Gay Rights

There’s never been a better time to be gay, except in a handful of places where it’s become worse. Gay-rights activists in much of the world have made historic gains in a fraction of the time it took the movements for civil rights and women’s rights. Two generations ago, the idea that homosexuals could marry was largely unthinkable. Today, same-sex marriage exists in more than two dozen countries. In 1970, homosexual sex was legal in about 60 countries, whereas today the number is more than double that. Still that leaves 69 countries where it is criminalized, in some cases with extreme penalties including death. And a number of countries, notably Nigeria and Russia, have raised penalties facing homosexuals in recent years.

Opposition to gay rights on religious grounds has dwindled in societies that have become more secular and urbanized. South America is shedding its machismo to emerge as a gay-friendly haven. Brazil’s highest court ruled in 2019 that anti-gay discrimination is a crime. The U.S. Supreme Court said in 2015 that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to wed, bringing gay marriage to the 14 states where it was still banned. In the last few years, Serbia and Ireland, both conservative countries, have seen a lesbian and a gay man, respectively, become prime minister. The situation in Asia is varied. Although voters in Taiwan rejected same-sex marriage in a non-binding referendum, the parliament passed a marriage-equality law, a first for the continent. India’s supreme court struck down a colonial-era law criminalizing sodomy. Buddhist Vietnam and Thailand are more tolerant than super-modern Singapore, which has kept its sodomy law, or traditionalist Japan. Brunei announced a plan to punish gay sex with the death penalty but suspended it after a global outcry. Intolerance is the norm in former Soviet satellites, and persecution abounds in the Middle East and other places where Islam is dominant. In 2019, authorities in Russia’s Chechen Republic resumed a 2017 campaign in which they abducted and tortured men they suspected of being gay, according to Human Rights Watch. Gay-bashing often is a political tool. Russia’s law against gay “propaganda” is part of President Vladimir Putin’s war on Western values. In Poland and Hungary, ruling nationalists stir up antipathy toward homosexuals to consolidate support among religious conservatives. Measures targeting homosexuals in Africa can divert attention from corruption and economic malaise. Nigeria has expanded on its ban on gay sex, making a public show of same-sex affection punishable with 10 years’ imprisonment.