Experience

UPDATE | 64 countries where gay sex is illegal

Posted by Timothy on

On 22 April 2024, the High Court of Dominica in the island nation of Dominica in the Caribbean struck down its ant-sodomy law. Time for an update. Both ILGA World and Erasing 76 Crimes count the countries and US states which have laws against gay sex. Spoiler alert: the number of countries criminalising gay sex is decreasing.

State-sponsored homophobia

What is state-sponsored homophobia? Homophobia organised, institutionalised or condoned by the state. The most obvious shape state-sponsored homophobia takes are the so-called sodomy laws or anti-sodomy laws. Laws which prohibit and/or punish gay sex.

Sodomy is historically broader than men having anal sex with men. Sodomy used to be any form of sex which is not penis penetrating vagina. There’s no sugarcoating this. So even heterosexual fellatio (a blowjob), straight duos having anal sex or just masturbating are strictly speaking sodomy. But nowadays it is mostly interpreted as gay sex. Man-on-man action. 

Sodomy laws has one major source of inspiration: religion. Quite a few countries outlawing sodomy are predominantly or officially muslim countries. 

The other main origin of sodomy laws is the British Empire. Even today, many of the member states of the Commonwealth of Nations outlaw gay sex as an inheritance of the colonial era.

But there are other of forms of state-sponsored homophobia.

  • Barring same-sex couples to marry or refusing to recognise their household as being a family. 
  • Limiting or prohibiting the ‘promotion of alternative lifestyles‘. Think of the so-called anti-gay propaganda laws in Russia or Hungary or the now recent ‘Don’t Say Gay‘ law in Florida. Between 1988 and 2000 (Scotland) and 2003 (England and Wales), the United Kingdom had Section 28. It was a key aspect in the tv series ‘Queer As Folk‘. 
  • Some countries forbid NGO’s to advocate LGBTQIA+ issues. 
  • Some states use public decency laws to persecute homosexuals. Egypt is a notorious example. Every country has laws regulating public decency, but sometimes homosexuality in public and in private is seen as publicly indecent. 

67 to 69

67 of the 193 member states of the United Nations and 71 countries and other terrorities penalise gay sex. That’s roughly one third of the world. ILGA World uses the UN list of nations. Dedicated blog 76 Crimes takes a slightly broader approach. 

“In six UN member states, the death penalty is the legally prescribed punishment for consensual same-sex sexual acts: Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria (12 Northern states only), Saudi Arabia and Yemen. In 5 additional UN member states – Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar, Somalia (including Somaliland) and the United Arab Emirates – certain sources indicate that the death penalty could potentially be imposed for consensual same-sex conduct, but there is less legal certainty on the matter”, says ILGA World.

At least 42 UN member states have legal barriers to freedom of expression on sexual orientation and gender identity issues

At least 51 UN member states have legal barriers to the formation, establishment or registration of NGOs working on issues related sexual and gender diversity.

The List

Here I’m publishing Colin Stewart‘s list on 76 Crimes. 

  1. Algeria.
  2. Burundi.
  3. Cameroon.
  4. Chad.
  5. Comoros.
  6. Egypt.
  7. Eritrea.
  8. Eswatini (Swaziland).
  9. Ethiopia.
  10. Gambia.
  11. Ghana.
  12. Guinea.
  13. Kenya.
  14. Liberia.
  15. Libya.
  16. Malawi.
  17. Mauritania.
  18. Morocco.
  19. Namibia.
  20. Nigeria.
  21. Senegal.
  22. Sierra Leone.
  23. Somalia.
  24. South Sudan.
  25. Suda.
  26. Tanzania.
  27. Togo.
  28. Tunisia.
  29. Uganda.
  30. Zambia.
  31. Zimbabwe.
  32. Afghanistan.
  33. Bangladesh.
  34. Brunei.
  35. Indonesia (Aceh Province, South Sumatra Province and four cities in other provinces).
  36. Iran.
  37. Iraq.
  38. Kuwait.
  39. Lebanon (law ruled invalid in one court in 2014 and disqualified for use against same-sex intimacy in another court in February 2017).
  40. Malaysia.
  41. Maldives.
  42. Myanmar.
  43. Oman.
  44. Pakistan.
  45. Palestine (Gaza Strip only).
  46. Qatar.
  47. Saudi Arabia.
  48. Sri Lanka.
  49. Syria.
  50. Turkmenistan.
  51. United Arab Emirates.
  52. Uzbekistan.
  53. Yemen.
  54. Barbados.
  55. Grenada.
  56. Guyana.
  57. Jamaica.
  58. Saint Lucia.
  59. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
  60. Kiribati.
  61. Papua New Guinea.
  62. Samoa.
  63. Solomon Islands
  64. Tonga.
  65. Tuvalu.

In the United States, anti-sodomy laws were ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003 with ‘Lawrence v. Texas‘ but they are still on the books in 13 states: Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

Conservative state legislators refuse to repeal the laws and, in some cases, police occasionally still arrest people on the basis of them. In the recent past, more than a dozen LGBTQIA+ people were arrested for violating those laws, but the arrestees were freed because prosecutors won’t seek convictions based on laws that have been ruled unconstitutional.

Military

Flag of South Korea.

There is a third list, Wikipedia. One difference there, is South Korea. 

On 21 April the Supreme Court there overturned the conviction of two men prosecuted under article 92-6 of the Military Criminal Act, which prohibits same-sex activity between soldiers with possible punishments of up to two years in prison, Human Rights Watch reports. 

Military authorities had accused the two men of engaging in consensual sex in a private residence while off duty. The charges against them were part of a wider crackdown on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) soldiers in 2017. Both were convicted and given suspended prison sentences.

In its judgment overturning the convictions, the Supreme Court said that the authorities’ use of article 92-6 to punish consensual sex outside of military settings jeopardizes the autonomy, equality, and dignity of soldiers.

The Iraq Case

On 27 April 2024, the Iraqi parliament passed a law providing 10 to 15 years in prison for same-sex intimacy and one to three years for transgender people. The law also calls for at least seven years in prison for ‘promoting’ homosexuality.

The new punishment for trans people comes in a provision calling for up to three for anyone who changes their ‘biological gender’ or willfully dresses in an effeminate manner, Reuters reported.
The bill had initially called for the death penalty for same-sex intercourse, but that penalty was reduced after the United States and Europe protested.

Although Iraq did not have an explicitly anti-gay law until now, Erasing 76 Crimes has long included the country in its list of nations with anti-gay laws, because it arrests LGBTQIA+ Iraqis on vague ‘anti-morality’ charges. Iraq is also on the list of nations that execute LGBTQIA+ people because such killings by private militias are condoned.

Privilege of travellers

But what does that all mean to you and me? Well.

If you made it this far in this blog post, you may remember I wrote sodomy is broader than gay sex. Some countries, especially islamic states, prohibit extramarital sex. So even straight couples are barred of consensual sex. 

Yet, unmarried straight and (un)married gay couples do travel to places such as Morocco, Sri Lanka or Indonesia. And its their white and/or tourist privilege they will not be bothered. 

I am told Iran has a vibrant gay dating scene, but it’s discrete. Grindr was very active when I was in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in 2014. 

Going gay for Malaysia.

So?

Should you not travel to these places. I am not saying that. But be knowledgable. Read up before you go-go. Look at your ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website for travel advice. Look up ‘LGBT rights in …” on Wikipedia.

UPDATE 21 JUNE 2024

The High Court of Namibia in Windhoek finally delivered its long-awaited ruling decriminalizing sodomy on 21 June. This is the latest victory for queer activists in the African country.

The case was filed by gay Namibian activist Friedel Dausab, who is also an expert in HIV prevention and treatment. He testified that he experienced the impact of these laws in his personal and professional life.

The court found the common-law crimes of sodomy and unnatural acts to be unconstitutional as they amount to unfair discrimination. Article 10(1) of the Namibian Constitution says that all persons shall be equal before the law, and Article 10(2) says that no persons may be discriminated against on the grounds of sex, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, creed or social or economic status.

The court found that even though ‘sexual orientation’ is not included in the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination in 10(2), gay people still enjoy equal protection of the law under Article 10(1), and thus discrimination based on sexual orientation is unconstitutional in Namibia.

Queer human rights