Earlier in this set, parts 1 and 5 covered North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, and Oceania.
The world LGBT rights movements made some significant progress in 2023. Some of the prevailing changes are listed below.
Equal Union
Acknowledgment of same-sex relationships globally
- DARK BLUE: Same-sex marriage is legal
- BLUE: Civil unions are legal
- PURPLE: Limited recognition of foreign same-sex marriages (ie, immigration purposes)
- MAGENTA: Countries where a civil union bill is before Parliament and is likely to pass
- YELLOW: States where a same-sex marriage bill has a likely parliamentary majority in favor of passage
- ORANGE: States with active same-sex marriage cases before domestic courts
- CYAN: States bound by the ECHR ruling requiring the establishment of same-sex civil unions
- GREEN: Countries bound by the IACHR ruling requiring same-sex marriage recognition
GREEN with RED outline: Countries bound by the IACHR but whose courts have rejected it
Same-sex marriages are permitted in Estonia, Nepal, and the Choctaw Nation (USA).
- Same-sex marriage laws came into effect: Andorra
- Introduced same-sex marriage bills with strong likelihood of passing: Liechtenstein, Thailand, Greece
- Same-sex marriage bill being debated, may not pass: Czechia, Navajo Nation (USA)
- Same-sex marriage bills introduced, no likelihood of passing: Japan, South Korea, Peru
- Same-sex marriage before the courts: Japan, Bermuda, Aruba, Curacao
- Civil union bills being debated: Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine
- Court ordered civil unions: Hong Kong
When I listed about a dozen states and territories that I believed would likely legalize same-sex marriage in 2023, I was somewhat upbeat, but I didn’t see Estonia or Nepal coming at all.
This time, I’m a little more circumspect. In Liechtenstein and Thailand, same-sex wedding expenses are almost certain to be rules in early 2024, in my opinion. Greece will depend on the prime minister’s willingness to challenge conservative members of his own group, but I believe it is also very likely.
Unfortunately, Czechia’s legislators might be too cautious to advance, and I simply can’t tell how the Navajo Nation is progressing. Although no marriage legislation has been introduced, Cyprus is a potential dark horse in this situation because its newly elected prime minister supports it and it frequently moves with Greece on LGBT problems.
Additionally, I believe that the Aruba and Curacao court decision is quite likely to result in a favorable or similar union this spring; if it does, Sint Maarten will undoubtedly follow. If court cases in Bermuda and Japan are resolved in 2024, I would get extremely astonished.
The National veto may present a challenge, but I believe Poland is quite likely to pass its legal union bill in the upcoming year. This is especially true given that Poland has already been given the go-ahead by the European Court to introduce them. It appears that Lithuania is a challenging event. Only a few votes remain before the vote, and I believe some functions may be able to come to an agreement to end the process before or perhaps after the fall election cycle. Finally, I do n’t see local legislators rushing to pass a law out of concern for upsetting Beijing despite Hong Kong’s civil union court order. When the date in 2025 approaches, I believe they will attempt to run the time and observe what the judges decide.
Discriminating Against Sexuality
Map of prostitution laws by nation
- RED states criminalize sodomy
- ORANGE sodomy is currently only criminalized in one part of the country
- YELLOW states have a sodomy law that is under a current court challenge
- MAGENTA states have a legislative proposal to repeal it
Decriminalized Sodomy: Cook Islands, Mauritius
- Stiffer penalties imposed: Uganda
- Activism banned: Russia, Uganda, Kyrgyzstan
- Decriminalization cases before the courts: Dominica, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Jamaica, Tunisia, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Lebanon
- Decriminalization under consideration: Sri Lanka, Morocco (maybe)
- Considering criminalization: Iraq
It turned out that the courts are moving more slowly than we had hoped, so I was a little too optimistic last year when I predicted how many decriminalization’s we would get in 2023. However, there hasn’t always been bad news in this situation. Although we immediately lost in Jamaica, we did succeed in two other nations this year, and that case is currently being appealed to the highest court.
Since the four other Caribbean island nations share the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, which has already issued two legalization decisions in the last two decades, I am reasonably assured that we will quickly receive decisions from them as we move into 2024. Although the verdicts ‘effective times are unknown, I may be surprised if they go past 2024.
The Namibian government’s decision is scheduled for May 17, 2024. The biggest bang dunk is likely this one. The International Day Against Homophobia appears to have been the court’s choice to announce its ruling for a cause.
It’s unclear when these decisions may be made in the four American circumstances, and I’m not at all sure that any of them will go in our favour.
We can only hope that Sri Lanka’s costs gains any velocity this year, which surprises me. In the upcoming presidential election, a progressive candidate is currently in the lead, though I have n’t been able to find any information about his position on LGBT issues.
However, the decriminalization activity is expected to achieve significant success in 2024. And in 2023, there was a significant decrease in the disparity between states that criminalized people and those that permitted similar marriage. I anticipate that this difference will close significantly in 2024.
Therapy for change
Map of nations that forbid change counseling
- DARK BLUE: Conversion therapy banned in criminal law
- BLUE: Medical professionals barred from performing conversion therapy under administrative penalty
- YELLOW: Conversion therapy ban in criminal law proposed
- CYAN: Conversion therapy banned in some sub-national jurisdictions; nationwide ban proposed
Banned Therapy for change: Iceland, Belgium, Poland, Norway, Spain, and Cyprus; US states of Minnesota and Michigan; Swiss canton Neuchatel; Mexican states Queretaro, Sinaloa, Morelos, Quintana Roo
Banned medical practice: Chile
Conversion therapy ban proposed: Mexico, Colombia, Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland, Ireland, UK; Australian states of New South Wales, Tasmania, Western Australia
The action to outlaw conversion therapy has gained a lot of traction in recent years, and if I had to guess, I’d say it’s because governments are signaling that they’re doing something for LGBT people in relatively inexpensive ways, especially when they run nations that have already achieved the majority of the other significant goals.
Regardless, I believe that a few more nations will move on from this in the coming year. The most probable countries are likely Mexico, Ireland, Colombia, and the Netherlands. And I anticipate that in the first few months of the year, those American states will eventually start moving their bills. The schedule of the next election will determine the UK. It will depend on Democrats winning new state legislatures and taking office in 2025, so I do n’t anticipate any US states taking action in that year.
Plasma donation restrictions
Countries by Blood Donation PoliciesMap
- RED: Men who have ever had sex with men banned from donating blood
- YELLOW: Men who have sex with men may donate blood only after a period of abstinence
- GREEN: Blood donation is screened on a behavior-based system that does not discriminate between gay or straight sex
- GREY: Data unavailable
Limitations lifted in the USA and Germany
Regulations lifted in Norway and Switzerland
United Nations
It’s been pointed out that many of the countries that have sodomy laws inherited them from their time under British colonial rule, which has led to a situation where a majority of members of the United Nations criminalize homosexuality.
However, this year with Mauritius decriminalizing, that ratio changed significantly. Cook Islands, along with Niue, has considered applying to meet as a full participant even though they are not immediately members but are represented at the Commonwealth by New Zealand. Look for this image to change a little bit in 2024 because all of the states that are most likely to legalize sodomy the following year are Commonwealth members. In 2024, I even predicted that same-sex marriage might become legal in Cyprus.
LGBT Rights in the United Nations
- BLUE: Same-sex marriage legal
- PURPLE: Same-sex civil unions legal
- GREEN: Sodomy legal, no relationship recognition
- RED: Sodomy illegal
Provinces of member states are indicated by lighter hues.With Ghana’s decision to abolish the death penalty for regular crimes this time, the proportion of states that still practiced it also changed somewhat. Zimbabwe has even suggested abolishing the death penalty; although it is not already a member, it has applied to re-join even though its chances of being admitted appear slender.
Capital Punishment in the United Nations
- BLUE: No capital punishment in law
- YELLOW: Capital punishment in law, but a formal moratorium on its use is in place
- RED: Capital punishment in law and in practice
Lands of member states are those with lighter shades.And that concludes our time in assessment!
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