The countries where homosexuality is still illegal

Ghana has become the latest African country to propose legislation outlawing homosexuality.

The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, which seeks to criminalise LGBTQ+ activities and advocacy, is returning to parliament after former president Nana Akufo-Addo failed to sign it into law before leaving office at the beginning of this year.

The bill is being sponsored by 10 lawmakers from both major parties, "an unusual bipartisan effort in Ghana's polarised political landscape", said The Africa Report, and comes "despite international outcry and warnings from Ghana's key development partners".

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The legislation, which has the backing of President John Dramani Mahama, would see individuals found guilty of same-sex relations face imprisonment of up to three years, while those promoting or supporting LGBTQ+ activities could face three to five years behind bars.

It follows similar laws passed last year in Mali, to protect "traditional and moral values", and in Burkino Faso, where an amended "family code" now outlaws homosexuality. Uganda also passed a law making identifying as gay "punishable by prison time", upping "the ante" in a country where gay sex was already illegal, said The Washington Post.

There are 64 countries worldwide that still criminalise homosexuality, with 12 countries – Iran, Northern Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Brunei, Mauritania, Pakistan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Uganda – imposing a possible death sentence for private, consensual same-sex sexual activity, said Statista.

Here are the countries where homosexuality is still criminalised:

The Americas

• Grenada (male only)
• Guyana (male only)
• Jamaica (male only)
• St Lucia
• St Vincent and the Grenadines

Gay rights are constitutionally enshrined in most of South and North America. However, there are exceptions, mostly in the "conservative Caribbean", said AP.

In recent years, more and more countries in the region have "struck down colonial-era" laws. Barbados, and St Kitts and Nevis repealed their laws in 2022, following similar moves by Belize, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Europe

Most countries in Europe have no laws preventing homosexual activities. But Hungary in 2021 passed the Hungarian Child Protection Act, which bans "the portrayal or promotion of homosexuality among under-18s", the BBC said. Hungary does not recognise same sex marriage, has banned same-sex couples from adopting children and passed a law preventing people from legally changing their gender.

Last November, the European Court of Justice began hearing a case over Hungary's law, brought by 16 of its 27 member states. They believe the law is "modelled after a similar piece of legislation enacted in Russia" and it has already been "declared unlawful by the European Court of Human Rights", said Al Jazeera. The ruling, which is still not expected for months, "could further determine the already tense relationship between Hungary and its EU partners", said Euronews.

Africa

• Algeria
• Burundi
• Cameroon
• Chad
• Comoros
• Egypt (de facto)
• Eritrea
• Eswatini (male only)
• Ethiopia
• Gambia
• Ghana
• Guinea
• Kenya (male only)
• Liberia
• Libya
• Malawi
• Mali
• Mauritania
• Mauritius
• Morocco
• Namibia (male only)
• Nigeria
• Senegal
• Sierra Leone (male only)
• Somalia
• South Sudan (male only)
• Sudan
• Tanzania
• Togo (male only)
• Tunisia
• Uganda
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe (male only)

"Across much of Africa, gay people face discrimination, persecution, and potentially even death," Newsweek said. Homosexuality carries a sentence of capital punishment in Mauritania, Sudan, southern Somalia and northern Nigeria.

Amnesty International has warned that "legal rights are diminishing for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people across the African continent".

The Washington Post said the 32 African countries with anti-LGBTQ laws on their books form a "near-unanimous block of intolerance".

Asia and the Middle East

• Afghanistan
• Bangladesh (male only)
• Brunei (male only)
• Indonesia (in some areas)
• Iran
• Iraq (de facto)
• Kuwait (male only)
• Lebanon (male only)
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Myanmar (male only)
• Oman
• Pakistan (male only)
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• Sri Lanka
• Syria
• Turkmenistan (male only)
• United Arab Emirates
• Uzbekistan (male only)
• Yemen

In the overwhelmingly Islamic Middle East, it is quicker to highlight the countries that do not currently have anti-gay laws than those that do. In several nations, same-sex relations are punishable by death.

Bahrain, Israel and Jordan are the only countries in the region that do not outlaw homosexuality. Even in these countries, police protections offered to sexual minorities are minimal and vigilante justice often prevails.

Asia has a mixed record on gay rights. Many countries on the continent have never passed any form of anti-gay legislation, including Cambodia, South Korea, Taiwan, Laos and the Philippines. Japan decriminalised homosexuality almost 140 years ago.

Oceania

• Kiribati (male only)
• Papua New Guinea (male only)
• Samoa (male only)
• Solomon Islands
• Tonga (male only)
• Tuvalu (male only)

Oceania is a continent of sharp contrasts when it comes to anti-LGBT laws. Six of the 14 countries of the continent have passed anti-gay legislation. Kiribati and the Solomon Islands are the harshest enforcers of these laws, with sentences of up to 14 years for homosexual acts.

The Cook Islands repealed its anti-gay laws in 2023, having "rarely, if ever" enforced them, said Reuters.