International Perspectives

Various coun­tries have crim­i­nal­ized some or all sex­u­al acts between men and some sex­u­al acts between women. It is often dif­fi­cult for these juris­dic­tions to pros­e­cute con­sen­su­al same-sex cou­ples, but these laws con­tribute to the harass­ment and stigma­ti­za­tion of non-heterosexual people.

Laws crim­i­nal­iz­ing LGBTQ+ peo­ple tend to crim­i­nal­ize sex­u­al acts, rather than indi­vid­ual iden­ti­ties. The lan­guage is inten­tion­al­ly vague and unclear, allow­ing law enforce­ment and judi­cial actors to inter­pret the pro­vi­sions as they see fit, per­mit­ting per­son­al bias­es and beliefs to play a role in enforce­ment. Police offi­cers can decide to arrest indi­vid­u­als based upon either real or per­ceived sex­u­al ori­en­ta­tion or gen­der iden­ti­ty, even when no pro­hib­it­ed act has been proven. In some coun­tries, law enforce­ment has arrest­ed LGBTQ+ peo­ple under the guise of oth­er arbi­trar­i­ly applied pub­lic order provisions.

Origins of LGBTQ+ Criminalization 

The LGBTQ+ com­mu­ni­ty has faced per­se­cu­tion for cen­turies; how­ev­er, colo­nial­ism increased the glob­al breadth of crim­i­nal­iza­tion. British law dur­ing the colo­nial era express­ly crim­i­nal­ized same-sex sex­u­al activ­i­ty, and thus, many British colonies adopt­ed the same laws. Of the coun­tries that crim­i­nal­ize LGBTQ+ peo­ple today, more than half can trace the source of their laws to Britain’s colo­nial rule. Britain not only export­ed laws that crim­i­nal­ized the LGBTQ+ com­mu­ni­ty, but also the over­ar­ch­ing sys­tem of sex­u­al offens­es imposed on col­o­nized states has been and remains dis­crim­i­na­to­ry towards oth­er mar­gin­al­ized groups, such as women, chil­dren, and indi­vid­u­als with disabilities. 

Colonial France and Spain found basis for their legal sys­tems in the Napoleonic Code, which did not crim­i­nal­ize same-sex sex­u­al activ­i­ty. Today, LGBTQ+ indi­vid­u­als in places col­o­nized by France and Spain are not crim­i­nal­ized for same-sex sexual activity. 

Many coun­tries that crim­i­nal­ize LGBTQ+ peo­ple have adopt­ed Islamic laws and fol­low a strict inter­pre­ta­tion of Sharia law. While these coun­tries are less numer­ous than those col­o­nized by Britain, the penal­ties in these coun­tries tend to be more severe, with the death penal­ty imposed or legal­ly pos­si­ble in eleven Muslim-majority countries. 

Extent of Criminalization and its Effects 

Across the globe, 65 coun­tries crim­i­nal­ize pri­vate, con­sen­su­al, and same-sex sex­u­al con­duct. Most of these juris­dic­tions explic­it­ly crim­i­nal­ize sex between men, call­ing these crimes of ​‘sodomy,’ ​‘bug­gery,’ and ​‘unnat­ur­al offences.’ Of this total, 41 coun­tries also crim­i­nal­ize sex­u­al con­duct between women for ​‘les­bian­ism,’ ​‘sex­u­al rela­tions with a per­son of the same sex’ and ​‘gross inde­cen­cy.’ In oth­er juris­dic­tions with­out these spe­cif­ic laws, les­bians and bisex­u­al women have been arrest­ed or sub­ject­ed to the threat of arrest because the pres­ence of anti-LGBTQ+ laws pro­vokes both state and non-state actors to harass and black­mail LBGTQ+ peo­ple. In most instances, les­bians and bisex­u­al women are arrest­ed based on sus­pi­cion of their sex­u­al­i­ty, not because of known same-sex contact.

Fourteen coun­tries crim­i­nal­ize the gen­der iden­ti­ty and/​or expres­sion of trans­gen­der peo­ple with ​‘cross-dress­ing,’ ​‘imper­son­ation,’ and ​‘dis­guise’ laws. In numer­ous oth­er coun­tries, trans­gen­der peo­ple are often tar­get­ed for arrest and pros­e­cu­tion with a vari­ety of laws that crim­i­nal­ize same-sex activ­i­ty and pub­lic order offenses. 

The crim­i­nal­iza­tion of LGBTQ+ peo­ple has numer­ous dam­ag­ing effects. Most notably, crim­i­nal­iza­tion results in the arrest, detain­ment, and pros­e­cu­tion of LGBTQ+ peo­ple sole­ly based on who they are. When detained, research has shown that LGBTQ+ peo­ple are espe­cial­ly vul­ner­a­ble to ver­bal, phys­i­cal, and sex­u­al vio­lence from fel­low pris­on­ers and cor­rec­tions staff, and are often denied access to health­care and legal rep­re­sen­ta­tion. These statutes per­pet­u­ate stig­ma and prej­u­dice by pro­vid­ing a jus­ti­fi­ca­tion for vio­lence and discrimination.

As Punishable by Death 

There are twelve coun­tries in which the death penal­ty is active­ly imposed, or could be imposed, for con­sen­su­al same-sex sex­u­al con­tact: Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, United Arab Emirates, Uganda, and Yemen.

In Iran, homo­sex­u­al­i­ty is ille­gal and car­ries the pos­si­bil­i­ty of a death sen­tence. The death penal­ty is not used for same-sex rela­tions between women, but les­bians and bisex­u­al women are often pun­ished with lash­ings and fines. In Nigeria, the Criminal Code Act and the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 2013 impos­es a 14-year prison sen­tence for homo­sex­u­al­i­ty; how­ev­er, a dozen states in north­ern Nigeria have adopt­ed Sharia law. Thus, many north­ern states penal­ize homo­sex­u­al­i­ty with death or flog­ging. It is not com­mon prac­tice in north­ern Nigeria to sen­tence some­one to death for homo­sex­u­al­i­ty, but gay men are often tar­get­ed, tor­tured, and extort­ed by law enforce­ment and com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers. Transgender indi­vid­u­als may also face per­se­cu­tion under Sharia law. 

Saudi Arabian law holds that homo­sex­u­al­i­ty must be treat­ed the same as adul­tery – death by ston­ing. All sex­u­al activ­i­ty out­side of mar­riage, includ­ing same-sex sex­u­al con­tact is crim­i­nal­ized for both men and women. Transgender indi­vid­u­als and oth­ers gen­der non-con­form­ing indi­vid­u­als can also be pun­ished by impris­on­ment, cor­po­ral pun­ish­ment or forced ​‘con­ver­sion’ ther­a­py. Somalia’s Penal Code 1962 crim­i­nal­izes sex­u­al acts with a per­son of the same sex, car­ry­ing a max­i­mum sen­tence of three years impris­on­ment. However, through the oper­a­tion of Sharia law, same-sex sex­u­al activ­i­ty can be pun­ished with a sen­tence of death. In Yemen, Penal Code 1994 crim­i­nal­izes acts of ​‘homo­sex­u­al­i­ty’ and ​‘les­bian­ism.’ Under this code, both men and women may face the max­i­mum pun­ish­ment of death by stoning. 

In Afghanistan, same-sex sex­u­al activ­i­ty is pro­hib­it­ed under the country’s Penal Code 2017. ​‘Sodomy,’ ​‘incit­ing sodomy,’ and oth­er inti­mate acts car­ry a max­i­mum penal­ty of two years impris­on­ment for both men and women. The Afghan Penal Code allows for the imple­men­ta­tion of Sharia law, under which same-sex sex­u­al activ­i­ty is pun­ish­able by death. In Brunei, same-sex sex­u­al con­tact is pro­hib­it­ed under the country’s Penal Code 1951 and Sharia law. The max­i­mum penal­ty under each code is death by ston­ing for both men and women. Transgender peo­ple in Brunei may face up to one year impris­on­ment and a fine for ​‘pos­ing at the oppo­site sex.’ There is incom­plete evi­dence regard­ing use of these laws in recent years, but reports show that the crim­i­nal­iza­tion of trans peo­ple is more com­mon. In 2019, Brunei announced a mora­to­ri­um on the use of the death penalty. 

Mauritania Penal Code 1983 crim­i­nal­izes same-sex sex­u­al con­tact as ​‘acts against nature.’ This statute car­ries a max­i­mum penal­ty of death by ston­ing for both men and women; how­ev­er, Mauritania oper­ates a de fac­to mora­to­ri­um on the use of the death penal­ty. In Pakistan, same-sex sex­u­al activ­i­ty is pro­hib­it­ed by the Penal Code of 1860, which crim­i­nal­izes acts of ​‘car­nal knowl­edge against the order of nature,’ and car­ries a max­i­mum pun­ish­ment of life impris­on­ment. Under the Hudood Ordinance of 1979, all sex­u­al activ­i­ty out­side of mar­riage is pun­ish­able by death, includ­ing same-sex sex­u­al activ­i­ty. Qatar’s Penal Code 2004 express­ly pro­hibits same-sex sex­u­al con­tact for both men and women, which car­ries a max­i­mum pun­ish­ment of sev­en years impris­on­ment. Since the Constitution of Qatar holds Islam as the country’s offi­cial reli­gion, Qatar also oper­ates under Sharia law. Thus, the death penal­ty may also be applied to those con­vict­ed of same-sex sexual activity. 

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), same-sex sex­u­al activ­i­ty is crim­i­nal­ized under the Criminal Codes of the Emirates of Abu Dhabi, which crim­i­nal­izes ​‘unnat­ur­al sex with anoth­er per­son,’ and Dubai, which crim­i­nal­izes sodomy. These statutes car­ry a max­i­mum penal­ty of 14 years impris­on­ment for both men and women. There is no evi­dence that the death penal­ty has been used against LGBTQ+ peo­ple in the UAE. In Uganda, same-sex sex­u­al activ­i­ty is pro­hib­it­ed under the Penal Code 1950 and car­ries a max­i­mum penal­ty of life impris­on­ment. The Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 was enact­ed in May 2023 and sig­nif­i­cant­ly expands the crim­i­nal­iza­tion of LGBTQ+ peo­ple in Uganda. Included in this law is a new offense, ​‘aggra­vat­ed homo­sex­u­al­i­ty’ which car­ries the death penal­ty for ​‘ser­i­al offenders.’