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90% countries banning gay sex Latest News

are majority Muslim or Christian Opinion

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Posted: Tue, 03 May 2022

Daily media briefing

The population of over 90% of countries that Subscribe

ban same-sex relationships is majority
Muslim or Christian. Media enquiries

Thirty-five of the 71 countries that

criminalise homosexuality, or 49%, are Our Campaigns
nations where most citizens are Muslims,
according to the Erasing 76 Crimes news Education & schools
site.
Equality & human rights
Thirty-one countries, or 44%, are majority
Christian. Healthcare

The remaining five countries include Nigeria, which has a roughly 50-50 split of Muslims and
Other
Christians. The other four are either Hindu or Buddhist majority. No country with a
nonreligious majority bans homosexuality. Religion & state

Ten countries prescribe the death penalty for homosexuality. Apart from Nigeria, every one
of these countries is Muslim-majority. The penalty is based on sharia law.

Libya and Nigeria have anti-"gay propaganda" laws in addition to their laws outlawing same-
sex intimacy.

Erasing 76 Crimes, which focuses on "the human toll" of anti-LGBTI laws and the struggle to
repeal them, said while no European countries criminalise homosexuality, Russia and
Lithuania have enacted anti-"gay propaganda laws". Additionally, Russia has not intervened in
the anti-gay crackdown in Russia's semi-autonomous Republic of Chechnya.

It also noted that in the United States, anti-sodomy laws have been ruled unconstitutional but
are still on the books in 13 states.

"Strong trend is moving the world away from homophobic repression"

Erasing 76 Crimes said while the number of Christian-majority nations with anti-
homosexuality laws has shrunk in recent years, no Muslim-majority nation has acted recently
to repeal an anti-LGBT law.

It said: "Overall, a strong trend is moving the world away from homophobic repression —
though it's happening slowly."

The most recent country to repeal anti-gay laws was Buddhist-majority Bhutan in 2021.

Megan Manson, head of policy and research at the National Secular Society, said: "These
findings demonstrate the stark correlation between religion and oppression of LGBT+ people.

"And the more religion and state are intertwined, the harsher this oppression tends to be.
Countries where homosexuality is punishable by death are those where Islamic codes have
been imbedded into law.

"The findings underline the necessity of separating religion and state in all countries. When
religious codes are adopted as law, LGBT+ people are often among the first to su!er."

Notes

1. The 35 Muslim-majority countries that criminalise homosexuality are: Afghanistan,

Algeria, Bangladesh, Brunei, Chad, Comoros, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Indonesia
(Aceh Province and South Sumatra only), Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon (law ruled invalid in
one court in 2014 and disqualified for use against same-sex intimacy in another court in
2017), Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine/Gaza
Strip (lacking broad international recognition as a country), Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal,
Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates,
Uzbekistan, Yemen.

2. The 31 Christian-majority countries that criminalise homosexuality are: Antigua & Print
Barbuda, Barbados, Burundi, Cameroon, Cook Islands, Dominica, Ghana, Grenada,
Guinea, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Liberia, Malawi (enforcement of law allegedly
suspended), Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sierra Leone, St. Kitts
Need advice?
& Nevis, St. Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Swaziland / Eswatini, Tanzania, Togo,
Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

3. The remaining five countries are: Mauritius (Hindu majority), Myanmar (Buddhist
majority), Nigeria (roughly 50-50 Christian-Muslim), Singapore (largest religion Buddhism
at 33%), Sri Lanka (Buddhist majority)

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Image: Chickenonline from Pixabay

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