LGBT rights

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Are LGBTQ students protected from discrimination in schools?

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 bans discrimination on the basis of sex by public schools, and
the Supreme Court held in 2020 (Bostock v. Clayton County) that discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation and gender identity is sex discrimination. Thus, Title IX prohibits students from discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Where is same-sex sex criminalized?

Having sex with a partner of the same sex is illegal in 70 countries. In Bangladesh, Barbados,
Guyana, Sierra Leone, Qatar, Uganda and Zambia, you could go to prison for life. Nine countries
punish homosexuality with death: Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Iraq, Mauritania, Pakistan, Saudi
Arabia, Sudan and Yemen.

However, in some countries there have been moves to decriminalise same-sex unions.
 However, in some countries there have been moves to decriminalise same-sex unions.

Botswana's High Court also ruled in favour of decriminalising homosexuality in 2019.

Mozambique and the Seychelles have also scrapped anti-homosexuality laws in recent years.

In Trinidad and Tobago, a court in 2018 ruled that laws banning gay sex were unconstitutional.

But there are countries where existing laws outlawing homosexuality have been tightened, including Nigeria and Uganda.
Where is same-sex marriage recognized?

As of May 2019, same-sex marriage is recognized in 27 countries, including: Argentina, Canada,

Ireland, Malta, South Africa and Uruguay. Taiwan recently pledged to say yes to equal marriage,
although it is yet to enact this in law, and Amnesty is calling on Japan to follow suit.

Below is a list of countries that have legalized the practice, with the most recent countries to do so shown
first.
Taiwan (2019)

On May 17, 2019, Taiwan’s legislature passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage and making the island nation the first
country in Asia to permit gays and lesbians to wed. The vote in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan (the official name of Taiwan’s
unicameral parliament) was prompted by a 2017 decision by the country’s Constitutional Court, which struck down a law
defining marriage as being between a man and woman. The court gave the nation’s legislature until May 24, 2019, to
change Taiwan’s marriage laws to accommodate same-sex couples.
Finland (2015)

Same-sex marriage became legal in Finland starting in 2017. The Finnish Parliament approved a bill legalizing same-sex
unions in November 2014, and Finland’s president, Sauli Niinistö, signed the measure into law in February 2015. The bill
started out as a “citizens’ initiative” – a public petition with a reported 167,000 signatures.

Finland becomes the last of the five Nordic countries to legalize same-sex marriage, joining Denmark, Iceland, Norway and
Sweden.
England and Wales (2013)

On July 17, 2013, Queen Elizabeth II gave her “royal assent” to a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in England and Wales.
The day before, the measure had won final passage in the British Parliament after months of debate. The law only applies
to England and Wales because Scotland and Northern Ireland are semi-autonomous and have separate legislative bodies
to decide many domestic issues, including the definition of marriage.

The new law in England and Wales, which was a priority for British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader David
Cameron, allowed gay and lesbian couples to marry beginning March 29, 2014. However, the law prohibits same-sex
weddings within the Church of England, which continues to define marriage as between one man and one woman.
lgbt Romanian
(LGBT) persons in Romania may face legal challenges and discrimination not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Attitudes in Romania are
generally conservative, with regard to the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender citizens. Nevertheless, the country has made
significant changes in LGBT rights legislation since 2000. In the past two decades, it fully decriminalised homosexuality, introduced and
enforced wide-ranging anti-discrimination laws, equalised the age of consent and introduced laws against homophobic hate crimes

Romania is among the countries of the European Union that do not recognize any form of civil union between people of the same sex. The
Constitution of Romania defines the family as a freely consented marriage between spouses, without specifying their gender. Despite this,
legislation in effect leaves no room for interpretation for representatives of marital status. Marriage can only be the union of one man and one
woman, and a same-sex couple can not legally receive state protection as a family.