But in 2014, as part of an increasingly conservative turn under long-ruling Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Brunei introduced a new Islamic legal code that allows a punishment of stoning to death for a variety of offenses, including sodomy. Homosexuality has long been a criminal offense in the tiny oil-rich sultanate on the Southeast Asian island of Borneo. In a sign of domestic support for the LGBTQ community, dozens of Singaporean companies stepped in to sponsor the festivities.įollowing the Indian ruling, Singapore’s law minister said a growing number of citizens were in favor of decriminalizing homosexuality but added that “the majority are opposed to any change.” Brunei The government told international companies such as Facebook, Google and Goldman Sachs that they could no longer sponsor the event because it related to “controversial social issues with political overtones.” For the last decade, an annual “Pink Dot” rally drawing thousands of revelers has been held in the authoritarian city-state, where public gatherings are rare.įoreigners were banned from attending the rally last year, in keeping with Singapore’s usually tight controls over freedom of assembly.
In Singapore, same-sex intercourse remains a crime, although the government has pledged not to harass gays. Here are some Commonwealth countries where the laws remain in force: But in many former colonies in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, conservative political parties and religious groups have resisted efforts to repeal the old legislation. The harshest anti-gay laws in the world, including some carrying the death penalty, exist in the Middle East and weren’t inherited from the British. This year British Prime Minister Theresa May said she deeply regretted “the legacy of discrimination, violence and even death” left by the legislation and pledged more than $7 million to support repeal efforts in Commonwealth countries.
About 35 members of the Commonwealth of Nations, made up mostly of former colonies, ban same-sex relations, accounting for roughly half the countries that outlaw gay intercourse. The decision was a landmark - not least because civil rights activists hope it will galvanize the repeal of similar anti-gay legislation that remains on the books in dozens of other former outposts of the British Empire.īritain decriminalized homosexuality beginning half a century ago, but the vestiges of its Victorian-era morality laws linger from Antigua to Zambia. The Covid-19 lockdowns also had adverse effects on the people of LGBT+ communities due to deficient access to therapies and medicines.When India’s Supreme Court this week legalized same-sex intercourse between consenting adults, it buried, most likely forever, a 157-year-old law introduced during British colonial rule. Transgender persons continue to face difficulty obtaining medical treatment and there have been reports of police violence against LGBTQAI+ persons and threatened victims not to report the incidents. For example, it requires transgender people to register with the government and provide evidence that they have undergone gender confirmation surgery. However, the legislation has also been criticized as it erects barriers for transgender people to be recognised. This prohibits discrimination towards transgender people in area of education, health, employment, and accommodation. In December 2019, Parliament passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act. In 2018, after several attempts, a part of the Section 377 of Indian Penal Code was brought down by the Supreme Court in order to de-criminalize homosexuality as it is against equality. In 2001, the struggle for recognizing gay rights started when Naaz foundation filed a petition for legalization of sex among consenting adults of the same gender.
The law was framed by the colonial government in 1870 claiming it as sexual activities against the “order of nature.” India’s Struggle For Gender Rights India too, had a law inherited from the British government banning consensual sex among members of the same gender. banned same-sex relations and denied basic human rights to people suspected of being gay. In the 1960s, homosexuality was classified as a mental disorder. The LGBTQ people had witness legal sanctions for years, even criminalisation on pretext of religion and morality. There have been incidents of uprisings against police forces before this event as well but this one is more widely known and recognised as a symbol of LGBTQIA+ communities fighting for their rights. Marsha P Johnson, one of the first people who was said to have participated in the Stonewall uprising