The 65 countries where homosexuality is still illegal

yahoo.com · Feb 18, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.Homosexuality is a crime in 65 countries worldwide. | Credit: Getty ImagesA court in Uganda has dismissed the first case brought to trial under its strict Anti-Homosexuality Act, revealing a justice system “strained by political pressure, public fear and inconsistent enforcement”, said Deutsche Welle.The East African country introduced the legislation in 2023, despite pressure from Western governments and human rights groups. “One of the world’s harshest laws targeting the LGBT community”, it carries a sentence of life in prison for same-sex intercourse, with the death penalty an option in cases deemed “aggravated”, said Reuters.But from the outset there has been “a lot of confusion, even among prosecutors” about the law, said Juliet Kanyange, the lawyer representing the man, aged 20 on arrest in August 2023, whose case was dropped this month. Dismissing the case, the court said the accused was “mentally unstable” and would be unable to understand a trial. His defence team says he developed psychosis and schizophrenia after spending more than a year in prison on remand.There are 65 countries that still criminalise homosexuality, according to Erasing 76 Crimes, a news site that tracks anti-LGBTQ+ laws and efforts to repeal them. Of these, 12 countries – Iran, northern Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Brunei, Mauritania, Pakistan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Uganda – retain a possible death sentence for private, consensual same-sex sexual activity.Here are the countries where homosexuality is still criminalised:The AmericasGrenada (male only)Guyana (male only)Jamaica (male only)St LuciaSt Vincent and the GrenadinesGay rights are constitutionally enshrined in most of South and North America, with most exceptions in the “conservative Caribbean”, said The Associated Press. Even so, last summer St Lucia’s Supreme Court ruled consensual same-sex intimacy legal in private settings, and more and more countries in the region have “struck down colonial-era” laws that criminalise same-sex relations. Barbados, and St Kitts and Nevis repealed their laws in 2022, following similar moves by Belize, and Trinidad and Tobago, but the latter reinstated the country’s buggery and gross indecency laws in March 2025.EuropeMost 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.In November 2024, the European Court of Justice began hearing a case brought by 16 of 27 EU member states, which claimed the law was in breach of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. A non-binding opinion from the court’s advocate general, Tamara Ćapeta, issued in June, concluded Hungary had violated fundamental rights of human dignity, respect for family life and non-discrimination. The hardline Hungarian government of Viktor Orbán has stuck firm, however, and in April last year passed a constitutional amendment codifying a ban on Pride events.AfricaAlgeriaBurkina FasoBurundiCameroonChadComorosEgypt (de facto)EritreaEswatini (male only)EthiopiaGambiaGhanaGuineaKenya (male only)LiberiaLibyaMalawiMaliMauritaniaMauritiusMoroccoNamibia (male only)NigeriaSenegalSierra Leone (male only)SomaliaSouth Sudan (male only)SudanTanzaniaTogo (male only)TunisiaUgandaZambiaZimbabwe (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”. In September 2025, Burkina Faso became the latest country to adopt anti-gay laws, adding to what The Washington Post called a “near-unanimous block of intolerance” across the continent.Asia and the Middle EastAfghanistanBangladesh (male only)Brunei (male only)Indonesia (in some areas)IranIraq (de facto)Kuwait (male only)Lebanon (male only)MalaysiaMaldivesMyanmar (male only)OmanPakistan (male only)QatarSaudi ArabiaSri LankaSyriaTurkmenistan (male only)United Arab EmiratesUzbekistan (male only)YemenIn 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.OceaniaKiribati (male only)Papua New Guinea (male only)Samoa (male only)Solomon IslandsTonga (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.