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
• 377A: SGAPORE TO END BAN ON GAY SEX
• MAPPG ANTI-GAY LAWS AI
• ‘OUR MERE EXISTENCE IS ILLEGAL.’ AS MOSW TOUGHENS ANTI-GAY LAW, LGBTQ RSIANS FEAR FOR THE FUTURE
• GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

HOMOSEXUALY: THE UNTRI WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY

Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Kamala Harris has been a vol supporter of LGBTQ rightsUS Vice-Print Kamala Harris who is on a tour of three Ain untri - Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia - has drawn cricism over her support for LGBTQ Ghana, a speech llg for "all people be treated equally" she appeared to cricise a bill before the untry's parliament which crimalis advocy for gay rights and propos jail terms for those that intify as lbian, gay, bisexual, or untry's Speaker Alban Bagb later lled her remarks "unmocratic" and urged lawmakers not to be "timidated by any person" Tanzania, a former mister spoke agast US support for LGBTQ rights ahead of the vis and Zambia some opposn policians have threatened to hold is homosexualy still outlawed?

In the same month, the high urt Barbados stck out laws that crimalised gay July last year, the urts Antigua and Barbuda clared a law crimalisg same-sex acts between nsentg adults Febary 2021, Angola's Print Joao Louren signed to law a revised penal to allow same-sex relatnships and ban discrimatn on the basis of sexual 2020, Gabon reversed a law that had crimalised homosexualy and ma gay sex punishable wh six months prison and a large fe. Mozambique and the Seychell have also scrapped anti-homosexualy laws recent there are untri where existg laws outlawg homosexualy have been tightened, cludg Nigeria and 's parliament recently passed a law to crack down on homosexual activi, promptg wispread source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Campaign agast LGBTQ rights some Ain untri has tensified recent weeksAnd some untri, efforts to get the laws removed have May 2019, the high urt Kenya upheld laws crimalisg homosexual acts.

WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY?

And many plac, breakg the laws uld be punishable by long prison of the 53 untri the Commonwealth - a loose associatn of untri most of them former Brish loni - 29 have laws that crimalise homosexualy. Although the origal Brish laws applied only to men, untri that crimalise homosexualy today also have penalti for women who have sex wh Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (Ilga) monors the progrs of laws relatg to homosexualy around the says the ath penalty is the legally prcribed punishment for same-sex sexual acts Bnei, Iran, Mrania, Sdi Arabia, Yemen and some northern stat of five untri - Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar, Somalia, and the Uned Arab Emirat - there is no legal clary and the ath penalty uld be source, AFPImage ptn, An Indian gay rights activist protts agast a urt lg 2013 upholdg a law which crimalis gay repealed the ath penalty for nsensual same-sex sexual acts observers note that the risk of prosecutn some plac is mimal.

For example, a 2017 report on Jamai by the UK Home Office said that Jamai was regard as a homophobic society, but that the "thori do not actively seek to prosecute LGBT persons". Seventy-three untri, or 37 percent of the Uned Natns, clare same-sex physil relatns illegal, acrdg to a prehensive survey of sexual orientatn laws om the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (ILGA), Iran, Sdi Arabia, and Yemen ll for the ath penalty natnwi for same-sex relatns, the report says, while other plac n impose ath penalti regnally, along wh f and prison sentenc. In five untri and parts of two others, homosexualy is still punishable wh the ath penalty, while a further 70 imprison cizens bee of their sexual where homosexualy is legal, many untri treat those same-sex relatnships differently, such as havg an unequal age of nsent or a ban on marriage.

MAP SHOWS WHERE IT’S ILLEGAL TO BE GAY – 30 YEARS SCE WHO DECLASSIFIED HOMOSEXUALY AS DISEASE

The map by the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn shows that only 65% of those livg UN untri around the world n now be, legally, nsensual same-sex relatnships. The new penal also prohibs discrimatn on the grounds of sexual June, the Angolan ernment gave legal stat to Iris Angola, the untry’s only gay rights lobby group, which was tablished 2013.

WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY? THE UNTRI WHERE HOMOSEXUALY IS STILL AGAST THE LAW

Human Rights Watch has documented homophobic vlence and threats faced by gay men and trans women Antigua and Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda has unrgone LGBTI sensizatn trag to better protect the rights of LGBTI people, facilated by Caribbean 2016, followg s UN Universal Perdic Review, the mister of social transformatn announced that she was willg to troduce to bet a remendatn to strike down the buggery laws, but as of 2019, they rema place Antigua and Barbuda. On April 5, 2019, a transgenr woman, Lil Martirosyan, beme the first openly LGBT Armenian to addrs parliament, but her speech was followed by ath Febary 2019, Max Varzhapetyan, a 24-year-old gay activist, was asslted and beaten Yerevan.

ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL

The crimal do not regnize homophobia as an aggravatg crimal circumstance, and a ernment bill on equaly do not clu sexual orientatn and genr inty as grounds for protectn om gay men fear for their physil secury the ary, and some seek exemptn om servg the army. In January 2019, Artak (Adam) Arakelyan, 19, a queer activist, was subjected to abe and discrimatn at a ary draft board, where officers varly ed homophobic slurs to scribe him, mocked him, and threatened to out him to his father.

377A: SGAPORE TO END BAN ON GAY SEX

Although no law has specifilly crimalized same-sex acts between adults over 21 year sce the repeal of the 1955 Brish-imposed Penal Co 1976, the thori have reportedly prosecuted acts such as anizg a “gay party” or cross-drsg unr vague penal provisns agast “cency” and “immoraly. In May 2018, police charged lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) activist Vika Biran for stagg sgle-person pickets near three ernmental buildgs to prott the Interr Mistry’s statement cryg the Brish embassy for flyg a rabow flag to mark the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia. Bolsonaro, whose supporters were reportedly behd a number of s of threats and attacks agast LGBT people durg the 2018 printial mpaign, said April 2019 that Brazil mt not bee a “gay tourism paradise.

MAPPG ANTI-GAY LAWS AI

In May, the Senate passed Bill C-66, which expung the rerds of dividuals who were prosecuted bee of their sexualy when homosexualy was crimalized bill follows Prime Mister T’s 2017 apology the Hoe of Commons for the historic mistreatment of sexual mori by the Canadian ernment. Egypt ntu to subject people acced of homosexual nduct to forced anal examatns, which are cel and gradg and n rise to the level of March 2019, a transgenr woman and polil activist, Malak Al-Kashif, was arrted based on accatns of “misg social media” and held solary nfement a male prison. Egypt censored gay-themed scen om the film Bohemian Rhapsody, starrg Egyptian-Amerin actor Rami October 2018, the UN special rapportr on the right to aquate hog reported that LGBT people were beg evicted, nied hog and harassed bee of their sexual orientatn and genr inty.

Dpe this law, lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) activists succsfully held the first ever “Eswati Pri” June 2018, wh hundreds marchg the streets of Mbabane support of LGBT equaly.

Print Barrow’s ernment has promised not to prosecute same-sex upl for nsensual sexual acts, which sharply ntrasted wh Jammeh’s hate-filled rhetoric toward lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) persons.

‘OUR MERE EXISTENCE IS ILLEGAL.’ AS MOSW TOUGHENS ANTI-GAY LAW, LGBTQ RSIANS FEAR FOR THE FUTURE

However, the ernment has not repealed laws that crimalize same-sex nduct, cludg an October 2014 law that impos sentenc of up to life prison for “aggravated homosexualy” offens. Homophobic statements by public officials feed wispread homophobia June, Jtice Mister Tea Tsuliani tried to flect generalized cricism of her tenure by vokg her nservative posn on genr regnn, possibly to tap to public transphobia. Lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) people ntue to suffer high levels of 2017, the Haian Senate passed two anti-LGBT bills, which were unr nsiratn by the Chamber of Deputi as of November 2018.

The bill lists homosexualy, alongsi child pornography, ct, and mercial sexual exploatn of children, as a reason to ny a cizen a other bill lls for a ban on gay marriage, as well as any public support or advocy for LGBT rights. Arbrary police raids on private LGBT gathergs, assisted by ant Islamists, have railed public health outreach efforts to vulnerable May 2019, a former police brigadier filed a lawsu agast the central Java provcial police, claimg he had been fired for beg gay. On September 14, 2017, Nasser Atabati, prosecutor of Arbil provce, told media that six people had been arrted Arbil for “promotg homosexualy” on the Telegram msagg March 2017, before the Commtee on the Rights of the Child, Iran nied allegatns that ercive treatment and electric shocks were beg ed agast lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) people.

In Augt 2019, an Israeli judge led that billboard pani nnot reject homophobic polil advertisements after two pani nied space on the outsi wall of a Jesalem hotel to a far-right party, Noam. Marriage Israel is currently rtricted to different-sex upl, although marriag nducted abroad n be June 6, 2019, Israel named s first openly gay mister, Amir Ohana, to serve as actg jtice mister.

GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

In July 2019, the first openly gay male lawmaker Japan, Taiga Ishikawa, was elected to the parliament’s upper hoe on a platform llg for marriage do not prohib discrimatn based on sexual orientatn and genr inty, although the Tokyo Municipal Government (TMG) has had place sce 2016 a non-discrimatn law that requir the TMG and enurag private anizatns to addrs discrimatn based on sexual orientatn and genr inty. The clu a 2015 High Court lg favor of the Natnal Gay and Lbian Human Rights Commissn a se volvg eedom of assembly and associatn, a 2018 Appeals Court lg prohibg forced anal examatns, and an October 2018 urt orr spendg a ban the Kenya Film Classifitn Board had slapped on Rafiki, a love story about two young women whose fathers are polil opponents.

Print Uhu Kenyatta referred to homosexualy as “not acceptable” a 2018 media terview, but has prevly said he would not tolerate anti-LGBT “wch hunts” and other forms of vlence. In November 2012, the Mistry of Jtice and Constutnal Affairs imposed a moratorium on anti-gay laws and temporarily banned the police om arrtg people who practice homosexualy.

Sce then, the challeng facg LGBT people the untry have been further exacerbated by the lack of clary and divergent opns regardg the legaly of the moratorium on arrts and prosecutns for nsensual homosexual September 2013, the Malawi High Court issued a notice that would review the nvictn of three dividuals for “unnatural offens, ” based on the nstutnaly of this provisn. ” The backlash agast participants was vol and severe, wh some reportg harassment on social media, cludg threats of April 2019, activist Numan Afifi was summoned for police qutng regardg a speech he gave at Malaysia’s Universal Perdic Review about the suatn facg LGBT people the Augt 2019, Malaysian thori censored gay scen om the Elton John bpic, Rocketman, sparkg nmnatn by art transgenr women were killed between November 2018 and January 2019.