Persecution of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and the transgendered

Persecution

Persecution is persistent mistreatment of an individual or group by another group. The most common forms are religious persecution and ethnic persecution. The terms have some overlap, as religion is an aspect of culture that can be a barrier.

The most common scenario is a majority group persecuting a minority group, since the reverse is usually impractical, although apartheid in South Africa is considered an exception. Majority groups, however, can inspire resentment where they are locally a minority and find themselves persecuted; persons of an ethnic majority who venture within a large minority neighborhood may experience or simple perceive a hostility towards them. See reverse discrimination.

When the majority group who wishes to persecute a particular minority gains political power, the persecution becomes enshrined in the law. Examples of these laws include laws limiting property ownership and political power from women, Jim Crow laws in the American south in the period between the end of Reconstruction and the beginning of the Civil Rights movement for African-Americans in the 1950's, and the current laws that prohibit legal marriage and other equal protections under the law to the LGBT community.

Causes

There are various possible origins of persecutory behavior. For instance, a movement which is publicly or implicitly identified with a minority group — such as a religion, a genetic heritage, a region, or other traditional distinction — might be successful enough to disrupt the status quo or become associated with violent acts. A reflective persecutory movement might then arise within the majority, not necessarily distinguishing between those who are and are not part of the movement. This persecution might in turn radicalize the minority group, resulting in a feedback cycle.

So-called opportunistic persecution occurs when someone exploits and takes advantage of an existing presence of resentment to enhance his or her own political power. This opportunism can be applied "in reverse", as where a minority orator provokes persecution in order to unify a minority movement.

LGBT-related laws by country or territory

In modern times nine countries have no official heterosexist discrimination. They are Argentina, Belgium, Canada , Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, South Africa, and Spain. This full non-discrimination includes the rights of marriage and adoption. Portugal has also marriage rights for same-sex couples but this right does not include same-sex adoption. The Canadian Blood Services’ policy indefinitely defers any man who has sex with another man, even once, since 1977. LGBT people in the US face different laws for certain medical procedures than other groups. For example, gay men have been prohibited from giving blood since 1983, and George W. Bush's FDA guidelines barred them from being sperm donors as of 2005, even though all donated sperm is screened for sexually-transmitted diseases. Template:Citation needed

Africa

Main article: LGBT rights in Africa

Northern Africa

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (Sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Algeria	✘ Illegal (Penalty: Fine - up to 2 years prison)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Egypt	✘ Not specifically outlawed, but public morals laws are used against LGBT people according to AmnestyUSA , Prison up to 3 years	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	Unknown
Libya	✘ Illegal (Penalty: Fine - up to 5 years prison).	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	allowed	allowed
Morocco (incl. Western Sahara)	✘ Illegal (Penalty: 6 months to 3 years)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Sudan	✘ Illegal (Penalty: 5 years up to death penalty.)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Tunisia	✘ Illegal (Penalty: Fine - 3 years)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown

Western Africa

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (Sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Benin	✔ Legal	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	✘	Unknown
Burkina Faso	✘ Not specifically outlawed, but other laws apply.	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Cape Verde	✔ Legal since 2004 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	✘	Unknown
Côte d'Ivoire	✔ Legal	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	✘	Unknown
Gambia	✘ Illegal (Penalty: up to 14 years)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Ghana	✘ Male illegal Female unclear	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Guinea	✘ Illegal (Penalty: 6 months to 3 years prison)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Guinea-Bissau	✔ Legal + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Liberia	✘ Illegal (Penalty: Fine)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Mali	Not specifically prohibited, but public morals laws have been used against LGBT persons	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Mauritania	✘ Illegal (Penalty: Death penalty)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Niger	Not specifically prohibited, but public morals laws may be used	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Nigeria	✘ Male illegal ✘ Female illegal in areas under Sharia (Penalties in Sharia areas: Up to death for men, and up to 50 lashes (caning) and six months for women.) ✔ Female legal in areas not under Sharia.	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Senegal	✘ Illegal (Penalty: 1 month to 5 years prison)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Sierra Leone	✘ Male illegal Female needs verification	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Togo	✘ Illegal	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown

Middle Africa

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (Sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Angola	✘ Not specifically outlawed, other laws may apply (Penalty: Labour camps for habitual offenders.)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Cameroon	✘ Illegal (Penalty: Fine to 5 years prison)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Central African Republic	✔ Legal + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	✘	Unknown
Chad	✔ Legal since 1967	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	✘	Unknown
Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire)	✔ Legal	✘	✘ Constitutional ban since 2005	Unknown	Unknown	✘	Unknown
Equatorial Guinea	✔ Legal	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Gabon	✔ Legal + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Republic of the Congo	✔ Legal	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	✘	Unknown
São Tomé and Príncipe	✘ Illegal + UN decl. sign.	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown

Eastern Africa

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (Sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Burundi	✘ Illegal since 2009 (Penalty: 3 months to 2 years imprisonment and fine of 50,000 to 100,000 Burundian francs)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Comoros	✘ Acts "against nature" outlawed	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Djibouti	✘ Illegal (Penalty: 10-12 years)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Eritrea	✘ Illegal (Penalty: 3-10 years)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Ethiopia	✘ Illegal (Penalty: up to 5 years)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Kenya	✘ Male illegal (Penalty: up to 14 years) ✔ Female legal	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Madagascar	✔ Legal	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	✘	Unknown
Malawi	✘ Illegal	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Mauritius	✘ Illegal (Penalty: 5 years) + UN decl. sign. (national debate over repeal of the law)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination	Unknown
Mozambique	Not specifically outlawed, other laws may apply (no record of enforcement)	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination	Unknown
Réunion (Overseas department of France)	✔ Legal since 1791 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Pacte civil de solidarité since 1999	✘	✘ Single gay persons may adopt	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination	Unknown
Rwanda	✔ Legal	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	✘	Unknown
Seychelles	✘ Male illegal ✔ Female legal	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Somalia	✘ Illegal (Penalty: Death)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Uganda	✘ All homosexual acts illegal (Penalty: Fine up to life sentence, Death penalty under consideration)	✘	✘ Constitutional ban since 2005	✘	✘	✘	✘
Tanzania	✘ Male illegal (Penalty: Life Imprisonment)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Zambia	✘ Male illegal (Penalty: fine to 15 years) ✔ Female legal	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Zimbabwe	✘ Male illegal (Penalty: up to 10 years) ✔ Female legal	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown

Southern Africa

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (Sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Botswana	✘ Illegal (Penalty: Fine - years)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Lesotho	✘ Illegal	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Namibia	✘ Illegal (not enforced)	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	✘ Anti-gay discrimination clause ineffective after adoption of new Labor Act	Unknown
South Africa	✔ Legal since 1994	✔ Legal since 1996	✔ Legal since 2006	✔ Legal since 2002	✔	✔ Bans all anti-gay discrimination	Unknown
Swaziland	✘ Male illegal (Penalty: US$90 fine - prison.) ✔ Female legal	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown

The Americas

Main article: LGBT rights in the Americas

Tables: Template:Navbar

North America

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex unions	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Bermuda	✔ Legal since 1994 (Age of consent discrepancy, see article)	✘	✘	Unknown	✔ (due to policy of conscription)	✘	✘
Canada	✔ Legal since 1969 (Disputed age of consent discrepancy, see article) + UN decl. sign.	✔	✔ Legal since 2003, nationwide since 2005	✔	✔ Since 1992[1]	✔Bans all anti-gay discrimination, including hate speech	✔Sex changes legally recognised; Explicit anti-discrimination protections only in NWT, implicit elsewhere;
Mexico	✔ Legal since 1871 + UN decl. sign.	✘ / ✔ Legal since 2007 in Mexico City and Coahuila	✘ / ✔ Legal since 2009 in Mexico City.	✘ / ✔ Legal since 2009 in Mexico City. Nationwide, single gay persons may adopt.	✘	✔ Since 1999, nationwide since 2003.	✘ / ✔ In Mexico City only.
Saint Pierre et Miquelon (overseas collectivity of France)	✔ Legal since 1791 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Pacte civil de solidarité since 1999	✘	✘ Single gay persons may adopt	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination	✘
United States	✔ Legal since 1962, nationwide since 2003 + UN decl. sign.	✘ / ✔ Varies by state	✘ / ✔ Legal since 2004, marriage in 5 states	✘ / ✔ Single gay persons may adopt, laws on couples vary by state	✘ "Don't ask, don't tell" policy	20 states, sexual orientation included in federal hate crime definition	13 states ban discrimination by gender identity, included in federal hate crime definition

Central America

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex unions	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Belize	✘ Male: Illegal since 2003 (Penalty: 10 year prison sentence) ✔ Female: Legal	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Costa Rica	✔ Legal since 1971	✘ (There is a project in the Congress)	✘	Unknown (Has happened in some cases)	Doesn't apply. There are no military forces in Costa Rica, nonetheless they may serve in the police	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
El Salvador	✔ Legal	✘	✘	Unknown	✔ Yes	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination	✘
Guatemala	✔ Legal	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	✔ Anti-discrimination in Youth and Childhood Act since 1997.
Honduras	✔ Legal	✘	✘ Constitutional ban	✘ Constitutional ban	✘	✘
Nicaragua	✔ Legal since 2008 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	-	-	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Panama	✔ Legal since 2008	✘	✘	Unknown	✘	✘

Caribbean islands

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex unions	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Anguilla (Overseas territory of the United Kingdom)	✔ Legal since 2000	✘	✘	Unknown	✔	Unknown	Unknown
Antigua and Barbuda	✘ Illegal (Penalty: 15 year prison sentence)	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Aruba (Autonomous country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands)	✔ Legal	✘ Only unions made in The Netherlands recognised	✘ Only same-sex marriages made in The Netherlands recognised	Unknown	✔	Unknown	Unknown
Bahamas	✔ Legal since 1991 (Age of consent discrepancy)	✘	✘	Unknown	✔	✘	✘
Barbados	✘ Illegal (Penalty: life sentence)	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
British Virgin Islands	✔ Legal since 2000	✘	✘	Unknown	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination	✘
Cayman Islands	✔ Legal since 2000	✘	✘	Unknown	✔	Unknown	✘
Cuba	✔ Legal since 1979 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	Unknown	✘	Unknown	✘
Dominica	✘ Illegal (Penalty: 10 year prison sentence)	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Dominican Republic	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Grenada	✘ Male illegal (Penalty: 10 year prison sentence) ✔ Female legal	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Guadeloupe (Overseas department of France)	✔ Legal since 1791 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Pacte civil de solidarité since 1999	✘	✘ Single gay persons may adopt	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Haiti	✔ Legal	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Jamaica	✘ Illegal (Penalty: 10 years hard labor) ✔ Female legal	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Martinique (Overseas department of France)	✔ Legal since 1791 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Pacte civil de solidarité since 1999	✘	✘ Single gay persons may adopt	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Montserrat	✔ Legal since 2000	✘	✘	Unknown	✔	Unknown
Netherlands Antilles	✔ Legal	✘ Only unions made in The Netherlands recognised	✘ Only same-sex marriages made in The Netherlands recognised	Unknown	✔	Unknown
Puerto Rico (Commonwealth of the United States)	✔ Legal since 2005	✘	✘	✘ Single gay persons may adopt	✘ US military has a "don't ask, don't tell" policy	✘
Saint Kitts and Nevis	✘ Male illegal (Penalty: 10 years) ✔ Female legal	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Saint Lucia	✘ Male illegal (Penalty: fine and/or 10 year prison sentence) ✔ Female legal	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	✘ Illegal (Penalty: fine and/or 10 year prison sentence)	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Trinidad and Tobago	✘ Illegal (Penalty: 25 year prison sentence)	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Turks and Caicos Islands	✔ Legal since 2000	✘	✘	Unknown	✔	Unknown
United States Virgin Islands (Insular area of the United States)	✔ Legal	Unknown	✘	Unknown	✘ US military has a "don't ask, don't tell" policy	-	-

South America

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Argentina	✔ Legal + UN decl. sign.	✔ Unregistered cohabitation in all country, Civil unions in Buenos Aires, Villa Carlos Paz, and Rio Negro province	✘ Under consideration	✘	✔ Since 2009	No national protections, but cities of Buenos Aires and Rosario have had laws since 1996.	Unknown
Bolivia	✔ Legal since + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘ Constitutionally banned in 2007	✘	Unknown	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination	Bans all discrimination based on gender identity
Brazil	✔ Legal since 1830 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Unregistered cohabitation throughout the country See also Recognition of same-sex unions in Brazil	✘Decision pending in the Supreme Court	✔	✔	✔/✘Legal protection for sexual orientation in some states	✔/✘Despite a lack of specific legislation, recent jurisprudence has been in favor of gender-motivated identity change.
Chile	✔ Legal since 1998 (Age of consent discrepancy) + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	✘	Unknown		Unknown
Colombia	✔ Legal since 1981 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Legal since 2007	✘	✘ single gay person may adopt	✔ since 1999. Since 2009: the military special social security system can be used by same sex couples in the army	✔	✔ Since 1993. The name's gender can be changed easily in the National ID Card, to change the sex field a surgery is required.
Ecuador	✔ Legal since 1997 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Civil unions recognized since 2009	✘ Constitutional ban	✘	Unknown	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination	Unknown
French Guiana	✔ Legal since 1791 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Pacte civil de solidarité since 1999	✘	✘ Single gay persons may adopt	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination	Unknown
Guyana	✘ Male illegal (Penalty: life imprisonment) ✔ Female legal.	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	✘ Added to constitution in 2004, but withdrawn afterwards by the government.	Unknown
Paraguay	✔ Legal (Age of consent discrepancy) + UN decl. sign.	✘ Constitutional ban since 1992	✘ Constitutional ban since 1992	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Peru	✔ Legal	✘	✘	Unknown	✘	Bans some anti-gay discrimination	Unknown
Suriname	✔ Legal (Age of consent discrepancy)	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Uruguay	✔ Legal since 1934 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Civil unions since 2008,	✘ (but proposed)	✔ Since 2009	✔ Since 2009	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination since 2004	✔Since December 2008, transgender people can change their legal gender, from the age of 12 onwards.
Venezuela	✔ Legal + UN decl. sign.	✘ Civil union bill passed first reading, becomes law if passes second	✘	✘	✘	✘ Ban revoked from 1999 constitution at last minute; under consideration (passed first reading)	✘ Under consideration (passed first reading)

Disputed territories

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Falkland Islands (overseas territory of the U.K., claimed by Argentina)	✔ Legal	✔ Legal since 2005</small>	✘	✔	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination	Unknown

Asia

Main article: LGBT rights in Asia

Central Asia

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (Sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Kazakhstan	✔ Legal	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	✘	Unknown
Kyrgyzstan	✔ Legal	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Tajikistan	✔ Legal	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Turkmenistan	✘ Male illegal (Penalties: fine, up to 2 year prison sentence) ✔ Female legal	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Uzbekistan	✘ Male illegal (anal sex only) (Penalties: fine, up to 3 year prison sentence)</small> ✔ Female legal	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown

Western Asia

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (Sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Bahrain	✘ Illegal	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Cyprus	✔ Legal since 1998 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	✘	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Iraq	✔ Legal since 2003	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Israel	✔ Legal since 1963 de facto (judicial decision against the enforcement of the relevant section in the old British-mandate law from 1936 [which in fact was never enforced]) 1988 de jure ("buggery law" formally repealed by Knesset) + UN decl. sign.	✔ Unregistered cohabition Legal	✘ Foreign same-sex marriages recognised	✔	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination	✔
Jordan	✔ Legal since 1951	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Kuwait	✘ Illegal (Penalty: fines, men under 21 face prison sentences up to 10 years, men over 21 face prison sentences up to 7 years)	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Lebanon	✘ Illegal (Penalty: fines, up to 1 year in prison). There's a growing public campaign to legalise homosexual relations. A small public growing campaign exists to legalize homosexual relations between consenting adults in private, though it is often viewed unfavorably. -->	✘ Not by the government, however there are some LGBT support groups that offer great favours and acceptance.	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Oman	✘ Illegal (Penalty: fines, prison sentence up to 3 years; however, only enforced when dealing with "public scandal")	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Palestinian territories (Gaza)	✘ Male illegal (Penalty: up to 10 year prison sentence) ✔ Female legal	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Palestinian territories (West Bank)	✔ Legal since 1951	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Qatar	✘ Illegal (Penalty: fines, prison sentence up to 5 years)	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Saudi Arabia	✘ Illegal (Penalty: death or prison/fines/whipping)	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Syria	✘ Illegal (Penalty: prison sentence up to 3 years; law de facto suspended)	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
United Arab Emirates	✘ Illegal (Penalty: deportation, fines, prison time or death sentence)	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Yemen	✘ Illegal (Penalty: flogging or death)	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘

South Asia

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (Sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Afghanistan	✘ Illegal	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Bangladesh	✘ Illegal	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Bhutan	✘ Illegal (Penalty: prison sentence up to 1 year; no cases of penalty actually enforced)	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
India	✔ Ban on homosexual sex ruled unconstitutional by Delhi High Court on 2 July 2009 and the law read down. Government to decide on future course of action, if any.	✘	✘ Not specifically banned	Unknown	✘	✘Not in law ✔Delhi HC has ruled "We hold that sexual orientation is a ground analogous to sex and that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is not permitted by Article 15." Pg85 point 104	Unknown
Iran	✘ Illegal (Penalty: Death)	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Maldives	✘ Illegal	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Nepal	✔ Legal since 2007 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘ Ordered by Supreme Court; government expected to include gender-neutral marriage laws in the drafting of the upcoming constitution. [2]	Under consideration	✔	✔ Supreme Court ruled discrimination laws apply to homosexuals	✔ "Third gender" cards have been issued since September 2007, legally protected class
Pakistan	✘ Illegal (Penalty: 2 years to life sentence)	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Sri Lanka	✘ Sodomy may be illegal - British-enacted law, never implemented	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘

East Asia

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (Sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
China	✔ Legal since 1997	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown; the military hasn't specialized the male-male sex acts from homosexuality	✘	✘
Japan	✔ Legal + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	Unknown	✔	✘/✔ No federal protections, but some cities ban all anti-gay discrimination	✔ Transexuals allowed to change legal gender
Mongolia	✔ Legal since 2002	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
North Korea	✘ Not considered to be in accordance with the dictator's ideals. Prison camps for dissidents	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘ Heavily obeyed gender roles for both male and female. See Let's trim our hair in accordance with the socialist lifestyle
South Korea	✔ Legal	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	Unknown
Taiwan	✔ Legal	✘	✘ Pending law allows civil unions or same-sex marriage.	Unknown	✔ Due to military draft	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination (in work and education)	Unknown

Southeast Asia

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (Sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Brunei	✘ Illegal (Penalty: fine or prison sentence up to 10 years)	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Cambodia	✔ Legal	✘	✘ Techinically prohibited, though there has been at least one recorded case of a legally registered and recognized same-sex marriage	✔	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
East Timor	✔ Legal + UN decl. sign.	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Indonesia	✔ Legal except for Muslims in Aceh Province	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	✘	Unknown
Laos	✔ Legal	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	✘	Unknown
Malaysia	✘ Illegal (Penalty: fines, prison sentence (2-20 years), or whippings)	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Myanmar	✘ Illegal (Penalties: 10 years to life sentence)	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Philippines	✔ Legal.	✘	✘	✔	✔ Since 2009. Was previously banned.	✘ Bill pending but still not made into law	Unknown
Singapore	✘ Male illegal (Penalty: up to 2 years prison sentence; no plan to repeal 377A and not enforced since 1999) ✔ Female legal	✘	✘	✘	✘	Unknown	✘
Thailand	✔ Legal since 1956	✘	✘	Unknown	✔ Since 2005	Unknown	Unknown
Vietnam	✔ Legal (no laws against homosexuality have ever existed)	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	✘	Unknown

Europe

Main article: LGBT rights in Europe

Four countries currently ban all forms of heterosexist discrimination: Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. Membership in the European Union not only requires repeal of anti-homosexuality legislation, the Treaty of Amsterdam also requires anti-discrimination legislation to be enacted by its member states.

Northern Europe

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Åland Islands (self-governing part of Finland)	✔ Legal since 1971	✔ Legal since 2002	✘	✘	Demilitarised	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Denmark	✔ Legal since 1933 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Legal since 1989	✘	✔	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Estonia	✔ Legal since 1992 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	✘ Unregulated, it is possible for any single individual to adopt if they can prove to be suitable to bring up a child.	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Faroe Islands (self-governing part of Denmark)	✔ Legal since 1933	✘	✘	✘	✔ (Denmark responsible for defence)	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Finland	✔ Legal since 1971 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Legal since 2002	✘	✔/✘ Step-child adoption only	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Greenland (member country of the Kingdom of Denmark)	✔ Legal since 1933 +UN decl. sign via Denmark.	✔ Civil unions since 1996	✘	✔ Only in registered partnerships and only with partner's children	✔ (Denmark responsible for defence)	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Iceland	✔ Legal since 1940 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Legal since 1996	✘ (proposed)	✔ Only in registered partnerships	Has no army	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Ireland	✔ Legal since 1993 + UN decl. sign.	✘ The Civil Partnerships Bill 2009 is currently before the Irish lower house (Dáil Éireann)	✘	Single gay persons may adopt	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Isle of Man	✔ Legal since 1994	✔ Legal since 2005	✘	✘	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Latvia	✔ Legal since 1992 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘ Constitutional ban since 2006	✘ Only married couples can adopt	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Lithuania	✔ Legal since 1993 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘ Constitutional ban since 1992	✘ Only married couples can adopt	✔	Bans some anti-gay discrimination, and publication of pro-homosexual "propaganda" banned as of 2009
Norway	✔ Legal since 1972 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Legal since 1993	✔ Legal since 2009	✔	✔	✔ Bans all anti-gay discrimination
Sweden	✔ Legal since 1944 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Legal since 1995	✔ Legal since 2009	✔	✔	✔ Bans all anti-gay discrimination and publication, including hate speech against homosexuals and transgenders	✔ Sex change can only be done after recomendations by the National Board of Health and Welfare, due health and safety reasons
United Kingdom	✔ Legal since 1967 in England and Wales, 1980 in Scotland and 1982 in Northern Ireland + UN decl. sign.	✔ Civil partnerships since 2005</small>	✘	✔	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination, as well as religion-based hate speech against homosexuals	✔ Gender Recognition Act 2004

Western Europe

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Belgium	✔ Legal since 1843 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Legal since 2000	✔ Legal since 2003	✔	✔	✔ Bans all anti-gay discrimination
France	✔ Legal since 1791 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Pacte civil de solidarité since 1999	✘ No	✘ Single gay persons may adopt	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Guernsey (incl. Alderney, Herm and Sark)	✔ legal since 1983 (Age of consent discrepancy)	✘	✘	✘	UK responsible for defence	✘
Jersey	✔ legal since 1990	✘ (Civil Partnerships are proposed)	✘	✔		✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Luxembourg	✔ Legal since 1795 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Legal since 2004	✘ (proposed)	✘ (proposed)	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Monaco	✔ Legal since 1793	✘	✘	✘	France responsible for defence	✘
Netherlands	✔ Legal since 1811 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Legal since 1998	✔ Legal since 2001. First country to legalize same-sex marriage.	✔	✔	✔ Bans all anti-gay discrimination

Central Europe

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Austria	✔ Legal since 1971 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Unregistered cohabitation since 2003, Registered partnership will become legal on 1 January 2010.	✘	✘	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Croatia	✔ Legal since 1977 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Unregistered co-habitation since 2003; Registered partnership refused in 2005	✘	Single gay persons may adopt	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination	✔ Act on the elimination of discrimination
Czech Republic	✔ Legal since 1962 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Registered partnership since 2006.	✘	✘	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Germany	✔ Legal since 1968 in East Germany and 1969 in West Germany + UN decl. sign.	✔ Registered partnership since 2001	✘	Single gay persons may adopt or a partner can adopt the other partner's child (full joint adoption is proposed)	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Hungary	✔ Legal since 1962 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Unregistered cohabitation since 1996 and Registered partnership since 2009	✘	✘	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Liechtenstein	✔ Legal since 1989 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	✘	Has no army	✘
Poland	✔ Never punished. Legal since 1932 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘ Constitutional ban since 1997	Single gay persons may adopt	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Slovakia	✔ Legal since 1962 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	✘	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Slovenia	✔ Legal since 1977 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Registered partnership since 2006	✘ (proposed)	✘ (proposed)	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination	✔ Sex change can be recorded in a central register, and new documents can be issued based on person's new gender identity.
Switzerland	✔ Legal since 1942 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Legal since 2007	✘	Single gay persons may adopt. Non-biological partner must provide educational and financial tutorship for his/her partner's child	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination

Eastern Europe

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Albania	✔ Legal since 1995 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘ (but proposed) [3]	✘	✔	✘
Armenia (terminology "European" varies on border defintions)	✔ Legal since 2002 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	✘	Unknown	✘
Azerbaijan (terminology "European" varies on border defintions)	✔ Legal since 2000	✘	✘	✘	✘ Banned from military service	✘
Belarus	✔ Legal since 1994	✘	✘	✘	✘ Banned from military service	✘
Bosnia and Herzegovina	✔ Legal since 1996 in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1998 in Republika Srpska + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	✘	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Bulgaria	✔ Legal since 1968 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘ Constitutional ban	✘ Single gay person may adopt	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Georgia (terminology "European" varies on border defintions)	✔ Legal since 2000 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	✘	Unknown	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Macedonia	✔ Legal since 1996 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	✘	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Moldova	✔ Legal since 1995	✘	✘ Constitutional ban	✘	✔	✘
Montenegro	✔ Legal since 1977 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘ Constitutional ban	✘	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Romania	✔ Legal since 1996 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	✘	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Russia (incl. all constituent regions)	✔ Legal since 1993 (was illegal in Russian Empire in 1832-1917, was legal in the RSFSR/Soviet Union in 1917-1934)	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘
Serbia	✔ Legal since 1994 (1981 in Vojvodina) + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘ Constitutional ban	✘	✘	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Turkey	✔ Legal since 1858 (decriminalized by the Ottoman Empire)	✘	✘	✘ No particular legal ban.	✘ They are exempt from the military service and marked as mentally ill.	✘ Added to constitution in 2004, but withdrawn afterwards by the government	✔
Ukraine	✔ Legal since 1992	✘	✘ Constitutional ban	✘	✔	✘

Southern Europe

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Andorra	✔ Legal since 1790 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Legal since 2005	✘ (but proposed)	✔ Legal since 2005	Has no army	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Cyprus	✔ Legal since 1998 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	✘	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Gibraltar (overseas territory of the U.K.)	✔ Legal since 1993 (Age of consent discrepancy)	✘	✘	✘	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Greece	✔ Legal since 1951 (Age of consent discrepancy) + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	✘	✘ Banned from military service	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Italy	✔ Legal since 1890 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	✘ Only married couples can adopt	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Malta	✔ Legal since 1973 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	✘	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
Portugal	✔ Legal since 1983 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Legal since 2001	✘ (but proposed)	✘	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination
San Marino	✔ Legal since 1864, recriminalised in 1974 and again legalised in 2001 + UN decl. sign.	✘	✘	✘	Unknown	✘
Spain	✔ Legal since 1979 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Legal since 1998 (12 of 17 communities legalised Civil unions)	✔ Legal since 2005	✔	✔	✔ Bans all anti-gay discrimination	✔ La Ley de Identidad de Género (Gender Identity Law), enacted in 2007.

Disputed territories

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Kosovo (only partially recognised, claimed by Serbia)	✔ Legal since 1994 (as part of Serbia), 2008 (as partially recognised sovereign territory)	✘	✘	✘	✔	✔ Bans some anti-gay discrimination	✔
Turkish Republic Northern Cyprus (only recognised by Republic of Turkey)	✔ Legal since 2009	✘	✘	✘ No particular legal ban.	✘ Banned from military service. (with the same code in Turkey)	✘

Oceania

Main article: LGBT rights in Oceania

Australasia

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Australia (incl. Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Norfolk Island)	✔ Legal since 1994 in all Australian states and territories + UN decl. sign.	✔ Unregistered cohabitation in all states; registered partnerships in ACT, Tasmania and Victoria	✘ Only transsexual persons allowed to marry (All States)	✔ ACT, Western Australia. In Tasmania same-sex couples are permitted to adopt a child who is related to a member of the couple only.✘ other states and territories	✔ Yes, since 1992	✔ Bans most anti-gay discrimination	✔ Yes, Covered by all state and territory laws only
New Zealand	✔ Legal since 1986 + UN decl. sign.	✔ Yes, since 2004	✘	✘ Single gay persons may adopt	✔	✔ Bans all anti-gay discrimination	✔ Covered under the 'sex discrimination' provision of the Human Rights Act 1993 since 2006.

Melanesia

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
East Timor (terminology "Oceania" varies on border defintions)	✔ Legal + UN decl. sign	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Fiji	✘ Male illegal ✔ Female legal	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	✘ 1997 constitution that banned all anti-gay discrimination has been suspended	Unknown
New Caledonia (overseas collectivity of France)	✔ Legal	Civil union	No	Unknown	✔ Yes since?	Unknown
Papua New Guinea	✘ Illegal	Unknown	✘	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Solomon Islands	✘ Illegal	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Vanuatu	✔ Legal	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown

Micronesia

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Guam (unincorporated territory of the United States)	✔ Legal since 1979	✘ Currently debated	✘	✘	Unknown	✔ Bans all anti-gay discrimination
Federated States of Micronesia	✔ Yes, according to most reports	✘	✘	Unknown	✘ Defense responsibility of the US, which has "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."	✘	✘
Kiribati	✘ Male illegal ✔ Female legal	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Marshall Islands	✔ Legal since?	✘	✘	✘	Unknown	✘
Nauru	✘ Male illegal ✔ Female legal	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Northern Mariana Islands	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Palau	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown

Polynesia

LGBT rights in:	Homosexual acts legal?	Recognition of same-sex relationships	Same-sex marriage	Same-sex adoption	Allows gays to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination (sexual orientation)	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
American Samoa (unincorporated territory of the United States)	✔ Legal since 1899	✘	✘	✘	✘ US military has "Don't ask, don't tell" policy	Unknown
Chile (Easter Island/Rapa Nui only)	✔ Legal since 1998	✘	✘	✘	Unknown	✘
Cook Islands (part of the realm of New Zealand)	✘ Male illegal ✔ Female legal	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Has no military forces	Unknown	Unknown
French Polynesia (overseas collectivity of France)	✔ Legal since ?	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	✔	Unknown
Niue (part of the realm of New Zealand)	✔ Legal since 2007	Unknown	✘	✘	Has no military forces	Unknown
Pitcairn Islands (overseas territory of the United Kingdom)	✔ Legal since 1967	✔ Civil partnerships since 2005	✘	✔	✔	✔ Bans most anti-gay discrimination
Samoa	✘	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Has no military forces	Unknown	Unknown
Tokelau (part of the realm of New Zealand)	✔ Legal since 2007	Unknown	✘	✘	Has no military forces	Unknown
Tonga	✘ Male illegal ✔ Female legal	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Tuvalu	✘ Male illegal ✔ Female legal	Unknown	✘	Unknown	Has no military forces	Unknown	Unknown
Wallis and Futuna (overseas collectivity of France)	✔ Legal since ?	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	✔	Unknown

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