A court in Singapore has dismissed a bid to overturn a law that prohibits gay sex, dealing a blow to the city state’s LGBT movement. See related The safest and most dangerous countries in the world The High Court this week rejected appeals by three gay men who had argued that the colonial-era legislation was unconstitutional, with the presiding judge ruling that the ban was “important in reflecting public sentiment and beliefs” in Singapore. Under Section 377A, men found guilty of homosexual acts in public or private can be jailed for up to two years. The failed attempt to repeal the law comes after an legal challenge brought by a gay couple was rejected by the Court of Appeal in 2014. The LGBT rights movement in Singapore subsequently regained momentum in the wake of India’s decision in 2018 to scrap similar legislation left over “from its own period under British rule”, reports Malaysia-based news site The Star. Speaking outside the Singapore court following this week’s ruling, M. Ravi, a lawyer for one of the complainants, described the judgment as “shocking to the conscience” and “arbitrary”. Singapore is far from the only country that persecutes homosexuality. Here are the other nations around the world that still criminalise same-sex relations, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association: –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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The Americas

Antigua and Barbuda

Barbados

Dominica

Grenada (male only)

Guyana (male only)

Jamaica (male only)

St Kitts and Nevis (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 Caribbean.

In 2018, Trinidad and Tobago rolled back long-standing sodomy laws, but The Economist reports that “the political power of Caribbean churches frustrates gay-rights activists” and that “Caribbean governments have sought to block regionwide efforts to protect sexual minorities”.

Europe

No countries in Europe have laws explicitly preventing homosexual activities. However, The Guardian reports that increasing numbers of politicians and church leaders have been stirring homophobia to rally bases and provoke fear among voters in Eastern Europe.

In a recent survey, Poles were asked to identify what they felt to be the biggest threats facing them in the 21st century. “Among men under 40, the most popular answer was ‘the LGBT movement and gender ideology’,” says the newspaper.

Africa

Algeria

Burundi

Cameroon

Chad

Comoros

Egypt (de facto criminalisation)

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Gambia

Ghana

Guinea

Kenya (male only)

Liberia

Libya

Malawi

Mauritania

Mauritius (male only)

Morocco

Namibia (male only)

Nigeria

Senegal

Sierra Leone (male only)

Somalia

South Sudan

Sudan

Swaziland (male only)

Tanzania

Togo (male only)

Tunisia

Uganda

Zambia

Zimbabwe (male only)

Newsweek reports that “across much of Africa, gay people face discrimination, persecution, and potentially even death”. Homosexuality is a capital punishment in Mauritania, Sudan, southern Somalia and northern Nigeria.

The future looks even bleaker, with Amnesty International warning that “legal rights are diminishing for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people across the African continent”.

Asia and the Middle East

Afghanistan

Bangladesh (male only)

Bhutan (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

Singapore (male only)

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.

Iraq decriminalised homosexuality in 2003, but the subsequent collapse of its government and territorial claims by the extremist Islamic State (Isis) led to widespread persecution and informal punishment of homosexuals, including execution.

Meanwhile, 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, while Japan decriminalised homosexuality almost 140 years ago.

Oceania

Cook Islands (male only)

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.

“Much remains to be done to improve the human rights records” of Pacific Ocean countries “that still have laws against same-sex intimacy”, 76 Crimes concludes.

List accurate as of December 2019.