Homosexuality laws of the world

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World laws on homosexuality

Same-sex unions in Europe.

Ages of consent for young males to engage in relationships with adult men. in Europe

The countries of the world have a wide variety of laws relating to sexual relations between people of the same sex - everything from full same-sex marriage to the death penalty as punishment for homosexual intercourse. Among the first laws on same-sex love relations ca. 600 BC are those in ancient Crete and Sparta, which encouraged all adult men to engage in mentoring homoerotic friendships.

The first recorded laws against sexual intercourse between men dates to 550 BC during the Babylonian captivity of the Jewish people, it is recorded in Leviticus (though some scholars date Leviticus much older), and it prescribes the death penalty. It is largely seen as a distinction between Judaism and Paganism on par with worshiping "false gods". At the time same-sex love relations were incorporated into many Pagan religions. This pattern was continued throughout history with punitive laws arising from Judaism and its descendants: Islam and Christianity. With the advent of colonialism this attitude spread along with political control from the imperial powers of the Abrahamic religions. In post-colonial times some non-Abrahamic religions have maintained their adoptive views of homosexuality. Usually an Abrahamic religion is the primary factor when accounting for a law against homosexuality and the major supporter.

Christian psychologists in Europe also attempted to rationalize the negative views of sodomy predominant in Europe in the middle ages with secular language, calling it a disease, by which means it was later absorbed as non-religious science in Communist states.

In addition to laws against the practice of homosexuality, many countries around the world consider calling a person homosexual sufficient grounds for a libel lawsuit. For example, Jason Donovan and Liberace have sued newspapers that ran articles insinuating they were gay; both men won their lawsuits.

This is a list of laws around the world concerning homosexuality. The list is arranged alphabetically by region. It should be noted that this list should not be assumed to represent a standard for measuring a nation's views, per se. Many nations which retained negative laws for a lengthy period of time, or even retain them today, may in practice be less oppressive of homosexuality than this suggests, with such laws simply being unenforced anachronisms. Similarly, a country which lacks formal laws against it may possess a culture which is openly hostile and may chose to persecute individuals by other means.

For greater depth in coverage see these related articles.

Contents

1 Homosexuality laws

1.1 Africa
1.2 Asia
1.3 Europe
1.4 North and Central America
1.5 Oceania
1.6 South America

2 See also
3 External links

Homosexuality laws

Country links marked "(☆)" feature special "Gay rights" articles about the country in question.

Africa

Country	Laws against homosexuality	Max. Penalty	Min. Penalty
Algeria	Yes	3 years	Fine
No
Angola	Yes	Unknown	Unknown
No
Benin	Yes	3 years	Unknown
No
Botswana	Yes	5 years	Fine
No
☆Burkina Faso	No
No	See Gay rights in Burkina Faso
Burundi	No
No
☆Cameroon	Yes	5 years	Fine
No	See Gay rights in Cameroon
Cape Verde	No
No
☆Central African Republic	No
No	See Gay rights in the Central African Republic
☆Chad	Unclear
No	See Gay rights in Chad
Comoros	Unclear
No
☆Republic of the Congo	No
No	See Gay rights in the Republic of the Congo
Côte d'Ivoire	No
No
Djibouti	Yes	Unknown	Unknown
No
☆Egypt	No
No	Although not illegal, commonly oppressed with vague morality laws. See Gay rights in Egypt
Equatorial Guinea	No
No
Eritrea	Yes	3 years	10 days
No
Ethiopia	Yes	3 years	10 days
No
☆Gabon	No
No	As of 1994, the age of consent for "gross indedency" and "act against nature" was 21, while it was 15 for most other sexual activity. See Gay rights in Gabon.
Gambia	Yes	14 years	Fine
No
☆Ghana	Yes	?	?
No	See Gay rights in Ghana
Guinea	Yes	3 years	6 months
No
Guinea Bissau	Yes	?	?
No
☆Kenya	Male only	14 years	Fine
No	See Gay rights in Kenya
Lesotho	Male only	Unknown	Unknown
No
Liberia	Yes	Fine	Fine
No
Libya	Yes	5 years	Fine
No
Madagascar	No
No
Malawi	Yes	14 years	Unknown
No
☆Mali	No
No	See Gay rights in Mali
Mauritania	Yes	Death	Death
No
Mauritius	Yes	5 years	Fine
No
☆Morocco	Yes	3 years	6 months
No	See Gay rights in Morocco
Mozambique	Yes	3 years	Fine
No
Namibia	Male only	Unknown	Unknown
Yes	Laws against discrimination in Labour Code since 1992
☆Niger	No
No	See Gay rights in Niger
☆Nigeria	Male only	14 years	Fine
No	Areas under Sharia have instituted death for men and women. See Gay rights in Nigeria
Rwanda	No
No
São Tomé and Príncipe	Yes	?	?
No
Senegal	Yes	5 years	1 month
No
Seychelles	Yes	Unknown	Unknown
No
Sierra Leone	Yes	Life
Yes?	The Anti-Corruption Commission stated in a press release that in a bid to attract competent and qualified staff, they operate a transparent recruitment policy, which even forbids discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Somalia	Yes	3 years	3 months
No	Areas under Sharia have instituted death for men and women.
☆South Africa	No
Unregistered Cohabitation	Yes	Constitution explicitly protects against sexual orientation discrimination. Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, coming in 2006. See Gay rights in South Africa
Sudan	Yes	Death	5 years
No
Swaziland	Male only	Prison	Fine
No
Tanzania	Yes	Life
No	In Zanzibar male homosexual acts are punished with up to 25 years imprisonment or fine. Lesbian acts are punished with up 7 years imprisonment or fine.
Togo	Yes	3 years	Fine
No
Tunisia	Yes	3 years	Fine
No
Uganda	Male only	Life (20 years)	Fine
No
Zambia	Male only	14 years	Fine
No
Zimbabwe	Male only	3 years	Fine
No

Asia

Country	Laws against homosexuality	Max. Penalty	Min. Penalty	Same-sex Unions	Laws against discrimination	Comments
☆Afghanistan	Yes	15 years	5 years
No	Homosexuality is still a crime, but the death penalty (imposed under the Taliban) is no longer used. The Penal Code from 1976 in force, stipulates long imprisonment for adultery and pederasty. See Gay rights in Afghanistan
☆Bahrain	Male only	10 years	Fine
No	See Gay rights in Bahrain
Bangladesh	Yes	Life	10 years
No
Bhutan	Yes	?	?
No
Brunei	Yes	10 years	Fine
No
☆Cambodia	No
No	Former king Norodom Sihanouk has called for legalization of same-sex marriage. See Gay rights in Cambodia
☆China (PRC)	No
No	Marriage laws under-review. see Gay rights in China
Hong Kong	No	-	-	-	Considered	AD under consideration. Court ruling in 2005 equalised age of consent with that for heterosexual sex.
☆India	Yes	Life	Fine
No	Law remains on books but government does not prosecute, criminalizes 'carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman, or animal'. See Gay rights in India
Indonesia	No
No	In 2003 a proposal to criminalize homosexuality failed.
☆Iran	Yes	Death	Death
No	Sex change operations have been given official government support as means to cure a gender identity disease. Executions for homosexuality continue, however, most recently teenagers Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni. See LGBT rights in Iran.
☆Iraq	Unclear
No	Criminal code amended to include death penalty for homosexuality in 2001. The U.S. occupation restored the criminal code back to its original 1969 edition. No provisions of the current Iraqi criminal code deal with homosexuality. However, the government has issued a decree allowing Islamic laws relating to family issues to be enforced. Whether this criminalizes adultery and homosexuality is unclear. See Gay rights in Iraq
☆Israel	No
Unregistered cohabition	Yes	Fairly strong support for giving legal recognition to same-sex couples. Only Middle Eastern nation to support gay rights legislation. The armed forces of Israel allow service without any distinction based on sexual orientation. See Gay rights in Israel
☆Japan	No
Yes	AD in Human Rights Act since 2001. See Gay rights in Japan.
Jordan	No
No	While not a crime, reports have shown that gays can be victims of vigilante "honor killings."
Kazhakstan	No
No
Kuwait	Yes	7 years	Fine
No
Kyrgyzstan	No
No
Laos	No
No	US Department of state says that no discrimination against homosexuals exist, and this is verified by an interview with gay men in Laos by a Swedish newspaper in 1992.
☆Lebanon	Yes	1 year	Fine
No	A small public campaign exists to legalize homosexual relations between consenting adults in private. See Gay rights in Lebanon.
Macao	No
No
Malaysia	Yes	20 years	Fine
No	Former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who was himself jailed for homosexuality, has called for their repeal. The daughter of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Marina Mahathir, has called for an end to discrimination based on sexual orientation.[link] However, as Prime Minister, her father warned gay ministers in foreign countries not to visit his nation.[link]
Mongolia	No
No
Myanmar	Yes	Life	10 years
No
Nepal	Yes	1 year
No
North Korea	No
No	No public discussion or reference to homosexuality is allowed. Seen as a capitalist disease or vice.
Oman	Yes	3 years	Fine
No
Pakistan	Male only	Life	2 years
No	See Gay rights in Pakistan
☆Palestinian Authority	No
No	Gay Palestinians often attempt to flee to Israel as they are targeted for death in Palestinian-controlled areas. See Gay Palestinian Issues.
Philippines	No
Considered	Communist Party facilitates same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriages banned since 2003.
Qatar	Yes	5 years	Fine
No
☆Saudi Arabia	Yes	Death	Death
No	Jail time, fines or whipping may be used in lieu of the death penalty. See Gay rights in Saudi Arabia
☆Singapore	Yes	Life	2 years
No	Law is rarely enforced, usually when it suspects risk of HIV infections during events such as sex parties. [link] Government officials have made calls to embrace diversity. Former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong stated that open homosexuals can be employed in the civil workforce. See Discrimination against homosexuals in Singapore.
South Korea	No
Yes	Article 31 of the National Human Rights Committee Law states that "no individual is to be discriminated against on the basis of his or her sexual orientation", however, the government continues to discriminate against sexual minorities.
Sri Lanka	Yes	10 years	Fine
No
Syria	Yes	3 years	Fine
No
☆Taiwan	No
No	Pending law allows same-sex marriage. See Gay rights in Taiwan.
Tajikistan	No
No
☆Thailand	No
No	Thailand now permits gays and transsexuals to serve in its military. [link]. See Gay rights in Thailand
Turkey	No
No
Turkmenistan	Male only	2 years	Fine
No
☆United Arab Emirates	Yes	Death	Unknown
No	See Gay rights in the United Arab Emirates.
Uzbekistan	Male only	3 years	Fine
No	Only applies to anal sex.
Vietnam	No
No	Same-sex marriages banned since 1998. Reports suggest that this law may extend to a prohibition on same-sex couples living together or having any sort of public commitment celebration.
Yemen	Yes	Death	Death
No

Europe

Country	Laws against homosexuality	Max. Penalty
Albania	No
No
Andorra	No
Stable unions	?
Armenia	No
No
☆Austria	No
Yes	See Gay rights in Austria.
Azerbaijan	No
No
☆Belgium	No
Same-sex marriage	Yes	See Gay rights in Belgium
☆Belarus	No
No	See Gay rights in Belarus.
☆Bosnia-Herzegovina	No
Yes	AD in Gender Equality Act since 2003. See Gay rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina
☆Bulgaria	No
Yes	Gay rights in Bulgaria
☆Croatia	No
Unregistered cohabitation	Yes	See Gay rights in Croatia.
☆Cyprus	No
Yes	See Gay rights in Cyprus
☆Czech Republic	No
Registered partnership	Yes	See Gay rights in the Czech Republic
☆Denmark	No
Registered partnership	Yes	First counry to legalize same-sex partnerships of any kind (1989) See Gay rights in Denmark
☆Estonia	No
Yes	See Gay rights in Estonia
Faroe Islands	No
No
☆Finland	No
Registered partnership	Yes	See Gay rights in Finland.
☆France	No
pacte civil de solidarité	Yes	It should be noted that French civil unions are not explicitly for same-sex couples, and are becoming an increasingly popular choice among all couples. See Gay rights in France.
Georgia	No
Yes
☆Germany	No
Registered partnership	Yes	See Gay rights in Germany
☆Greece	No
Yes	See Gay rights in Greece
Guernsey
☆Hungary	No
Unregistered cohabitation	Yes	See Gay rights in Hungary
Iceland	No
Registered partnership	Yes
☆Ireland	No
Yes	See Gay rights in the Republic of Ireland.
Isle of Man	No
Yes
Italy	No
Some regions	Yes	Civil unions are recognised in Tuscany, Umbria, Emilia Romagna, Campania, Marche, Veneto, Puglia, Lazio, Liguria and Abruzzo.
Jersey	No
No
Latvia	No
No	Same-sex marriages banned.
☆Liechtenstein	No
No	Gay rights in Liechtenstein
Lithuania	No
Yes
Luxembourg	No
Registered partnerships	Yes
☆Macedonia	No
No	See Gay rights in Macedonia.
Malta	No
Yes
Moldova	No
in consideration
Monaco	No
Yes	Yes
Montenegro	No
No
Netherlands	No
Same-sex marriage and Registered partnerships	Yes	See Gay rights in the Netherlands.
Norway	No
Registered partnership	Yes
☆Poland	No
Yes	See Gay rights in Poland.
Portugal	No
Unregistered cohabitation	Yes
☆Romania	No
Yes	See Gay rights in Romania.
☆Russia	No
No	Proposals (by NPRF)to recriminalize homosexuality failed in 2002, 2003 and 2004. See Gay rights in Russia.
San Marino	No
No
☆Serbia	No
Yes*	AD in Kosovo since 2001. See Gay rights in Serbia and Montenegro.
☆Slovakia	No
Yes	See Gay rights in Slovakia.
Slovenia	No
Registered partnership	Yes
☆Spain	No
Same-sex marriage	Yes	Unregistered and Registered Cohabitation in a number of regions. See Gay rights in Spain.
☆Sweden	No
Registered partnership	Yes	Partnerships have the same rights as heterosexual marriage including adoption, but are legally distinct from marriage. See Gay rights in Sweden.
Switzerland	No
Registered partnership	No
☆Ukraine	No
No	See Gay rights in Ukraine.
☆United Kingdom	No
Civil partnership	Yes	See Gay rights in the United Kingdom.
Vatican City	No
No	Homosexuality is technically legal, but contrary to the teachings of the ruling Roman Catholic Church.

North and Central America

Country	Laws against homosexuality	Max. Penalty	Min. Penalty
Antigua and Barbuda	Yes	15 years
?	Applies to both women and men
Aruba	No
?	Yes	The Dutch Government states that as part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Aruba is obliged to recognize civil unions and same-sex marriage as valid. However, the Aruban Government says it won't recognize them. A judge ruled in favor of the Dutch Government, case is now pending in higher court.
Bahamas	No
No
Barbados	Yes	Life
No	Laws currently under review.
Belize	Yes	Unknown
No
Bermuda	No
consider
☆Canada	No
Same-sex marriage	Yes. By constitution since Egan v. Canada; by all provincial/territorial civil rights codes since Vriend v. Alberta.	Common-law marriage since M. v. H., 1999; SSM since Civil Marriage Act, 2005. For more, see Gay rights in Canada.
Cayman Islands	No
Yes
Costa Rica	No
Yes	Same-sex marriages banned. Scandalous sodomy is banned.
☆Cuba	No
No	See Gay rights in Cuba.
Dominican Republic	No
No
El Salvador	No
No
Grenada	Male only	10 years
No
☆Guadeloupe	No
Pacte civil de solidarité.	Yes.	Guadeloupe is part of the Département Français d'Amérique, so French Law is in force. See Gay rights in France.
Guatemala	No
Yes	AD in Youth and Childhood Act since 1997
Haiti	No
No
Honduras	No
No	Same-sex marriages and adoption banned in the Constitution since 2005.
☆Jamaica	Male only	10 years	10 years
No	See LGBT rights in Jamaica.
☆Martinique	No
Pacte civil de solidarité.	Yes.	Martinique is part of the Département Français d'Amérique, so French Law is in force. See Gay rights in France.
Mexico	No
Yes	Mexican Congress reformed the Constitution in 2001, to forbid discrimination of any kind; in 2003, this change produced the Federal Law to Prevent Discrimination that forbids discrimination by sexual orientation;
Netherlands Antilles	No
Yes	Yes	As part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, civil unions and same-sex marriage are recognized as valid, however, they cannot be performed in the Netherlands Antilles themselves.
Nicaragua	Yes	3 years	Fine
No
Panama	No
No
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Male only	10 years
No
Saint Lucia	Male only	10 years	Fine
No
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Yes	10 years	Unknown
No	Applies to both men and women
Trinidad and Tobago	Yes	25 years	Fine
No	Applies to both men and women
Turks and Caicos Islands	No
No
☆United States	No. See Lawrence v. Texas
Civil Unions: VT, CT. Domestic partnerships: CA, NJ, ME, DC. Reciprocal benefits: HI. Same-sex marriage: MA.	Yes.	Some states cover sexual orientation and gender identity, some only cover sexual orientation and some do not cover either. See National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Resource Library [link]. Also see Gay rights in the United States for further information.

Oceania

Country	Laws against homosexuality	Max. Penalty	Min. Penalty
☆Australia	No
Same-sex relationship registration (Tasmania only)	Yes (in all States and Territories)	Domestic partnerships in all but South Australia and Victoria. Same-sex marriages banned under federal law. A registration scheme exists in Tasmania giving some rights to same-sex couples. See Gay rights in Australia.
Cook Islands	Male only	14 years	Fine
No
☆Fiji	Male only	14 years	Fine
Yes	Law ruled unconstitutional by Fiji High Court on August 26, 2005. Constitution explicitly protects against sexual orientation discrimination. See Gay rights in Fiji.
Guam	No
No
Kiribati	Male only	14 years	Fine
No
Maldives	Male only	10 years	Fine
No
Marshall Islands	Male only	10 years	Fine
No
Micronesia	No
No
Nauru	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
No
New Caledonia	No
Considered. See Pacte civil de solidarité.	No
☆New Zealand	No
Civil unions	Yes	See Gay rights in New Zealand.
Niue	Male only	10 years	Fine
No
Palau	Male only	10 years	Fine
No	-
Papua New Guinea	Male only	14 years	Fine
No
Samoa	Yes	7 years	Fine
No
Solomon Islands	Yes	14 years	Fine
No
Tahiti	No
No
Tokelau	Male only	10 years	Fine
No
Tonga	Male only	10 years	Fine
No
Tuvalu	Male only	14 years	Fine
No
Vanuatu	No
No

South America

Country	Laws against homosexuality	Max. Penalty	Min. Penalty
Argentina	No
Civil unions in Buenos Aires City and Rio Negro Province.	Yes
Bolivia	No
No
☆Brazil	No
Civil unions in Rio Grande do Sul.	In some cities and states. Other Brazilian locations do not have specific laws to protect LGBT people.	See Gay rights in Brazil.
☆Chile	No
Yes	See Gay rights in Chile.
Colombia	No
No
☆Ecuador	No
Yes	Anti-discrimination laws have been in Ecuador's constitution since 1998. See Gay rights in Ecuador.
Falkland Islands	No
Yes	No
☆French Guiana	No
Yes. See Pacte civil de solidarité.	Yes	French Law applies. See Gay rights in France.
Guyana	Male only	Life	Life
Under consideration
Paraguay	No
No
Peru	No
Yes
Surinam	No
No
Uruguay	No
Yes
☆Venezuela	No
No	Yes, according the 1999 Organic Labour Law	See Gay rights in Venezuela.

External links

LGBT movements

Around the world ·

· ·

Opposition ·

Violence

[Antidiscrimination Legislation, April 1999, a worldwide summary] IGLHRC (pdf)
[International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission] (IGLHRC)
[International Lesbian and Gay Association]
[International Lesbian and Gay Association World Legal Survey] (2000)
[Sodomy Laws Around the World]
[State Homophobia], world map, ILGA (2004)
[New Internationalist sexual minorities map]
[Where Having Sex is a Crime: Criminalization and Decriminalization of Homosexual Acts], IGLHRC (2003)
[Where You Can Marry: Global Summary of Registered Partnership, Domestic Partnership, and Marriage Laws], IGLHRC (November 2003)
[With the state in our bedrooms - A survey of the laws over the world prohibiting consenting adult homosexual acts] (2006)

	Lists of countries with rankings	*Includes map
Geography	Area* · Coastline · Highest point* · Compactness · Coast/Area ratio · Northernmost point

Demographics	Population · (graphical) · Population density* · Life expectancy* · Infant mortality rate · Fertility rate* · Birth rate* · Death rate* · Human Development Index* · Income equality* · Literacy rate* · HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate* · People living with HIV/AIDS* · Suicide rate · Unemployment rate* · Percentage of population below the national poverty line* · Percentage of population living under a day and a day

Economy	GDP (nominal) * · GDP (PPP) * · GDP (nominal) per capita* · GDP (PPP) per capita* · past GDP (nominal), past GDP (PPP) · Current account balance* · Imports* · Exports* · External debt* · Public debt* · Agricultural output*

Politics	Political rights and civil liberties* · Press freedom* · Capital punishment* · Homosexuality law* · Abortion law* · Date of nationhood* · UN peacekeepers currently deployed* · Possession of nuclear weapons* · Military expenditures* · Number of active troops* · Conscription* · Perception of corruption* · Economic freedom*

Emissions	Carbon dioxide emissions* (Per capita)* · GDP per emissions* · Emissions per GDP per capita

Consumption	Electricity consumption* · Natural gas consumption

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