One-third of world still criminalises consensual same-sex acts: Report

Paris: The LGBTQ community faces “relentless opposition” across the globe despite some progress, said a report published on Thursday by an international advocacy group, with one-third of the world still criminalising same-sex acts.

Sixty-two of the United Nations’ 193 member states have laws punishing consensual same-sex relations, while the death penalty exists in some form in a dozen countries, according to the report covering the past 16 months released by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA). One-third of countries also have legal roadblocks to operating organisations “openly advocating the rights of LGBTI people”, said ILGA. It said this gives rise to censorship, arrests, and prosecution for the “promotion” of homosexuality. “This trend is extremely concerning,” said ILGA director Julia Ehrt.

Last year, Uganda implemented one of the harshest anti-gay laws in the world, imposing penalties of up to life in prison for consensual same-sex relations.

And between January 2023 and April 2024, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan and Uganda formally implemented legal provisions against the “promotion” of homosexuality, while Russia has categorised the “international LGBT movement” as “extremist”.