Sodomy law

History

Criminalization

BCE

The Middle Assyrian Law Codes (1075 BCE) state: If a man has intercourse with his brother-in-arms, they shall turn him into a eunuch. This is the earliest known law condemning the act of male-to-male intercourse in the military.

In the Roman Republic, the Lex Scantinia (which is first described in documents dating back to 50 BCE) imposed penalties on those who committed a sex crime (stuprum) against a freeborn male minor. The law may also have been used to prosecute male citizens who willingly played the passive role in same-sex acts. The law was mentioned in literary sources but enforced infrequently; Domitian revived it during his program of judicial and moral reform. It is unclear whether the penalty was death or a fine. For adult male citizens to experience and act on homoerotic desire was considered permissible, as long as their partner was a male of lower social standing.

CE

Intolerance of same-sex acts appears to have intensified in the Roman Empire in the late 4th century; in 390 the emperor Theodosius ordered that male prostitutes were to be publicly burned, although it is uncertain to what extent this decree was actually carried out.

Starting in the 1200s, the Roman Catholic Church launched a campaign against homosexual activity. Between the years 1250 and 1300, homosexual activity was criminalized in most of Europe, possibly even punishable by death.

In England, Henry VIII introduced the first legislation under English criminal law against sodomy with the Buggery Act 1533, making buggery punishable by hanging, a penalty not lifted until 1861. Following Sir William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, the crime of sodomy has often been defined only as the "abominable and detestable crime against nature", or some variation of the phrase. This language led to widely varying rulings about what specific acts were encompassed by its prohibition.

Decriminalization

]] In 1786 Pietro Leopoldo of Tuscany, abolishing the death penalty for all crimes, became not only the first Western ruler to do so, but also the first ruler to abolish the death penalty for sodomy (which was replaced by prison and hard labour).

In France, it was the French Revolutionary penal code (issued in 1791) which for the first time struck down "sodomy" as a crime, decriminalizing it together with all "victimless-crimes" (sodomy, heresy, witchcraft, blasphemy), according with the concept that if there was no victim, there was no crime. The same principle was held true in the Napoleon Penal Code in 1810, which was imposed on the large part of Europe then ruled by the French Empire and its cognate kings, thus decriminalizing sodomy in most of Continental Europe.

In 1830, Emperor Pedro I of Brazil signed a law into the Imperial Penal Code. It eliminates all references to sodomy.

During the Ottoman Empire, homosexuality was decriminalized in 1858 as part of wider reforms during the Tanzimat period.

The death penalty was not lifted in England and Wales until 1861.

In 1917, following the Bolshevik Revolution led by Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky, Russia legalized homosexuality. However, when Joseph Stalin came to power in 1920s, these laws were reversed. Homosexuality remained effectively illegal until 1993, after the fall of the Soviet Union, when sodomy was once again decriminalized.

During the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938), there was a movement to repeal sodomy laws. It has been claimed that this was the first campaign to repeal anti-gay laws that was spearheaded primarily by heterosexuals.

After the publishing of the 1957 Wolfenden report in the UK, which asserted that "homosexual behaviour between consenting adults in private should no longer be a criminal offence", many western governments, including many U.S. states, repealed laws specifically against homosexual acts. However, by 2003, 13 U.S. states still criminalized homosexuality, along with many Missouri counties, and the territory of Puerto Rico, but in June 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas that state laws criminalizing private, non-commercial sexual activity between consenting adults at home on the grounds of morality are unconstitutional since there is insufficient justification for intruding into people's liberty and privacy.

There have never been Western-style sodomy related laws in Taiwan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea, Poland, or Vietnam. Additionally, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were part of the French colony of Indochina; male homosexual acts have been legal throughout the French Empire since the issuing of the aforementioned French Revolutionary penal code in 1791.

Criminalization in modern days

This trend among Western nations has not been followed in all other regions of the world (Africa, some parts of Asia and Oceania and even in three out of the 13 countries in the Caribbean Islands), where sodomy remains a crime. For example, male homosexual acts, at least in theory, could result in life imprisonment in Barbados until 2022, and can theoretically still result in life imprisonment in Guyana, although the legislation is not enforced.

As of 2025, sodomy-related laws have been repealed or judicially struck down in all of Europe, North America, and South America, except for Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

In Africa, male homosexual acts remain punishable by death in Mauritania and some parts of Nigeria and Somalia. Male and sometimes female homosexual acts are minor to major criminal offences in many other African countries; for example, life imprisonment is a prospective penalty in Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. A notable exception is South Africa, where same-sex marriage is legal.

In Asia, male homosexual acts remain punishable by death in Afghanistan, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

Sodomy-related legal positions by country

Countries where same-sex sexual activity is legal

Albania

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Albania

On 20 January 1995 the Albanian Parliament legalized consensual same-sex sexual relations in Albania.

Andorra

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Andorra

Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Andorra. A law prohibiting same-sex sexual activity was abolished in 1791.

Angola

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Angola

Angola legalized same-sex sexual activity in 2021.

Antigua and Barbuda

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Antigua and Barbuda

On 5 July 2022, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court ruled that sections of the Penal Code that made consensual same-sex intimacy illegal in Antigua and Barbuda were unconstitutional, and therefore void.

Argentina

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Argentina

Same-sex sexual activity was legalized in Argentina in 1887.

Armenia

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Armenia

Homosexual sex became legal in Armenia in 2003.

Australia

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Australia

Upon colonisation in 1788, Australia inherited laws from the United Kingdom including the Buggery Act 1533. These were retained in the criminal codes passed by the various colonial parliaments during the 19th century, and by the state parliaments after Federation.

Following the Wolfenden report, the Dunstan Labor government introduced a consenting adults in private type legal defence in South Australia in 1972. This defence was initiated as a bill by Murray Hill, father of former defence minister Robert Hill, and repealed the state's sodomy law in 1975. The Campaign Against Moral Persecution during the 1970s raised the profile and acceptance of Australia's gay and lesbian communities, and other states and territories repealed their laws between 1976 and 1990. The exception was Tasmania, which retained its laws until the federal government and the United Nations Human Rights Committee forced their repeal in 1997.

Male homosexuality was decriminalised in the Australian Capital Territory in 1976, then Norfolk Island in 1993, following South Australia in 1975 and Victoria in 1981. At the time of legalization (for the above), the age of consent, rape, defences, etc. were all set gender-neutral and equal . Western Australia legalised male homosexuality in 1989 – Under the Law Reform (Decriminalization of Sodomy) Act 1989, as did New South Wales and the Northern Territory in 1984 with unequal ages of consent of 18 for New South Wales and the Northern Territory and 21 for Western Australia. Then since 1997, the states and territories that retained different ages of consent or other vestiges of sodomy laws have tended to repeal them later; Western Australia did so in 2002, and New South Wales and the Northern Territory did so in 2003. Tasmania was the last state to decriminalise sodomy, doing so in 1997 after the groundbreaking cases of Toonen v Australia and Croome v Tasmania (it is also notable that Tasmania was the first jurisdiction to recognize same-sex couples in Australia since 2004 under the Relationships Act 2003). In 2016, Queensland became the final Australian jurisdiction to equalise its age of consent for all forms of sexual activity at 16 years, after reducing the age of consent for anal sex from 18 years.

Austria

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Austria

Homosexual sex was legalized in 1971 in Austria.

Azerbaijan

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan regained its independence in 1991, and in 2000 repealed its Soviet-era anti-sodomy law.

Barbados

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Barbados

Before the December 2022 ruling by the Barbados High Court that struck down buggery and gross indecency laws in Barbados, same-sex and different-sex anal and oral sex were criminalised in Barbados under Chapter 154, Sections 9 and 12 of the Sexual Offences Act. Section 9 criminalised "buggery," regardless of whether the act was done in private and consensual, or whether it was done between two men or a man and a woman. Section 12 criminalised "serious indecency," which was defined as any act "involving the use of the genital organs for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire." Punishment for "buggery" was life imprisonment, while the maximum penalty for "serious indecency" was ten years in prison if the act was committed on or towards a person aged 16 or older.

Belgium

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Belgium

Same-sex sexual activity has been legal since 1795, when the country was a French possession.

Botswana

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Botswana

Same-sex sexual acts became legal in Botswana on 11 June 2019. Previously, sodomy, whether heterosexual or homosexual, was criminalised, punishable by up to seven years' imprisonment. The law criminalising such sexual activity applied to both men and women. Initially, its application was limited to men only (similar to other colonies of the British Empire), however, a Botswana court found this to be discriminatory and that the law should apply to women as well.

Brazil

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Brazil, Legal status of homosexuality in Brazil

Brazilian criminal law does not punish any sexual act performed by consenting adults, but allows for prosecution, under statutory rape laws, when one of the participants is under 14 years of age and the other an adult, as per Articles 217-A of the Brazilian Penal Code. Pedophilic acts are also criminalized by the Children and Teenager Statute, in articles 241-A to 241-E. Article 235 of the Brazilian Military Criminal Code – DL 1.001/69-, however, does incriminate any contact deemed to be libidinous, be it of a homosexual nature or not, made in any location subject to military administration. Since the article is entitled "Of pederasty or other libidinous acts", gay rights advocates claim that, since the Brazilian armed forces are composed almost exclusively of males, the article allows for witch-hunts against homosexuals in the military service. This article of the Military Criminal Code has been ruled partially unconstitutional by the Brazilian Supreme Court (ADPF 291), in a 2019 decision that considered incompatible with the Constitution the expressions "Of pederasty or others" (mentioned in the entitlement) and "homosexual or not" (contained in the article).

Cambodia

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Cambodia

Private, adult, non-commercial and consensual sexual activity between people of the same sex is legal in Cambodia, and was never criminalized in the history of the country.

Canada

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Canada

Before 1859, the Province of Canada prosecuted sodomy under the English Buggery Act. In 1859, the Province of Canada enacted its own buggery law in the Consolidated Statutes of Canada as an offence punishable by death. Buggery remained punishable by death until 1869. A broader law targeting all homosexual male sexual activity ("gross indecency") was passed in 1892, as part of a larger update to the criminal law of the new dominion of Canada. Changes to the Criminal Code in 1948 and 1961 were used to brand gay men as "criminal sexual psychopaths" and "dangerous sexual offenders." These labels provided for indeterminate prison sentences. Most famously, George Klippert, a homosexual, was labelled a dangerous sexual offender and sentenced to life in prison, a sentence confirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1967. He was released in July 1971.

Sodomy was decriminalized after the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69 (Bill C-150) received royal assent on 27 June 1969. The offences of buggery and "gross indecency" were still in force, however the new act introduced exemptions for married couples, and any two consenting adults above the age of 21 regardless of gender or sexual orientation. The bill had been originally introduced in the House of Commons in 1967 by then Minister of Justice Pierre Trudeau, who famously stated that "there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation".

Revisions to the Criminal Code in 1987 repealed the offence of "gross indecency", changed "buggery" to "anal intercourse" and reduced the age exemption from 21 to 18. Section 159 of the Criminal Code continued to criminalize anal sex in general, with exemptions (provided no more than two people are present) for husbands and wives, and two consenting parties above the age of 18.

Subsequent case law held that section 159 was unconstitutional, thus anal sex was de facto legal between any two or more consenting persons above the age of consent (14). In the 1995 Court of Appeal for Ontario case R. v. M. (C.) the judges ruled that the law was unconstitutional on the basis that the specific exemptions based on marital status and age infringed on the equality rights guaranteed by section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and constituted discrimination based on sexual orientation. A similar decision was made by the Quebec Court of Appeal in the 1998 case R. v. Roy. In a 2002 decision regarding a case in which three people were engaged in sexual intercourse, the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta declared section 159 in its entirety to be null, including the provisions criminalizing anal sex when more than two persons are taking part or present.

NDP MP Joe Comartin introduced private member's bills in 2007 and 2011 to repeal section 159 of the Criminal Code, however neither passed first reading.

In June 2019, C-75 passed both houses of the Parliament of Canada and received royal assent, repealing section 159 effective immediately and making the age of consent equal at 16 for all individuals.

Chile

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Chile

Consensual sex between two same-sex adults was decriminalized in 1999, but with a higher age of consent set at 18. Since August 2022, the age of consent was equalised to 14 with heterosexuals under a recently implemented law.

China

Main article: LGBTQ rights in China

Sodomy was never explicitly criminalized in China, but private sex between unmarried people was illegal until 1997, and same-sex marriage is not legal in China. The Chinese Supreme Court ruled in 1957 that voluntary sodomy was not a criminal act.

Hong Kong

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong "Homosexual Buggery" is prohibited. Before 2014, according to the Crimes Ordinance Section 118C, both of the two men must be at least 16 to commit homosexual buggery legally or otherwise both of them can be liable to life imprisonment. Sect 118F states that committing homosexual buggery not privately is also illegal and can be liable to imprisonment for 5 years.

"Heterosexual Buggery". A man who commits buggery with a girl under 21 can also be liable for life imprisonment (Sect 118D) while no similar laws concerning committing heterosexual buggery in private exist.

In 2005, Judge Hartmann found these four laws: Section 118C, 118F, 118H, and 118J were discriminatory towards gay males and unconstitutional under the Hong Kong Basic Law and contrary to the Bill of Rights Ordinance in a judicial review filed by a Hong Kong resident. It was believed that the age of consent had been reduced from 21 to 16 for any kind of homosexual sex acts. In 2014, the ordinance was amended according to the judgement.

Cook Islands

Main article: LGBTQ rights in the Cook Islands

Homosexuality was decriminalized in the Cook Islands by an act of Parliament on 1 June 2023. Prior to that, male homosexual activity was illegal in the Cook Islands under the Crimes Act 1969. Consensual male sodomy was punishable by up to seven years' imprisonment, while indecency between males was punishable by up to five years' imprisonment. The law was inherited from the former British Empire. Prosecutions were rare, however.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Main article: LGBTQ rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Same-sex sexual activity is legal in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Age of consent is equal, regardless of sex.

Denmark

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Denmark

In 1933, Denmark decriminalized homosexuality. The age of consent has been set at 15 since 1977.

Dominica

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Dominica

In April 2024, the High Court of Dominica ruled that sections 14 and 16 of the Sexual Offences Act, that criminalised consensual same-sex activity between adults, were unconstitutional.

Prior to that ruling, both male and female types of same-sex sexual activity were illegal in Dominica, as was anal intercourse between persons of the opposite sex.

Dominican Republic

Main article: LGBTQ rights in the Dominican Republic

Consensual same-sex sexual acts between adults in private have been legal in the Dominican Republic since 1822 and the age of consent is set equally at 18 years of age. Previously, the Penal Code criminalised any act that was deemed to be in violation of "decorum and good behaviour" in public, and imposed fines and up to two years imprisonment. This law was sometimes used by police officers to harass, fine or jail same-sex couples who engage in public displays of affection. This was repealed in 1997 through an amendment to the Criminal Code.

In 2025, the Constitutional Court struck down provisions of the 1966 Police Justice Code and the Armed Forces Justice Code which prohibited same-sex sexual activity among servicemembers, with penalties up to six months.

Fiji

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Fiji

Since 1 February 2010, private, adult, consensual and non-commercial male and female homosexual conduct has been legal under the Crimes Decree 2009.

Finland

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Finland

Homosexual sex has been legal in Finland since 1971.Encyclopedia of Gay Histories and Cultures. pg. 325. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, 2013. Edited by George Haggerty. .

France

Main article: LGBTQ rights in France

Since the Penal Code of 1791, France has not had laws punishing homosexual conduct per se between over-age consenting adults in private. However, other qualifications such as "offense to good mores" were occasionally retained in the 19th century (see Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès).

In 1960, a parliamentary amendment by Paul Mirguet added homosexuality to a list of "social scourges", along with alcoholism and prostitution. This prompted the government to increase the penalties for public display of a sex act when the act was homosexual. Transvestites or homosexuals caught cruising were also the target of police repression.

In 1981, the 1960 law making homosexuality an aggravating circumstance for public indecency was repealed. Then in 1982, under president François Mitterrand, the law from 1942 (Vichy France) making the age of consent for homosexual sex higher (18) than for heterosexual sex (15) was also repealed, despite the vocal opposition of Jean Foyer in the National Assembly.

Germany

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Germany

Paragraph 175, which punished "fornication between men", was eased to an age of consent of 21 in East Germany in 1957 and in West Germany in 1969. This age was lowered to 18 in the East in 1968 and the West in 1973, and all legal distinctions between heterosexual and homosexual acts were abolished in the East in 1988, with this change being extended to all of Germany in 1994 as part of the process of German Reunification.

In modern German, the term Sodomie has a meaning different from the English word "sodomy": it does not refer to anal sex, but acts of zoophilia. The change occurred mostly in the middle of the 19th century, at least in the last decade of the century. Only the moral theology of the Roman Catholic church changed not until some time after World War II to the term homosexuality.

Greece

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Greece

Following the country's independence from the Ottoman Empire, the penal code of 1834 stipulated that anyone guilty of sodomy would be punished with at least one year imprisonment and police surveillance. Male homosexual practice was decriminalized in 1951. Lesbians were not mentioned or acknowledged in the Greek Criminal Code. The Penal Code outlawed male prostitution and provided for a higher age of consent of 17 for male homosexual acts. However, this provision was abolished resulting in equalization of the age of consent at 15 and the legalization of male prostitution, subject to existing laws on the regulation of prostitution.

Haiti

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Haiti

The French Penal Code of 1791, adopted between 25 September and 6 October 1791, extended to Saint-Domingue. When Haiti became independent from France in 1804, no law that criminalized consensual same-sex sexual acts was introduced, and no such law has come into the penal code since.

Hungary

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Hungary

Homosexuality in Hungary was decriminalized in 1962, Paragraph 199 of the Hungarian Penal Code from then on threatened "only" adults over 20 who engaged themselves in a consensual same-sex relationship with an underaged person between 14 and 20. Then in 1978 the age was lowered to 18. Since 2002, by the ruling of the Constitutional Court of Hungary repealed Paragraph 199 – Which provided an equal age of consent of 14, regardless of sexual orientation or gender. Since 1996, the Unregistered Cohabitation Act 1995 was provided for any couple, regardless of gender or sexual orientation and from 1 July 2009 the Registered Partnership Act 2009 becomes effective, and provides a registered partnership just for same-sex couples – since that opposite-sex already have marriage, this would in-turn create duplication.

Iceland

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Iceland

Homosexuality has been legal in Iceland since 1940, but equal age of consent was not approved until 1992. Civil union was legalised by Alþingi in 1996 with 44 votes pro, 1 con, 1 neutral and 17 not present. Those laws were changed to allow adoption and artificial insemination for lesbians 27 June 2006 among other things. Same-sex marriage was legalised in 2010.

India

Main article: LGBTQ rights in India

On 2 July 2009, in the case of Naz Foundation v National Capital Territory of Delhi, the High Court of Delhi struck down much of S. 377 of the IPC, which criminalized various sexual acts, as being unconstitutional. On 11 December 2013, the Supreme Court of India overturned the ruling in Naz Foundation v. National Capital Territory of Delhi, effectively re-criminalizing homosexual activity until action was taken by parliament. However, on 12 July 2018, a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court of India started hearing a review petition over its 2013 judgment. On 6 September 2018, in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India, the Supreme Court struck down the part of S. 377 de-criminalizing consensual homosexual activities. It upheld that other aspects of S. 377 criminalizing unnatural sex with minors and animals will remain in force.

India does not recognize same-sex unions of any type. In October 2023, in Supriyo v. Union of India, the Supreme Court held that the legalization of same-sex marriage is not a matter for the courts to decide on the grounds that the right to marry is a statutory right, not a constitutional one.

Ireland

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland, the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993 abolished the offence of "buggery between persons". For some years prior to 1993, criminal prosecution had not been made for buggery between consenting adults. The 1993 Act created an offence of "buggery with a person under the age of 17 years", penalised similar to statutory rape, which also had 17 years as the age of consent. The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2006 replaced this offence with "defilement of a child", encompassing both "sexual intercourse" and "buggery". Buggery with an animal is still unlawful under Section 69 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. In 2012, a man was convicted of this offence for supplying a dog in 2008 to a woman who had intercourse with it and died; he received a suspended sentence and was required to sign the sex offender registry, ending his career as a bus driver.

Israel

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Israel

The State of Israel inherited its sodomy ("buggery") law from the legal code of the British Mandate of Palestine, but it was never enforced against homosexual acts that took place between consenting adults in private. In 1963, the Israeli Attorney-General declared that these laws would not be enforced. However, in certain criminal cases, defendants were convicted of "sodomy" (which includes oral sex), apparently by way of plea bargains; they had originally been indicted for more serious sexual offenses.

In the late 1960s, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that these laws could not be enforced against consenting adults. Though unenforced, these laws remained in the penal code until 1988, when they were formally repealed by the Knesset. The age of consent for both heterosexuals and homosexuals is 16 years of age.

Italy

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Italy

In 1786, Pietro Leopoldo of Tuscany, abolishing the death penalty for all crimes, became not only the first Western ruler to do so but also the first ruler to abolish death penalty for sodomy (though this was replaced with other sentences such as terms in prison or of hard labour).

The Code Napoléon made sodomy legal between consenting adults above the legal age of consent in all Italy except in the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Austria-ruled Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, and the Papal states.

In the newborn (1860) Kingdom of Italy, Sardinia extended its legal code on the whole of Northern Italy, but not in the South, which made homosexual behaviour legal in the South and illegal in the North. However, the first Italian penal code (Codice Zanardelli, 1889) decriminalised same-sex intercourse between consenting adults above the legal age of consent for all regions; the law has not changed since it was enacted.

Japan

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Japan

In the Meiji Period, sex between men was punishable under the sodomy laws announced in 1872 and revised in 1873. This was changed by laws announced in 1880 (同性愛に関する法と政治). Since that time no further laws criminalizing homosexuality have been passed.

Kazakhstan

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Kazakhstan

Both male and female same-sex sexual activity have been legal in Kazakhstan since late 1997, when under the revised criminal code same-sex relations between consenting adults was no longer a criminal offence.

Luxembourg

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Luxembourg

Same-sex sexual activity was decriminalised in 1794, when the country was a French possession. Article 372 of the Penal Code sets the age of consent to 16, regardless of sexual orientation or gender. This was increased to 18 for same-sex sexual activity in 1971 by the addition of article 372 to the Penal Code, which was repealed in 1992.

Malta

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Malta

Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in Malta since January 1973. The age of consent is equal regardless of sexual orientation or gender at 16 years of age.

Mauritius

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Mauritius

Consensual sodomy was decriminalized by the Supreme Court of Mauritius in a decision dated 4 October 2023, which found that the criminal code provision banning sodomy was unconstitutional. Same-sex intercourse between women was never illegal.

Previously, Section 250(1) of the Mauritius Criminal Code of 1838 held that "Any person who is guilty of the crime of sodomy ... shall be liable to penal servitude for a term not exceeding 5 years." Under the Supreme Court's 2023 judgement, the section should "be read so as to exclude such consensual acts from [its] ambit."

Mongolia

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Mongolia

All mentions of homosexuality were removed from the Mongolian Criminal Code in 1993, effectively legalizing private and consensual same-sex sexual activity. The age of consent is 16, regardless of sexual orientation.

Monaco

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Monaco

Same-sex sexual activity is legal. Criminal penalties for homosexual acts were eliminated in 1793 due to the adoption of French laws.

Namibia

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Namibia

The High Court of Namibia in Windhoek ruled that Namibia's common law crimes of “sodomy” and “unnatural sexual offences” were unconstitutional and invalid on 21 June 2024. The court also ruled on the same day that the inclusion of references to the crime of sodomy in the Criminal Procedure Act, Immigration Act, and Defense Act were similarly unconstitutional and invalid.

Nepal

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Nepal

Before the transition from the Kingdom of Nepal to the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal in 2007, private homosexual relations between consenting adults was a crime. Article 1 of Chapter 16 of the National Code (1963), locally referred to as "Muluki Ain", criminalized “unnatural sexual intercourse”. But in 2007, the Supreme Court of Nepal ruled that same-sex sexual intercourse was not to be construed as “unnatural”. While the new Criminal Codes Act (2008), which replaced the Muluki Ain, appears to continue to criminalize “unnatural sex”, it should be read in light of this case.

The age of consent in Nepal is 18, regardless of gender and sexual orientation.

New Zealand

Main article: LGBTQ rights in New Zealand

New Zealand inherited the United Kingdom's sodomy laws in 1854. The Offences against the Person Act 1867 changed the penalty of buggery from execution to life imprisonment for "Buggery". In 1961 in a revision of the Crimes Act, the penalty was reduced to a maximum of seven years between consenting adult males.

Homosexual sex was legalised in New Zealand as a result of the passing of the Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986. The age of consent was set at 16 years, the same as for heterosexual sex.

North Korea

Main article: LGBTQ rights in North Korea

No explicit anti-gay criminal law exists, but government media depicts LGBT people negatively and some gay couples have been executed for being "against the socialist lifestyle".

Norway

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Norway

Same-sex sexual activity between men has been legal in Norway since 1972.

The Philippines

Main article: LGBTQ rights in the Philippines

Non-commercial, private, consensual sexual activity between people of the same-sex is legal in the Philippines. There is no recorded evidence of any enforced penalties placed on any person that might have been prosecuted and convicted for such actions under criminal law. The age of consent law is set at the legally and equally restricted permissible minimum age of 16 years for all individuals from that age and others above that age as well, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. However, any form of sexual conduct or affection that occurs in public may be subject to the "grave scandal" prohibition in Article 200 of the Revised Penal Code, which states: "ARTICLE 200. Grave Scandal.—The penalties of arresto mayor and public censure shall be imposed upon any person who shall offend against decency or good customs by any highly scandalous conduct not expressly falling within any other article of this Code."

Poland

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Poland

Poland is one of the few countries where homosexuality has never been considered a crime. Forty years after Poland lost its independence, in 1795, the sodomy laws of Russia, Prussia, and Austria came into force in the occupied Polish lands. Poland retained these laws after independence in 1918, but they were never enforced, and were officially abandoned in 1932.

Portugal

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Portugal

During the period of the Portuguese Inquisition, female homosexual activity was not actively prosecuted due to a 1645 ruling; one of the few cases of prosecuting a woman (Maria Duran) for same-sex sexual activity came in 1741, but she was prosecuted for causing distress to her sexual partners, not for her activity. Same-sex sexual activity was first decriminalised in 1852, under Mary II and Ferdinand II of the Kingdom of Portugal, but it was made a crime again in 1886, under Louis I, and Portugal gradually became more oppressive of homosexuals until and throughout the dictatorship years. It was not until 1982 that same-sex sexual activity was decriminalised again, and the age of consent was equalized with heterosexual activity in 2007.

Republic of the Congo

Main article: LGBTQ rights in the Republic of the Congo

Same-sex relationships have been legal in the Republic of the Congo since 1940. The text of the 1940 Penal Code, as amended in 2006, only prohibits same-sex sexual behavior with a person younger than 21 years. There is an unequal age of consent however, with it being 18 for opposite-sex sexual activity.

Romania

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Romania

Homosexual sex was legalized in Romania in 2002.

Russia

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Russia

In the past, in Russia sexual activity between males was criminalized by state law on 4 March 1934. Sexual activity between females was not mentioned in the law. On 27 May 1993, homosexual acts between consenting males were decriminalized.

Rwanda

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Rwanda

Homosexual sex is legal in Rwanda.

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Saint Kitts and Nevis

Following a ruling of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court on August 29, 2022, consensual same-sex intercourse between adults in private is no longer illegal in Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Previously, Sections 56 and 57 of the "Offences Against the Person Act" criminalized same-sex sexual activity. The Court ruled that the sections violated the Saint Kitts and Nevis constitutional provisions guaranteeing a right to privacy and freedom of expression. The ruling had immediate effect.

In 2011, the government of St. Kitts and Nevis said it had no mandate from the people to abolish the criminalization of homosexuality among consenting adults. However, despite the existence of the law on the books, there had been no known prosecution of same-sex sexual activity, according to the government.

Saint Lucia

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Saint Lucia

Same-sex sexual activity was illegal for males in Saint Lucia until July 29, 2025, when the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court struck down colonial-era laws against buggery and gross indecency as unconstitutional.

Serbia

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Serbia

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia restricted the offense in 1959 to only apply to homosexual anal intercourse, with the maximum sentence reduced from 2 to 1 year imprisonment. In 1994, male homosexual sexual intercourse was officially decriminalised in the Republic of Serbia, a part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The age of consent was set at 18 years for anal intercourse between males and 14 for other sexual practices. An equal age of consent of 14 was later introduced on 1 January 2006 with the adoption of a new Criminal Code, regardless of sexual orientation or gender.

Singapore

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Singapore

Section 377A of the Singapore Penal Code, introduced during British colonial rule, criminalised "outrage of decency" and additionally punish commission, solicitation, or attempted male same-sex "gross indecency", with "imprisonment of up to two years".

Section 377 was added by the British in 1858 for its colonies. The law was inherited into Singapore in 1871, with 377A introduced into the Penal Code in 1938. In October 2007, during a Penal Code review, Singapore repealed Section 377 of the Penal Code, but 377A remained on the books as an unenforced law. On 29 November 2022, the Parliament of Singapore voted to repeal Section 377A in its entirety. It was officially repealed on 3 January 2023 and struck off the books.

South Africa

Main article: LGBTQ rights in South Africa

The common-law crimes of sodomy and "commission of an unnatural sexual act" in South Africa's Roman-Dutch law were declared to be unconstitutional (and therefore invalid) by the Witwatersrand Local Division of the High Court on 8 May 1998 in the case of National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality v Minister of Justice, and this judgment was confirmed by the Constitutional Court on 9 October of the same year. The ruling applied retroactively to acts committed since the adoption of the Interim Constitution on 27 April 1994.

Despite the abolition of sodomy as a crime, the Sexual Offences Act, 1957 set the age of consent for same-sex activities at 19, whereas for opposite-sex activities it was 16. This was rectified by the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007, which comprehensively reformed the law on sex offences to make it gender- and orientation-neutral, and set 16 as the uniform age of consent. In 2008, even though the new law had come into effect, the former inequality was retrospectively declared to be unconstitutional in the case of Geldenhuys v National Director of Public Prosecutions.

South Korea

Main article: LGBTQ rights in South Korea

Sexual relationships between members of the same sex are legal under civilian law, but are regarded as sexual harassment in the Military Penal Code.

Sweden

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Sweden

Sweden legalised same-sex sexual activity in 1867, with the age of consent set at 18. In 1987, in order to combat the spread of HIV, the Riksdag passed a law against sex in gay saunas and against prostitution, but it was repealed in 2004.

Bestiality was legalized in 1944, but it was again criminalized in 2014. The relevant legal provision is today found in Chapter 2, 10 § of the Swedish Animal Welfare Act of 2018: "It is forbidden to perform sexual acts with animals. The prohibition does not cover acts performed for veterinary reasons or in connection with breeding or for similar legitimate reasons." Violations of this provision are punishable with a fine or with imprisonment for a maximum of two years (Chapter 10, 2 § of the above Act).

Taiwan

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Taiwan

Explicit prohibitions of "consenting ji jian (雞姦; sodomy)" were abolished around 1912, when the Republic of China was established. The criminal code contained no provisions prohibiting consensual same-sex sexual activity between adults. Despite the decriminalization, LGBT people were often harassed and detained under general public order laws. These laws were repealed during the transition to democracy in 1991.

In Taiwan, the Criminal Code of the Republic of China officially focusing on sexual assaults. Article 10 defines anal intercourse to be a form of sexual intercourse, along with vaginal and oral intercourse. Article 277 set the age of consent at 16. Child and Youth Sexual Transaction Prevention Act Article 22 make it a criminal offense to engage in sexual contact with minors.

Tajikistan

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Tajikistan

Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in Tajikistan since May 1998.

The age of consent in Tajikistan is 16, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

Thailand

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Thailand

Anti-sodomy legislation was repealed in Thailand in 1956.

Turkey

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Turkey

In Turkey, homosexual acts had already been decriminalized by its predecessor state, the Ottoman Empire, in 1858.

Ukraine

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Ukraine

Male homosexual sex was legalized in Ukraine in 1991; female homosexual sex was never a crime there.

United Kingdom

Main article: LGBTQ rights in the United Kingdom

In England, the first relaxation of the law came from the Wolfenden Report, published in 1957. The key proposal of the report was that "homosexual behaviour between consenting adults in private should no longer be a criminal offence". However, the law was not changed until 1967, when the Sexual Offences Act 1967 decriminalized consensual "homosexual acts" as long as only two men were involved, both were over 21 and the acts happened in private. The Act concerned acts between men only, and anal sex between men and women remained an offence until 1994.

In the 1980s and 1990s, gay rights organizations made attempts to equalize the age of consent for heterosexual and homosexual activity, which had previously been 21 for homosexual activity but only 16 for heterosexual acts. Heterosexual sodomy, however, ironically remained illegal until the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill, although it was mainly applied in cases of anal rape. Efforts were also made to modify the "no other person present" clause so that it dealt only with minors. In 1994, Conservative MP Edwina Currie introduced as part of the 1994 bill an amendment which would have lowered the age of consent to 16. The amendment failed, but a compromise amendment which lowered the age of consent to 18 was accepted. 1 July 1997 decision in the case Sutherland v. United Kingdom resulted in the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 which further reduced it to 16, and the "no other person present" clause was modified to "no minor persons present".

It was not until 2000, with the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000, that the age of consent for anal sex was reduced to 16 for men and women. In 2003, the Sexual Offences Act significantly reformed English law in relation to sexual offences, introducing a new range of offences relating to underage and non-consensual sexual activity that were concerned with the act that occurred, rather than the sex or sexual orientation of those committing it. Buggery in as much as it related to sexual intercourse with animals (bestiality) remained untouched until the Sexual Offences Act 2003, when it was replaced with a new offence of "intercourse with an animal".

Today, the universal age of consent is 16 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 brought Northern Ireland into line with the rest of the United Kingdom on 2 February 2009 (prior to that, the age of consent for both heterosexual and homosexual intercourse was 17). The three British Crown dependencies also have an equal age of consent at 16: since 2006, in the Isle of Man; since 2007, in Jersey; and since 2010 in Guernsey.

Sodomy is usually interpreted as referring to anal intercourse between two males or a male and a female. In England and Wales sodomy was made a felony by Henry VIII's Buggery Act 1533, which was part of the attack on the monasteries, though had been a crime punished by the clergy until 1534. The Buggery Act 1533 also criminalised sex with animals. Section 61 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, entitled "Sodomy and Bestiality", defined punishments for "the abominable Crime of Buggery, committed either with Mankind or with any Animal". The punishment for those convicted was the death penalty until 1861 in England and Wales, and 1887 in Scotland. James Pratt and John Smith were the last two to be executed for sodomy in England in 1835. However, all homoerotic acts could be prosecuted under the 1533 law as they were all treated by the courts as "attempts" to commit the felony (sodomy) whether there had been an actual attempt to commit anal intercourse or not. This interpretation was in place by at least the 1690s. Thereafter, it was possible to prosecute all homoerotic acts, invitations, or suggestions as "attempts" to commit the felony or conspiracies to arrange it. Between 1806, when reliable figures begin, and 1900, there were more than 8,000 cases of what were called "unnatural offences," including 404 capital sentences and 56 executions (all before 1835). Some confusion over the state of the law and what it covered has resulted from the intervention of Henry Labouchere, who, in 1885 introduced a clause to the Criminal Law Amendment Act that outlawed "gross indecency" between men "in public and private." Many historians have assumed as a result that before that date homoerotic acts were not covered by the law, or were only prosecuted if committed in public. This is not the case. Labouchere's Amendment added nothing to the law except another way of describing what was already illegal. Following the Wolfenden report, sexual acts between two adult males, with no other people present, were made legal in England and Wales in 1967, in Scotland in 1980, Northern Ireland in 1982, UK Crown Dependencies Guernsey in 1983, Jersey in 1990 and Isle of Man in 1992.

The definition of sodomy was not specified in these or any statute, but rather established by judicial precedent. Over the years the courts have defined buggery as including either:

1. Anal intercourse or oral intercourse by a man with a man or woman or
2. Vaginal intercourse by either a man or a woman with an animal, but not any other form of "unnatural intercourse", the implication being that anal sex with an animal would not constitute buggery. Such a case has not, to date, come before the courts of a common law jurisdiction in any reported decision. In the 1817 case of Rex v. Jacobs, the Crown Court ruled that oral intercourse with a child aged 7 did not constitute sodomy, but it could still be prosecuted as an "attempt" to commit the felony.

At common law consent was not a defence nor was the fact that the parties were married. In the UK, the punishment for buggery was reduced from hanging to life imprisonment by the Offences against the Person Act 1861. As with the crime of rape, buggery required that penetration must have occurred, but ejaculation was not necessary.

United States

Main article: LGBTQ rights in the United States

]] Sodomy laws in the United States were largely a matter of state rather than federal jurisdiction, except for laws governing the US Armed Forces. In the 1950s, all states had some form of law criminalizing sodomy. In the early 1960s, the penalties for sodomy in the various states varied from imprisonment for two to ten years or a fine of US$2,000. Illinois became the first American jurisdiction to repeal its law against consensual sodomy in 1961; in 1962, the Model Penal Code recommended all states do so. In the 1986 Bowers v. Hardwick decision upholding Georgia's sodomy law, the United States Supreme Court ruled that nothing in the United States Constitution bars a state from prohibiting sodomy.

By 2002, 36 states had repealed all sodomy laws or had them overturned by court rulings. In 2003, only ten states had laws prohibiting all sodomy, with penalties ranging from 1 to 15 years imprisonment. Additionally, four other states had laws that specifically prohibited same-sex sodomy. On June 26, 2003, the US Supreme Court in a 6–3 decision in Lawrence v. Texas struck down the Texas same-sex sodomy law, ruling that this private sexual conduct is protected by the liberty rights implicit in the due process clause of the United States Constitution, with Sandra Day O'Connor's concurring opinion arguing that they violated equal protection. This decision invalidated all state sodomy laws insofar as they applied to noncommercial conduct in private between consenting civilians.

The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces has ruled that the Lawrence v. Texas decision applies to Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is a ban on sodomy in the US Armed Forces. In both United States v. Stirewalt and United States v. Marcum, the court ruled that the "conduct falls within the liberty interest identified by the Supreme Court", but went on to say that despite the application of Lawrence to the military, Article 125 can still be upheld in cases where there are "factors unique to the military environment" that would place the conduct "outside any protected liberty interest recognized in Lawrence." Examples of such factors could be fraternization, public sexual behavior, or any other factors that would adversely affect good order and discipline. and United States v. Bullock. As of 2024, 12 states still had laws against consensual sodomy; in 2013, police in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, arrested gay men for "attempted crimes against nature" despite the law having been ruled unconstitutional and unenforceable.

Uruguay

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Uruguay

Same-sex sexual activity was decriminalized in Uruguay in 1934.

Vanuatu

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Vanuatu

Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Vanuatu. Since the Penal Code (Amendment) Act 2006 commenced in 2007, the age of consensual sex in Vanuatu has been 15 years regardless of sex or sexual orientation.

Vatican City

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Vatican City

Since 1890, the territory of what is now Vatican City has had no criminal laws against non-commercial, private, adult and consensual same-sex sexual activity.

Venezuela

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Venezuela

Homosexuality has never been punishable since Venezuelan independence, Venezuela being together with Bolivia the only two countries in South America that have not criminalized homosexuality since their formation as sovereign states. However, within the framework of the "law on lazy people and thugs" (pre-criminal behavior laws as in Europe and Latin America during the 20th century) the situation changed slightly; In Venezuela, unlike Spain, this law did not expressly refer to homosexuals, although it was occasionally applied to homosexuals, transgender and/or transsexuals who practiced prostitution, as well as to sex workers in general, as reported by Amnesty International. People subjected to this legislation by "administrative acts" could be placed under "reeducation programs" in "special places of confinement" without trial, as also happened in many other countries, including Spain. This law was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Justice in 1997.

The age of consent is equal regardless of gender or sexual orientation at 16.

Vietnam

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Vietnam

Both female and male same-sex sexual activities between consenting adults are legal and never have been criminalized in Vietnamese history.

Countries where same-sex sexual activity is illegal

Afghanistan

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Afghanistan

Homosexuality is illegal in Afghanistan for both women and men.

Algeria

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Algeria

Article 338 of Algerian law (English translation) reads:

"Anyone guilty of a homosexual act is punishable with imprisonment of between 2 months and two years, and with a fine of 500 to 2000 Algerian Dinars. If one of the participants is below 18 years old, the punishment for the older person can be raised to 3 years' imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 dinars"

Article 333 of the Algerian law (English translation) reads:

Burkina Faso

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Burkina Faso

Prior to 2025, male and female types of same-sex sexual activity had always been legal in Burkina Faso, with an equal age of consent implemented in 1996. In July 2024, the military junta, led by Ibrahim Traore, in power since the September 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'état, adopted an amended family code draft which would make promotion of homosexual acts illegal.

On September 1, 2025, any promotion of homosexuality or promotion of LGBTQ activities was banned entirely, with up to 2 to 5 years in prison and a fine as punishment. It was also announced that foreign nationals who violated the law would be deported. The legislation was passed unanimously by the unelected 71-member transitional parliament. The legislation took effect immediately.

Ethiopia

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Ethiopia

The previous Penal Code of the country, enacted in 1957, encompassed a dedicated chapter addressing "sexual deviations." Contained within this chapter, Article 600 prescribed punitive measures for engaging in sexual acts or any other conduct deemed "indecent" with a person of the same sex. The prescribed penalties ranged from imprisonment for a period of 10 days to three years. The current Penal Code, enacted in 2004, continues to proscribe same-sex sexual activity as a criminal offense. As per the provisions outlined in Article 629, individuals found involved in such activities may face imprisonment, with a minimum sentence of one year, as explicitly delineated in Article 630. Additionally, under Article 630(1)(b), “making a profession” of such acts aggravates the penalty to up to 10 years.

In Ethiopian law, the wording of the penal code treats a homosexual act as an act of an aggressor against a victim. Consequently, the offense of the aggressor is considered aggravated, when it results in the suicide of the victim for reasons of "shame, distress or despair".

Guyana

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Guyana

In common with other former British colonies, Guyana had criminal codes imposed by its colonial rulers. Prohibitions against "buggery", "gross indecency", and "indecent behavior" were widely enacted across the British Empire in the nineteenth century. Although the terms are not explicitly defined in law, their English common law interpretation was well established by the time the Criminal Law (Offences) Act(1893) was introduced in Guyana. The country inherited the Act itself and the common law understanding of its provisions; these were retained following independence, long after the repeal of such offences in Britain.

The criminalization of same-sex activity under the Act are contained in the following provisions:' (a) attempts to commit buggery; [...] shall be guilty of felony and liable to imprisonment for ten years.}} (a) does any indecent act in any place to which the public have or are permitted to have access; or (b) does any indecent act in any place, intending thereby to insult or offend any person, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and liable to imprisonment for two years.

Iran

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Iran

Homosexual sex is illegal in Iran and is punishable by execution, imprisonment, lashings, and fines.

Iraq

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Iraq

In 2024, there were plans to make homosexual relations in Iraq punishable by up to death, but the law was revised before being quietly passed later that year to lower the punishment to 15 years in jail with fines and deportation.

Jamaica

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Jamaica

In Jamaica, homosexuality is illegal. Consensual sexual intercourse between same-sex partners is legally punishable by up to 10 years of imprisonment with hard labour.

Kenya

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Kenya

Expressions of homosexuality are illegal under Kenyan statutes and carry a maximum penalty of 14 years' imprisonment, or 21 years under certain aggravating circumstances. Sex acts between women are mentioned under the gender-neutral term "person" in Section 162 of the Penal Code and are enforced equally. On 28 November 2010, Prime Minister Raila Odinga called for women or men engaging in same-sex activity to be arrested.

Kuwait

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Kuwait

Consensual sexual activity between males is illegal under Kuwait's penal code. No laws specifically criminalise same-sex sexual activity between women. The relevant law states: اذا واقع رجل رجلا آخر بلغ الحادية والعشرين وكان ذلك برضائه ، عوقب كل منهما بالحبس مدة لا تجاوز سبع سنوات. If a man has sexual intercourse with another man who has reached the age of twenty-one and this is with his consent, each of them shall be punished with imprisonment for a period not exceeding seven years.}} The penal code also covers "public indecency": المادة رقم 198|lang1=ar|italicsoff=y|rtl1=y| من اتى اشارة او فعلا فاضحا مخلا بالحياء في مكان عام او بحيث يراه او يسمعه من كان في مكان عام ، يعاقب بالحبس مدة لا تجاوز سنة واحدة وبغرامة لا تجاوز الف روبية او باحدى هاتين العقوبتين. Whoever makes an indecent gesture or act in a public place or in such a way that it can be seen or heard by anyone in a public place, shall be punished with imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year and with a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees or with one of these two penalties.}}

Macau

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Macau

In Macau, according to the Código Penal de Macau (Penal Code of Macau) Article 166 & 168, committing anal coitus with someone under the age of 17 is a crime and shall be punished by imprisonment of up to 10 years (committing with whoever under 14) and 4 years (committing with whoever between 14 and 16) respectively.

Malawi

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Malawi

The Malawi Penal Code provides:

• (a) has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature; or...
• (c) permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for fourteen years, with or without corporal punishment.|source=Section 153. Unnatural offences}}

Malaysia

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Malaysia

Sodomy is illegal in Malaysia. The sodomy laws are sometimes enforced using Section 377 of the Penal Code which prohibits carnal intercourse against the order of nature:

The age of consent in Malaysia is 16. Punishment for voluntarily committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature shall be up to twenty years imprisonment and whipping, while punishment for committing the same offence but without consent is punished by no less than five years imprisonment and whipping.{{Cite news | author-link = Peter Tatchell | access-date = 27 November 2009

Oman

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Oman

Homosexual sex is illegal for both women and men in Oman.

Palestine

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Palestine

On 18 September 1936, the criminal code of Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate Criminal Code, which drew from Ottoman law or English law, was enacted. Section 152(1)(b)(c) of the code states that any person who "commits an act of sodomy with any person against his will by the use of force or threats" or "commits an act of sodomy with a child under the age of sixteen years" is liable for imprisonment up to 14 years, while Section 152(2)(b) states that anyone who has "carnal knowledge" of anyone acting "against the law of nature" is liable for a prison term up to 10 years. Palestinian academic Sa'ed Atshan argued that this criminal code was an example of British export of homophobia to the Global South. The present applicability of this law is disputed. The Human Dignity Trust states that the criminal code is still "in operation" in Gaza albeit with scarce evidence of its enforcement, and Human Rights Watch states that the criminal code is still "in force" in Gaza. Amnesty International does not report same-sex sexual activity as being illegal in any Palestinian territory but emphasizes that Palestinian authorities do not stop, prevent or investigate homophobic and transphobic threats and attacks. The editor-in-chief of the Palestinian Yearbook of International Law, Anis. F. Kassim argued that the criminal code could be "interpreted as allowing homosexuality."

The decriminalization of homosexuality in Palestine is a patchwork. On the one hand, the British Mandate Criminal Code was in force in Jordan until 1951, with the Jordanian Penal Code having "no prohibition on sexual acts between persons of the same sex," which applied to the West Bank, while Israel stopped using the code in 1977. On the other, the Palestinian Authority has not legislated either for or against homosexuality. Legalistically, the confused legal legacy of foreign occupation – Ottoman, British, Jordanian, Egyptian and Israeli – continues to determine the erratic application or non-application of the criminal law to same-sex activity and gender variance in each of the territories. A correction issued by the Associated Press in August 2015 stated that homosexuality is not banned by law in the Gaza Strip or West Bank, but is "largely taboo," and added "there are no laws specifically banning homosexual acts."

In 2018, Human Rights Watch noted that laws in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip include a combination of unified laws passed by the Palestinian Legislative Council and ratified by the President of Palestine, and stated that laws from the former British Mandate, Egypt, and Jordan still apply when unified laws have not been issued. However, HRW added that Hamas has issued separate decrees and has not applied presidential decrees by the President of Palestine. Also, the organization reported that articles 258 and 263 of the draft penal code, in 2003, for Palestine, contained "provisions that criminalize adult consensual same sex conduct". However, it is not known whether this code, which prohibited sexual intercourse with women who are over 18 in an "illicit manner" with imprisonment, a prison term of up to five years if they are related to the said woman or up to ten years for those who engage in rape, and up to five years in prison for a male who "commits the act of sodomy with another male", was implemented.

Papua New Guinea

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Papua New Guinea

Male same-sex sexual activity is prohibited by Section 210 of the Papua New Guinea Penal Code. Anal sex and oral sex between persons of the opposite sex is also illegal. Those caught engaging in anal sex or oral sex (whether heterosexual or homosexual) can be punished with up to fourteen years' imprisonment. Other same-sex sexual acts can be punished with up to three years' imprisonment.

Qatar

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Qatar

Homosexuality was made illegal in British-controlled Qatar via the Indian Penal Code through the Order in Council 1938. This was replaced by Article 171 in 1956, and then after independence, Article 171 was replaced by Article 201 of Qatar's 1971 Penal Code. Since 2004, Article 296 of the current Penal Code (Law 11/2004) stipulates imprisonment between one and three years for sodomy. This is less severe than the 1971 law that stipulated up to five years' imprisonment for men and women found to be homosexual (punishment of sexual acts instead of punishment for sexual orientation). The local death penalty for same-gender sex is applicable only to Muslims because extramarital sex regardless of the gender of the participants is punishable by death and because same-gender couples cannot get married. However, there is no evidence that the death penalty has been applied for consensual same-sex relations taking place between adults outside the spaces policed by authorities.

Solomon Islands

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Solomon Islands

Homosexual activity is illegal in the Solomon Islands and is punishable by law. The punishment for engaging in homosexual conduct is up to 14 years imprisonment.

Sudan

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Sudan

Sodomy, defined as anal sex whether the couple is same-sex or opposite-sex, is illegal in Sudan. The Offence is defined in Article 148 of the Criminal Act of 1991. The original wording (translated) of the sodomy law, as amended in 2009, follows:{{poem quote|text= (1)There shall be deemed to commit sodomy, every man who penetrates his glans, or the equivalent thereof, in the anus of a woman, or another man's, or permits another man to penetrate his glans, or its equivalent in his anus. (2) (a) whoever commits the offence of sodomy, shall be punished, with shipping a hundred lashes, and he may also be punished, with imprisonment, for a term not exceeding five years; (b) where the offender is convicted for the second time, he shall be punished, with whipping a hundred lashes, and with imprisonment, for a term, not exceeding five years; (c) where the offender is convicted for the third time he shall be punished, with death, or with life imprisonment. On 9 July 2020, Sudan abolished the death penalty as a punishment for anal sex. The Transitional Sovereignty Council also eliminated the imposition of 100 lashes and added two years to the sentence for a second offence. The penalty for a third offence was changed from death or life imprisonment to life imprisonment. A first offence is now punished with up to five years and a second offence with up to seven years.

Tonga

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Tonga

Male same-sex sexual activity, as well as heterosexual sodomy, is illegal in Tonga under the Criminal Offences Act () with a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment. The offenders may also be whipped as a punishment if convicted.

Tunisia

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Tunisia

Article 230 of the Penal Code of 1913 (largely modified in 1964) decrees imprisonment of up to three years for private acts of sodomy between consenting adults. (The official text of Article 230 in French is "La sodomie, si elle ne rentre dans aucun des cas prévus aux articles précédents, est punie de l'emprisonnement pendant trois ans."). Gay people are also often accused of violating Article 226 of the national Penal Code which outlaws "outrages against public decency".

Tuvalu

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Tuvalu

The Penal Code prohibits male homosexual and heterosexual anal intercourse. However, according to the United States Department of State, as of 2013 there were no reports of prosecution of consenting adults under these provisions.

Uganda

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Uganda

The Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023 prescribes up to twenty years in prison for "promotion of homosexuality", life imprisonment for "homosexual acts", and the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality". The latter offence includes "serial offenders", same-sex rape, sex in a position of authority or procured by intimidation, sex with persons older than seventy-five, sex with the disabled and mentally ill, and homosexual acts committed by a person with a previous conviction of homosexuality. Further, under its provisions, the promotion (including normalisation) of homosexuality is punishable by imprisonment for up to 20 years and fines. This Act came into force in 2023, making Uganda the only Christian-majority country to punish some types of consensual same-sex acts with the death penalty. A similar law had been passed in 2013, but was later struck down in 2014 as unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of Uganda on legal technicalities.

| "'Deeply troubling': UN rights chief on Uganda anti-gay bill" The Independent | "Uganda Anti-Homosexuality bill: Life in prison for saying you're gay". BBC News | "Cheers and applause as Uganda passes new bill banning identifying as LGBT" BBC News | "Ugandan MPs pass bill imposing death penalty for homosexuality" The Guardian | "Uganda's new anti-homosexuality law bans identification as LGBTQ" Aljazeera | "Uganda passes harsh new bill targeting LGBT+ community" ITV News | "UN rights chief calls Uganda anti-gay bill 'deeply troubling'" PBS News}} }} }}

United Arab Emirates

Main article: LGBTQ rights in the United Arab Emirates

Same-sex sexual activity is illegal in the United Arab Emirates; however, prosecution is brought only on complaint of a husband or (male) legal guardian. There is no maximum punishment for this in the United Arab Emirates, with the sentence at courts' discretion (10 years imprisonment in Dubai, 14 years imprisonment in Abu Dhabi), and the minimum punishment is 6 months' imprisonment.

Uzbekistan

Main article: LGBT rights in Uzbekistan

Laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual activity between men were enacted in the Uzbek SSR in 1926. Consensual same-sex sexual activity between men is criminalized in present-day Uzbekistan by Article 120 of Uzbek's criminal code (1994):

Yemen

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Yemen

Article 264 of the national penal code prohibits private consensual homosexual act between adult men. The stipulated punishment in the law for unmarried men is 100 lashes and up to a year in prison. The law stipulates that married men convicted of homosexuality are to be put to death.

Article 268 of the national penal code prohibits private consensual homosexual acts between adult women. The law stipulates that premeditated acts of lesbianism are punished with up to three years in prison.

Zambia

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Zambia

Same-sex sexual activity is proscribed by Zambia's penal code. The law criminalizes consensual same-sex sexual conduct, with penalties upon conviction for engaging in "acts against the order of nature" of fifteen years' to life imprisonment. Conviction under the lesser charge of "gross indecency" carries a penalty of up to fourteen years' imprisonment.{{Include-USGov | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220331130956/https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/66208/62114/F-489934566/ZMB66208.pdf | archive-date= 2022-03-31 | access-date = 15 June 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220613145221/https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/lib-docs/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session2/ZM/GR-ILGRHRC_ZMB_UPR_S2_2008_GlobalRightsInternational-GayandLesbianHumanRightsCommission_uprsubmission_JOINT.pdf | archive-date =13 June 2022 | access-date = 14 June 2022

Zimbabwe

Main article: LGBTQ rights in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe's former President Robert Mugabe has waged a violent campaign against homosexuals, claiming that before colonization, Zimbabweans did not engage in homosexual acts. His first major public condemnation of homosexuality came during the Zimbabwe International Book Fair in August 1995. He told the audience that homosexuality: ...degrades human dignity. It's unnatural and there is no question ever of allowing these people to behave worse than dogs and pigs. If dogs and pigs do not do it, why must human beings? We have our own culture, and we must re-dedicate ourselves to our traditional values that make us human beings... What we are being persuaded to accept is sub-animal behaviour and we will never allow it here. If you see people parading themselves as lesbians and gays, arrest them and hand them over to the police!}}

In September 1995, Zimbabwe's parliament introduced legislation banning homosexual acts. In 1997, a court found Canaan Banana, Mugabe's predecessor and the first President of Zimbabwe, guilty of 11 counts of sodomy and indecent assault. Banana's trial proved embarrassing for Mugabe, when Banana's accusers alleged that Mugabe knew about Banana's conduct and had done nothing to stop it. Regardless, Banana fled Zimbabwe only to return and be sentenced to one year in prison for his homosexual acts.

Notes

References

Sources

• David Bianco, First Sodomy Laws in the American Colonies
• Daniel Ottosson, International Lesbian and Gay Association, "With the Government in Our Bedrooms: A Survey on the Laws Over the World Prohibiting Consenting Adult Sexual Same-Sex Acts" (Nov. 2006)
• International Lesbian and Gay Association, "World Legal Wrap-Up" (Nov. 2006)

References

1. Weeks, Jeff. (January 1981). "Sex, Politics and Society: The Regulation of Sexuality Since 1800". Longman Publishing Group.
2. Phelps, Shirelle. (2001). "World of Criminal Justice: N-Z". [[Gale (publisher).
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