New Maps Show Where It’s Illegal To Be LGBTQ In 2023

Over the past thirty years, 49 UN member States have decriminalised consensual same-sex sexual acts, according to a new database by ILGA World.

However, laws criminalising being gay remain a reality for one-third of countries worldwide.

It’s still illegal to be LGBTQ in 64 UN member States.

You could be given the death penalty in six. In Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the death penalty is imposed across the county.

However, there are a further five where there is no legal certainty, and you could receive the death penalty. This is the case in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar, Somalia and the United Arab Emirates.

Despite this, there have been many hard-won advances across the world.

Where can same-sex couples get married?

It’s now possible for same sex couples to get married in 33 UN member States.

Other countries could soon join this list, with large civic debates about equal marriage happening in India, Greece and Japan.

Where is it illegal to operate on intersex minors?

Seven countries have now introduced restrictions to prevent medical interventions on intersex minors.

Malta was the first country to ban surgeries on children with sex variations. This happened in 2015. It’s now banned in Germany, Greece, Iceland, Spain and Portugal too.

Other countries including Austria, Cyprus and France could be next to ban the practice.

Where can transgender people legally self-ID?

20 now allow people to legally have their gender recognised based on self-determination.

Scotland recently passed a law to introduce a form of self-ID, but this was blocked by the UK Government.

Despite this, many countries do not allow for any form of legal change, as shown in grey in the map below. Many also criminalise transgender people.

Where is so-called ‘conversion therapy’ banned?

11 countries have now banned so called ‘conversion therapies’ at a national level.

Conversion therapy is the widely discredited and often cruel torture many LGBTQ people have suffered through in an attempt to ‘cure’ their identity.

The pseudo-scientific practice has a “destructive effect on people’s lives from a very early age”, says ILGA World.

The practice is discredited by The World Health Organization WHO and more than 60 health professional associations from over 20 countries.

Where are hate crimes against LGBTQ people banned?

Laws that protect people from hate crimes based on their sexual orientation exist in 58 UN member States.

There hasn’t been as much progress on this for transgender people. Only 37 countries have hate crime laws based on gender identity. Nine include laws for gender expression, and five on sex characteristics.

“Accessing data about LGBTI populations – historically left out, uncounted, and unrepresented – has always been difficult,” said ILGA World research coordinator Lucas Ramón Mendos.

“Building upon four decades of experience that our organisation has in compiling this kind of information, ILGA World is now sharing it with everyone.

It’s an impressive database that’s free to access. Using data and research it has nearly 4,300 legal sources and more than 7,000 references from United Nations mechanisms.

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