On 17 May 1990, the World Health Organisation (WHO) removed homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), thereby taking an important first step towards addressing and removing the stigma towards non-normative sexual orientation. Since then, May 17th has been observed as the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) – a significant day to raise awareness about the discrimination and violence experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) individuals around the world and to work towards decriminalisation, depathologisation and de-stigmatisation. Following the commemoration of IDAHOBIT last week, we take a look at the alarming rise, over the last year, of anti-rights laws around the world that target non-normative gender expression, same-sex sexual acts, and freedom of expression and association.
“When homosexual conduct is made criminal by the law of the State, that declaration in and of itself is an invitation to subject homosexual persons to discrimination both in the public and in the private spheres…” Lawrence v Texas, US Supreme Court, 2003
As of today, over 60 countries around the world still criminalise consensual same-sex sexual conduct, out of which 11 countries – Afghanistan, Brunei Darussalam, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen – retain the death penalty as a possible punishment for same-sex sexual conduct. Further, limited access to legal aid, as well as bias within the criminal justice system, has a detrimental impact on LGBTIQ people’s ability to be guaranteed a fair trial when they face legal charges. In the recent past, LGBTIQ rights defenders have faced numerous crackdowns, enabled by draconian laws that contribute to systemic discrimination and violence against the LGBTIQ community.
In the USA, there has been a worrying pattern where anti-transgender legislation has been enacted under the pretence of protecting children/youth; in 2024 alone, 31 anti-transgender bills have passed. These blatantly discriminatory laws have sought to prohibit access to gender affirming healthcare for transgender youth and the use of bathrooms by transgender people according to their self-identified gender identity. The American Civil Liberties Union has mapped over 515 anti-LGBTIQ bills at the State Legislature level in 2024. These bills encompass a myriad of issues, including barriers to self-determined legal gender recognition, healthcare restrictions, bans on freedom of expression, public accommodation bans, and an overall weakening of civil rights protections.
In Russia, the severe crackdown on civil society continues to worsen with the passing of anti-LGBTIQ laws that include harsh penalties for those promoting ‘non-traditional sexual relations and/or preferences’. In November 2023, the Russian Supreme Court created a dangerous precedent by branding the international LGBT movement as ‘extremist’, stigmatising LGBTIQ people and their allies, and placing many lives in danger. Such laws construct and perpetuate harmful societal attitudes and enable a hostile environment for LGBTIQ rights defenders. On similar lines, Kyrgyzstan enacted a new law to crack down on LGBTIQ organisations by enforcing a ban on information that ‘denounces family and traditional societal values, promotes non-traditional sexual relations and initiates disrespect towards parents or other family members’. Last year, Jordan approved a draconian cybercrime law that seeks to regulate free expression and contains vague provisions that could target marginalised groups including LGBTIQ individuals.
In April 2024, the Ugandan Constitutional Court disappointingly upheld the provisions of the deeply homophobic and transphobic Anti-Homosexuality Act. The law has far-reaching language and consequences: it maintains the death penalty for consensual same-sex sexual relations, attacks all forms of allyship, and demonstrates absolute State power over LGBTIQ lives. Similarly, in February, Ghana’s legislative house passed the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Act, with broad arbitrary language, exerting coercive control over LGBTIQ lives, and asserting a State interest in ‘protecting the gender binary’ and prohibiting LGBTIQ-related activism. In April, Iraq passed a law that imposes severe penalties for engaging in same-sex sexual relations and for individuals who ‘promote’ homosexuality, effectively stifling freedom of speech and expression and posing a direct threat to those advocating for LGBTIQ people’s rights.
These laws allow law enforcement officials as well as non-State actors to target individuals, invade their private residences or workplaces, and engage in hostile behaviour or aggravated assault, including torture, with few or no consequences. Against this backdrop of legal vulnerability and hostile political conditions, LGBTIQ rights organisations often struggle to maintain their operations. These laws and allied practices act as a shield for authoritarian States, enabling them to avoid accountability for discrimination and serious human rights violations and to circumvent their duties to protect fundamental human rights of their people. It is more important than ever for human rights defenders and allies around the world, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, to resist collectively against these harmful narratives and work towards the protection and promotion of LGBTIQ people’s human rights everywhere.
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