The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, or ILGA, lists 77 countries with criminal laws against sexual activity by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex people (LGBTIs), but that’s an understatement.
A more realistic, 81-country list is below, including links to this blog’s coverage of individual countries.
The ILGA total as of early 2013 was 81 countries if you included Indonesia, where two large provinces outlaw homosexual acts, as well as political entities that aren’t fully accepted by the international community — Gaza/Palestine, the Turkish-controlled northern portion of Cyprus, and the Cook Islands, a self-governing country whose residents all have citizenship in New Zealand.
On Dec. 11, 2013, that total increased by one — to 82 countries with anti-homosexuality laws — when the Supreme Court of India reversed a lower court ruling that had suspended enforcement of the law. But in January 2014, North Cyprus repealed its law, thus returning the total to 81.

Click
on the image for an interactive graphic from The Guardian, showing the
status of LGBT rights, country by country, around the world.
Back in 2012, based on a separate, nearly complete count, St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation cited a total of 76 countries. That list was used in that year’s Spirit of 76 Worldwide program aimed at repealing those laws. It also inspired the name of this blog — “Erasing 76 Crimes.”
Here is the list of 81 countries and independent political entities with anti-homosexuality laws, with links to coverage in this blog:
Africa
1 Algeria
2 Angola
3 Botswana
4 Burundi
5 Cameroon
6 Comoros
7 Egypt
8 Eritrea
9 Ethiopia
10 Gambia
10 Ghana
12 Guinea
13 Kenya
14 Lesotho
15 Liberia
16 Libya
17 Malawi (enforcement of law suspended)
18 Mauritania
19 Mauritius
20 Morocco
21 Mozambique
22 Namibia
23 Nigeria
24 Sao Tome
25 Senegal
26 Seychelles
27 Sierra Leone
28 Somalia
29 South Sudan
30 Sudan
31 Swaziland
32 Tanzania
33 Togo
34 Tunisia
35 Uganda
36 Zambia
37 Zimbabwe
Benin had been included in some editions of the ILGA report, but homosexuality is not illegal there, though the age of consent is higher for same-sex relations than for heterosexual relations. It was removed from this list in May 2014.
Asia, including the Middle East
38 Afghanistan
39 Bangladesh
40 Bhutan
41 Brunei
42 India
43 Iran
44 Kuwait
45 Lebanon (law ruled invalid in one court)
46 Malaysia
47 Maldives
48 Myanmar
49 Oman
50 Pakistan
51 Palestine/Gaza Strip
52 Qatar
53 Saudi Arabia
54 Singapore
55 Sri Lanka
56 Syria
57 Turkmenistan
58 United Arab Emirates
59 Uzbekistan
60 Yemen
Two Asian/Middle Eastern countries were listed separately by ILGA in early 2013 under the heading “Legal status of homosexual acts unclear or uncertain”:
- In Iraq, there is no law against homosexual acts, but homophobic violence is unchecked and self-appointed sharia judges reportedly have imposed sentences for homosexual behavior.
- In India, enforcement of the law against homosexual activity had been suspended by court action, but the Supreme Court overturned that ruling on Dec. 11, 2013, so India is back on the main list of countries with anti-homosexuality laws.
61 Antigua & Barbuda
62 Barbados
63 Belize
64 Dominica
65 Grenada
66 Guyana
67 Jamaica
68 St Kitts & Nevis
69 St Lucia
70 St Vincent & the Grenadines
71 Trinidad & Tobago
In the United States, anti-sodomy laws were ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003, but they are still on the books in 13 states: Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia. Conservative state legislators refuse to repeal the laws and, in some cases, police still enforce them. Reportedly, in the past few years more than a dozen LGBT people were arrested for violating those laws, but the arrestees were freed because prosecutors won’t seek convictions based on defunct laws.
Oceania
72 Cook Islands
73 Indonesia (Aceh Province and South Sumatra)
74 Kirbati
75 Nauru
76 Palau
77 Papua New Guinea
78 Samoa
79 Solomon Islands
80 Tonga
81 Tuvalu
Europe
No country in Europe has a law against homosexuality. The last one, Northern Cyprus, repealed its law in January 2014.
Also in Europe and worth mentioning but not on that list of countries with laws against homosexuality are:
- Russia, which enacted a law in 2013 prohibiting any positive mention of homosexuality in the presence of minors, including online;
- Ukraine, which has considered, but so far has not adopted a similar law against “gay propaganda.”
- Moldova, which adopted and then repealed such a law in 2013.
Related information:
76 Countries Where Anti-Gay Laws Are As Bad As Or Worse Than Russia’s (Each country’s law summarized in a list compiled by BuzzFeed. With photos.)
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