As Edgars Rkēvičs be the first openly gay print Latvia’s history, here’s a glimpse at other openly gay heads of state om around the world.
Contents:
- WHERE GAY IS CRIMAL: THE DEFIVE GUI TO COUNTRI WHERE HOMOSEXUALY IS ILLEGAL
- HOMOSEXUALY: THE UNTRI WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY
- MAP SHOWS WHERE IT’S ILLEGAL TO BE GAY – 30 YEARS SCE WHO DECLASSIFIED HOMOSEXUALY AS DISEASE
- 15 (SURPRISG) UNTRI WHERE ’S ILLEGAL TO BE GAY
- ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
- LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?
- 70 COUNTRI WHERE IT'S ILLEGAL TO BE GAY
- LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE
WHERE GAY IS CRIMAL: THE DEFIVE GUI TO COUNTRI WHERE HOMOSEXUALY IS ILLEGAL
Sgapore jt repealed a lonial-era law crimalizg gay sex, but there are still 67 untri where homosexualy is illegal. * country illegal to be gay *
While India, the send largt untry the world, recently crimalized gay sex, homosexualy is still illegal roughly 71 other world untri. So as part of Hor’s efforts to #DecrimalizeLGBT, we’ve put together this quick and handy gui to untri where homosexualy is illegal (mostly bee of anti-sodomy laws).
In this handy gui of untri where homosexualy is illegal, we’ve only clud untri wh laws on the books that imprison adult men for nsensual sex wh another adult male — ually forbidn unr the charg of sodomy, buggery, unnatural offens or crim agast nature. It’s also important to pot out that untri whout anti-sodomy laws n still be tensely homophobic and vlent agast LGBTQ people. To unver the untri where homosexualy is illegal, we ed data om the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn 2017 report on State Sponsored Homophobia, the Kaleidospe Tst’s 2015 report on LGBTQ Rights Across the Commonwealth and Louis-Ge T’s encyclopedic volume The Dictnary of Homophobia: A Global History of Gay & Lbian Experience.
HOMOSEXUALY: THE UNTRI WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY
A Pevian high urt has orred same-sex unns to be legally registered public rerds, markg a victory for the LGBTQ muny a untry that has been reluctant to regnize gay upl. The lg, published on Friday, followed a se brought by a gay Pevian cizen who sued the registratn office for refg to rerd her 2019 marriage overseas, sayg her nstutnal rights were vlated. Pe is one of the few untri Lat Ameri that has not regnized same-sex marriage, though is not illegal to be gay. * country illegal to be gay *
Countri where homosexualy is illegal: Algeria, Botswana, Bundi, Cameroon, Comoros, Errea, Ethpia, Gambia, Ghana, Guea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mrania, Mri, Moroc, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Of Ai’s 54 untri, the bulk of them crimalize nsensual same-sex sexual enunters, mostly thanks to Brish-era lonial laws and Amerin evangelils like Stt Lively who export their homophobia abroad.
Ain policians often cry LGBTQ inty as a nt Wtern import even though gay sex and even same-sex marriage were prevalent many pre-lonial Ain trib.
MAP SHOWS WHERE IT’S ILLEGAL TO BE GAY – 30 YEARS SCE WHO DECLASSIFIED HOMOSEXUALY AS DISEASE
It's 2019 and people are still beg arrted for beg gay. * country illegal to be gay *
” Many of the laws nflate homosexualy wh btialy and seven Ain untri allow police to e forced anal exams to “nfirm” spects’ homosexualy even though the exams are basilly jt a form of legalized rape that n’t actually nfirm the past occurrence of anal sex.
” LGBTQ victims the untri where homosexualy is illegal are hant to ever go to the police, lt they get thrown jail themselv jt for beg gay. In Ethpia, prison sentenc for “homosexual acts” n be extend om three to 15 years if the nvicted person ed “ercn or trickery, ” transms an STI or if their partner later ms suici. In Algeria, anyone who ms a homosexual act or even posss or creat any image or meetg “ breach of mosty” n get two months to three years prison and a fe.
In Nigeria, anyone who shows an imag of a same-sex enunter, hosts a gay club or attends a same-sex marriage n get 10 years prison.
15 (SURPRISG) UNTRI WHERE ’S ILLEGAL TO BE GAY
“Serial offenrs” of “aggravated homosexualy, ” cludg HIV-posive people who try to get laid or who e alhol or dgs wh their sex partners, n go to prison for life.
ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
Egypt is particularly onero bee while homosexualy isn’t illegal there, LGBTQ people are still arrted for a variety of offens such as “cement of cency, ” “sndalo act, ” “practicg cement to bchery” or even “propagatn, ” which means anythg that uld dispt “natnal uny or social peace. Countri where homosexualy is illegal: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Domi, Grenada, Guyana, Jamai, Sat Kts and Nevis, Sat Lucia, Sat Vcent and the Grenad, Tridad and Tobago. Thanks largely to Inquisn-era Spanish nquerors and Brish lonizers who implemented relig-based anti-sodomy laws pretty much everywhere they settled, numero Caribbean regns and the South Amerin untry of Guyana rema among the untri where homosexualy is illegal.
LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?
Among the Caribbean untri where homosexualy is illegal, wtern media has largely foced on Jamai, cg the island natn’s numero human rights vlatns, health re discrimatn, vlent asslt, mob attacks and rrective rape agast LGBTQ cizens. Countri where homosexualy is illegal: Afghanistan, Banglash, Bhutan, Bnei Dassalam, Gaza, Indonia, Iran, Kuwa, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldiv, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Sdi Arabia, Sgapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uned Arab Emirat, Uzbekistan, Yemen. Durg the 19th and 20th centuri, Brish and French lonial law stalled anti-gay laws throughout the Middle East, punishments for which were ma even harsher by the rise of Islamic fundamentalist clerics the 1980s and then by adly extra-ernmental ias durg the 21st century.
Meanwhile, Islamic fundamentalism has fluenced other East Asian untri where homosexualy is illegal, leadg to harsh anti-LGBTQ laws there as well. Sdi Arabia don’t have laws forbiddg same-sex sexual ntact, but strict Islamic Sharia law says men who have gay sex n be whipped or stoned to ath. While Indonia isn’t technilly one of the untri where homosexualy is illegal, has begun a particularly harsh anti-LGBTQ crackdown of late, spe the fact that gay sex is only illegal s Aceh and Sumatra provc.
Durg the lonial age, 11 different wtern untri lonized var Oceanic islands, stallg siar brands of relig homophobia and toxic masculy and banishg same-sex practic to the cultural closet.
70 COUNTRI WHERE IT'S ILLEGAL TO BE GAY
Many Oceanic islands now allow charg for “attempted buggery, ” a vague term that allows queer men to be persecuted unr the imprsn that their actns nstute a possible attempt to have gay sex. Samoa punish any attempt to m sodomy wh five years prison and, if you own a “place of rort for homosexual acts, ” you n get seven years prison. 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?
LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE
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. 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". It's still illegal to be LGBT+ 70 untri, and you uld be given the ath penalty 12, as the world marks 30 years sce “homosexualy” was classified as a disease.
Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT), May 17 marks the day the World Health Organisatn (WHO) classified “homosexualy” as a mental disorr. As the world reach 30 years sce beg gay was no longer an ternatnally signated disease, a map by an ternatnal LGBT anizatn shows remas illegal to be gay 70 untri.