From the International Lesbian and Gay Association
From the International Lesbian and Gay Association
In honour of ILGA Day: August 8th.
Authors:
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For the first time, the International Lesbian and Gay Association is presenting an Annual report. Our intention is to build solidarity among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community, to achieve the recognition of the human rights of the homosexual community by society, governments, and institutions, and to strengthen support in the fight against AIDS. It is certainly difficult to summarize all that has happened in one year, events that range from lesbian activism at the Women's Conference in Beijing to the police raids in different cities in Latin America. We thank the authors of this report, Micha Ramakers and Lisa Power, for their work and contributions; we'd also like to recognize the thousands and thousands of activists around the world who do volunteer work for the 300 member organizations of ILGA. Thank you for your efforts and dedication! We are working for a better world, for the right to love, as well for our children and future generations. Gay and Lesbian Rights are Human Rights!
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Index:
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Tables: |
In Iceland , a same-sex registered partnership law came into effect
June 27th 1996, joining similar provisions in Denmark, Greenland, Sweden
and Norway.
In Switzerland , the National Council voted 68-61 to order the government
to introduce a same-sex partnership law.
The city of Antwerp in Belgium, began a register on January 1st 1996
of couples living together, regardless of wheter they were same-sex or opposite
sex couples. Other Belgian cities announced that they would follow.
The Hungarian Parliament recognized common-law relationships between
homosexuals in May 1996, giving them the same rights as heterosexuals except
in the adoption of children.
In the USA, San Francisco mayor, Mr. Willie Brown Jr., "married" nearly
two hundred same-sex couples in March 1996 as a gesture of support despite
the lack of same-sex partnership provision in any US state. However, Hawaii's
Supreme Court ruled in favor of three gay couples demand ing full same-sex
marriage rights, sparking off legislative battles in states across the USA
including several bans on gay marriages. Hawaii is expected to legislise
marriage within the next year, an advance on those countries which offer partial
rights through partnership laws.
The French government, which allows Swedish heterosexuals to register
their partnership in their embassy in Paris, banned same-sex partners from
doing so despite the legallity of the move on Swedish soil.
Taiwan gained its first gay magazine and a two hour daily radio programme
in the capital Taipei.
Zimbabwe's President, Robert Mugabe, banned the country's only lesbian
and gay group GALZ from participating in the state funded Zimbabwean International
Book Fair, whose theme was supposed to be "Human Rights and Justice". The
banning escalated into huge international incident. Governments across the
world protested and public demonstrations greeted Mugabe wherever he visited,
leading to further abuse and incident to violence against gays by him. But
increased government harrassment and homophobic statements, ironically, have
led to great increase in support for GALZ both in Zimbabwe and across the
globe. Its membership is reported to have doubled.
Portugal's first gay newspaper, Trivia, was launched in January 1996.
The highly respected and conservative international business magazine The
Economist, carried a major article about the growth of the international
gay movement and an editorial and front cover supporting gau marriage.
Costa Rica granted legal recognition for the first time in 1995 to
a lesbian and gay group. Originally refused under the name "Abraxas", the
group was later accepted after public protest as "Association Triangulo Rosa".
The group subsequently received a grant from the Dutch government.
Siberian lesbians and gays held their first official conference.
Kenya saw the foundation of its first openly gay AIDS charity. FOPOGAP
(forum for supportive gays on AIDS prevention) which appealed through ILGA
for international support.
Curaçao in the Caribbean got its first organization, Orguyo (Pride),
with a newsletter and monthly club night.
Sri Lankan gays founded a group "Companions On A Journey" and organised a
conference on emerging gay identities despite a law punishing sex between
mean with jail sentences of up to twelve years.
Hungarian group Meleg Hatter started a helpline for lesbians and gay
men in Budapest in February 1996 with funding from the Soros Foundation.
An AIDS Centre in Thailand was forced to move after locals first
bombed it and then an unidentified gunman shot into it in 1995. The Provincial
AIDS Committee and the police encouraged the centre to relocate.
European groups working on AIDS and gay men, most of them ILGA member
organizations, met in London in February 1996 to discuss co operation on AIDS
prevention campaigns for gay holidaymakers in the region. The group included
Co Secretary Jordi Petit. Unfortunately, the European Union declined to fund
the campaign despite its success in Ibiza in 1995.
Delegates at an International AIDS Conference in New Delhi, India,
called on India to repeal its sodomy law and recognise the extent of male
to male transmission of HIV in the country, currently ignored by the government.
The Indian railway company Sanjay, revoked their ban on people with AIDS travelling
by rail after intense lobbying.
A successful training seminar was held for the first time by the ILGA AIDS
Working Party in Curitiba, Brazil, in May 1996 bringing together 26
organizations from 6 countries. At the International AIDS Conference in Vancouver,
Canada, the ILGA AIDS Working Party was officially received by UN AIDS
who expressed an interest in AIDS/HIV prevention projects in Latin America.
In Argentina, a national decree is passed for compulsory HIV tests
for the Armed and Security Forces and three provinces enact compulsory testing
for drug users, sex workers and homosexuals.
The new South African constitution included protection from discrimination
on the grounds of sexual orientation the first country in the world to constitutionally
protect lesbians, gay men and bisexuals.
A French appeal court upheld an insurance award to the partner of a
lesbian killed in a car accident, creating a precedent for partnership rights
in France.
A new penal code for Spain, ratified in November 1995, recognises sexual
orientation as a fundamental liberty. This was the first law to protect the
rights of homosexuals in any Latin Catholic country.
Slovenia's new penal code bans both discrimination and special rights
upon, among many other grounds, sexual orientation.
Canada included sexual orientation in its Human Rights Act.
Poland 's draft constitition currently includes sexual orientation
within a human rights clause. If passed, it will become the second country
in the world after South Africa to constitutionally protect lesbians, gay
men and bisexuals.
Iran continued its judicial murder of homosexuals, including the
stoning to death of a man from Hamadan in November for sodomy.
Gemany's phoneline for victims of anti gay violence reported an 15%
increase in reported attacks in 1995 over the previous year.
Peru's National Police detained 600 people without explanation in a
series of raids on gay discos in Lima in Jaunuary and February 1996.
Chile's police, wearing gloves and hospital gowns took a television
crew with them to arrest patrons ot two gay discos in Santiago. Those arrested
were questioned about their sexual habits and HIV status. The police later
claimed the raid had been "a mistake" and hand ed over the arrest files to
the Chilean gay movement.
Police arrest gays and lesbians in raids in Buenos Aires, Argentina
in August 1995 and in La Paz, Bolivia, this year.
On the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, ILGA issued a
demand that the UN recognise sexual orientation as a human right, in the same
way that the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe and the World Health Organisation have done.
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission organised an International
Tribunal on Human Rights Violations Against Sexual Minorities in October
1995 to coincide with the fifitieth anniversary. Lesbians, gay men and transexuals
from El Salvador, the USA, Turkey, India, Argentina, Zimbabwe, Romania
and the Phillipines testified to personal and often violent discrimination
and denial of their human rights.
In July 1995, parliamentarians of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OCSE) recognize sexual orientation as an area of non discrimination
in its "Ottawa Declaration."
Ireland agreed to accept sexual orientation as legitimate grounds form claiming political asylum. In the USA, a lesbian and a gay man from Iran were both granted asylum. But in Sweden, a gay Iranian claiming asylum was deported back to Iran.
The United Kingdom upheld its ruling banning lesbians and gays from serving in the military despite a strong campaign by ILGA member group Stonewall, who promised to take the isuue to the European Court of Human Rights.
ILGA members joined other lesbians from around the world in organising lesbian
events and visibility at the Conference. Ex Secretary General Rebeca Sevilla
of Peru spoke at the NGO Forum and Palesa Beverley Ditsie of South
Africa spoke during the official proceedings on behalf of ILGA, the International
Lesbian Information Service, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights
Commission and other groups.
IGLHRC coordinated a highly successful lesbian tent and many lesbians
joined together to drape a banner reading "Lesbian Rights Are Human Rights"
from the balcony to the main hall, creating an image which was used by news
agencies across the globe. Sadly, sexual orientation was deleted from the
final document after pressure from a number of governments, but many national
representatives publicy stated that they would "read in" the clause into their
interpretation of the anti discrimination measures.
A New Zealand town, Carterton, elected an open transexual as mayor
in October 1995. She is thought to be the world's first transexual mayor.
Singapore announced in January 1996 that post operative transexuals
would be free to marry people of the opposite sex.
Tokyo's second Pride in August 1995 doubled the attendance to more
than 2,000.
Australia's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras attracted a record 600,000 people
from across the world, bringing US $44 million into Sydney's economy.
London's Pride changed its full official name to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender Pride in a land slide vote by its membership.
European Pride organisers estimated that more than half a million people
attended Pride celebrations across the continent in 1995, a massive growth
from around 50,000 in 1990.
Slovenian lesbians and gay men held their first international confernce
in August 1995, attracting speakers from the USA, Britain, the Netherland
s and Germany.
The 17th ILGA World Conference in Rio de Janeiro sees the first international
lesbian and gay event and the first Pride March ever held in Brazil,
with Brazilian activists cominig together to also launch a national federation.
Austrian ILGA activist Kurt Krickler and gay group Opus Lei announced
in August 1995 that four Austrian bishops had homosexual leanings in a protest
at repeated refusals by the government to reform anti gay laws. The bishops
announced that they would sue for defamation.
South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu publicly announced his support
for homosexuals, comparing anti homosexual discrimination to apartheid.
New Zealand decided to include lesbian and gay couples in their
upcoming national census of the population.
Tasmania, the only state in Australia where homosexual acts are illegal,
elected an openly gay man to the Australian Federal Government.
South Africa appointed an out gay activist, Edwin Cameron, as a Supreme
Court judge. A gay activist in Chile, where homosexuality is illegal,
will run for municipal office in October 1996.
In October 1995, ILGA's Co Secretary Inge Wallaert spoke at a public hearing
of the European Parliament to dem and that the Parliament recognise
the fundamental rights of lesbians and gay men within the European union.
She asked the Intergovernmental Conference in 1996 to include sexual orientation
within an anti discrimination clause in a new European Treaty.
Eigil Axgil, a pioneer of the Danish gay movement and one of the first
gays to marry in the world in Copenhagen in 1989, died in September, aged
71. The European Union awards ILGA ECU 150,000 from the Phare Tacis
programme for their year long Lesbian and Gay Anti Discrimination Project,
in conjunction with the World Health Organization. The money is used to support
groups in Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius, St. Petersburg and Moscow and includes HIV/AIDS
prevention work.
Vice President of the European Union, Manuel Marin, receives ILGA Secretary
General Jordi Petit to discuss human rights and HIV/AIDS work.
Back to the index.
| Country | Lesbian | Gay Male |
| Algeria | Illegal | Illegal |
| Angola | Illegal | Illegal |
| Benin | Illegal | Illegal |
| Botswana | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Burkina Faso | Legal | Legal |
| Burundi | Not available | Not available |
| Cape Verde | Illegal | Illegal |
| Camerun | Illegal | Illegal |
| Comoros | Not available | Not available |
| Congo | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Ivory Coast | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Chad | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Djibouti | Not available | Not available |
| Egypt | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Ethiopia | Illegal | Illegal |
| Gabon | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Gambia | Not available | Not available |
| Ghana | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Guinea | Not available | Not available |
| Guinea Bissau | Not available | Not available |
| Equatorial Guinea | Not available | Not available |
| Kenya | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Lesotho | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Liberia | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Libya | Illegal | Illegal |
| Madagascar | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Malawi | Illegal | Illegal |
| Mali | Not available | Not available |
| Morocco | Illegal | Illegal |
| Mauritania | Illegal | Illegal |
| Mauritius | Illegal | Illegal |
| Mozambique | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Namibia | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Niger | Not available | Not available |
| Nigeria | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Central African Republic | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Reunion | Legal | Legal |
| Rwand a | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Sao Tome and Principe | Not available | Not available |
| Senegal | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Seychelles | Illegal | Illegal |
| Sierra Leone | Not available | Not available |
| Somalia | Not available | Not available |
| South Africa | Legal | Legal |
| Sudan | Illegal | Illegal |
| Swaziland | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Tanzania | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Togo | Illegal | Illegal |
| Tunisia | Illegal | Illegal |
| Ugand a | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Zaire | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Zambia | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Zimbabwe | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Country | Lesbian | Gay Male |
| Antigua & Barbuda | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Netherland s Antilles | Legal | Legal |
| Argentina | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Aruba | Legal | Legal |
| Bahamas | Illegal | Illegal |
| Barbados | Illegal | Illegal |
| Belize | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Bermuda | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Bolivia | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Brazil | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Canada | Legal | Legal |
| Colombia | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Costa Rica | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Cuba | Illegal | Illegal |
| Chile | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Ecuador | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| El Salvador | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| United States of America | see below | see below |
| Grenada | Not available | Not available |
| Greenland | Legal | Legal |
| Guadaloupe | Legal | Legal |
| Guatemala | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Guyana | Illegal | Illegal |
| French Guyana | Legal | Legal |
| Haiti | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Honduras | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Cayman Island s | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Falkland Island s / Malvinas | Not mencioned | Legal |
| Turks and Caicos Island s | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Jamaica | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Martinique | Legal | Legal |
| Mexico | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Nicaragua | Illegal | Illegal |
| Panama | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Paraguay | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Peru | Legal | Legal |
| Puerto Rico (USA) | Illegal | Illegal |
| Dominican Republic | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | Not available | Not available |
| Saint Lucia | Illegal | Illegal |
| Surinam | Legal | Legal |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Illegal | Illegal |
| Uruguay | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Venezuela | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Lesbians | Gay Male | ||
| Legal, by state: | Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, New York (State Court decision), New Jersey, Pennsylvania (State Court decision), West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois (the first, 1961), Winconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska and Hawaii. | Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, New York (State Court decision), New Jersey, Pennsylvania (State Court decision), West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois (the first, 1961), Winconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska and Hawaii. | |
| Homosexual anal and oral sex is illegal, by state: | Massachusetts, Maryland , District of Columbia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Tenessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, Idaho, Utah and Arizona | Massachusetts, Maryland , District of Columbia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Tenessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, Idaho, Utah and Arizona | |
| Anal and oral sex is illegal for both homo and heterosexuals, by state: | Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma (in 1986 the State's highest criminal court decided that application to heterosexual sex was unconstitutional), Texas, Montana and Nevada. | Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma (in 1986 the State's highest criminal court decided that application to heterosexual sex was unconstitutional), Texas, Montana and Nevada. |
| Country | Lesbian | Gay Male |
| Afganistan | Illegal | Illegal |
Australia (Federal)
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| Bangladesh | Illegal | Illegal |
| Bhutan | Illegal | Illegal |
| Brunei | Illegal | Illegal |
| Burma/Myanmar | Not available | Not available |
| Cambodia | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Corea del Norte | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Corea del Sur | Legal | Legal |
| China | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Philippines | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Guam | Not available | Not available |
| Hong Kong | Legal | Legal |
| India | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Indonesia | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Cook Island s(New Zealand Associated State) | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Fiji Island s | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Marshall Island s | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Solomon Island s | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Japan | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Kazakhstan | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Kiribati | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Kyrgyzstan | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Laos | Not available | Not available |
| Macau | Legal | Legal |
| Malaysia | Illegal | Illegal |
| Maldives | Not available | Not available |
| Micronesia | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Mongolia | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Nauru | Not available | Not available |
| Nepal | Illegal | Illegal |
| Niue (New Zealand Associated State) | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| New Caledonia | Legal | Legal |
| New Zealand | Not mencioned | Legal |
| Pakistan | Illegal | Illegal |
| Papua New Guinea | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Polynesia Francesa | Legal | Legal |
| Western Samoa | Illegal | Illegal |
| Singapore | Illegal | Illegal |
| Sri Lanka | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Thailand | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Taiwan | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Tajikistan | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Tokelau (New Zealand Associated State) | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Tonga | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Turkmenistan | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Turkey | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Tuvalu | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Uzbekistan | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Vanuatu/New Hebrides | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Vietnam | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Country | Lesbian | Gay Male |
| Albania | Legal | Legal |
| Germany | Legal | Legal |
| Andorra | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Armenia | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Austria | Legal | Legal |
| Azerbaijan | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Belgium | Legal | Legal |
| Belarus | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Bosnia Hercegovina | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Bulgaria | Legal | Legal |
| Vatican City | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Croatia | Legal | Legal |
| Chipre | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Denmark | Legal | Legal |
| Slovakia | Legal | Legal |
| Slovenia | Legal | Legal |
| Spain | Legal | Legal |
| Estonia | Legal | Legal |
| Finland | Legal | Legal |
| France | Legal | Legal |
| Georgia | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Grece | Legal | Legal |
| Hungary | Legal | Legal |
| Ireland | Not mencioned | legal |
| Iceland | Legal | Legal |
| Faroe Island s | Legal | Legal |
| Italy | Legal | Legal |
| Latvia | Not mencioned | Legal |
| Liechtenstein | Legal | Legal |
| Lithuania | Legal | Legal |
| Luxembourg | Legal | Legal |
| Macedonia | Not mencioned | Illegal |
| Malta | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Moldavia | Not mencioned | Legal |
| Monaco | Legal | Legal |
| Montenegro | Legal | Legal |
| Norway | Legal | Legal |
| Netherland s | Legal | Legal |
| Polonia | Legal | Legal |
| Portugal | Legal | Legal |
| United Kingdom | Not mencioned | Legal |
| Czech Republic | Legal | Legal |
| Romania | Illegal | Illegal |
| Russia | Not mencioned | Legal |
| San Marino | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Serbia | Legal | Legal |
| Sweden | Legal | Legal |
| Switzerland | Legal | Legal |
| Turkey | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Ukraine | Not mencioned | Legal |
| Country | Lesbian | Gay Male |
| Saudi Arabia | Illegal | Illegal |
| Bahrein | Illegal | Illegal |
| United Arab Emirates | Illegal | Illegal |
| Irak | Not mencioned | Not mencioned |
| Iran | Illegal | Illegal |
| Israel | Not mencioned | Legal |
| Jordania | Illegal | Illegal |
| Kuwait | Illegal | Illegal |
| Lebanon | Illegal | Illegal |
| Oman | Illegal | Illegal |
| Qatar | Illegal | Illegal |
| Siria | Illegal | Illegal |
| Yemen | Illegal | Illegal |
Back to the index.
| Canada |
| Denmark |
| Slovenia |
| Spain |
| France |
| Norway |
| New Zealand |
| Netherland s |
| SudAfrica |
| Sweden |
|
Note: there are a significant number of countries where such legislation is currently being discussed in parliament. These include Belgium, Finland, the Czec Republic, and the Netherlands. In the United States, the Hawaii Supreme Court is expected to rule shortly on wether marriage laws in this US state apply to lesbian and gay couples. In Hungary, Common-law same-gender relationships are recognized. In cities and municipalities in France, Spain, Belgium and the United States, same-gender relationships are recognized. They are also recognized by some provincies in Canada and Autonomous Comunities in Spain, and by various international corporations. |
| Austria |
| Belgium |
| Canada |
| Denmark |
| Finland |
| Germany |
| Netherland s |
| Norway |
| Sweden |
| United States of America |
|
In Canada and the United Kingdom, partners have been granted residence permits on a case-by-case basis. |
| Australia |
| Belgium |
| Canada |
| Denmark |
| Estonia |
| Finland |
| Israel |
| Norway |
| New Zealand |
| Netherland s |
| Sweden |
Back to the index.
| Country | Organizations | Press |
| Botswana | Yes | None |
| Egypt | Informal group(s) | None |
| Ghana | Yes | None |
| Kenia | Yes | None |
| Lesotho | None | None |
| Liberia | A gay group existed in the late eighties | None |
| Nigeria | Informal group(s) | None |
| SudAfrica | Yes | Yes |
| Ugand a | Informal group(s) | None |
| Zimbabwe | Yes | Yes |
| Country | Organizations | Press |
| Antillas Holand esas | Yes | None |
| Argentina | Yes | Yes |
| Belice | Yes | None |
| Bolivia | Yes | None |
| Brasil | Yes | Yes |
| Canada | Yes | Yes |
| Colombia | Yes | Yes |
| Costa Rica | Yes | Yes |
| Chile | Yes | None |
| Ecuador | Yes | Yes |
| El Salvador | Yes | Yes |
| United States of America | Yes | Yes |
| Guatemala | Yes | None |
| Honduras | Yes | None |
| Jamaica | A group existed in the eighties | None |
| Mexico | Yes | Yes |
| Nicaragua | Yes | None |
| Peru | Yes | Yes |
| Puerto Rico (USA) | Yes | Yes |
| Dominican Republic | Yes | Yes |
| Surinam | A group existed in the eighties | None |
| Uruguay | Yes | None |
| Venezuela | Yes | None |
| Country | Organizations | Press |
| Australia | Yes | Yes |
| Bangladesh | Informal group(s) | None |
| China | Yes | None |
| Philippines | Yes | Yes |
| Hong Kong | Yes | Yes |
| India | Yes | Yes |
| Indonesia | Yes | Yes |
| Japan | Yes | Yes |
| Kazakhstan | Informal group(s) | None |
| Malasia | Yes | None |
| New Zealand | Yes | Yes |
| Pakistan | Yes | None |
| Western Samoa | Informal group(s) | None |
| Singapur | Yes | None |
| Sri Lanka | Yes | None |
| Tailand ia | Yes | Yes |
| Taiwan | Yes | None |
| Turkey | Yes | Yes |
| Country | Organizations | Press |
| Albania | Yes | None |
| Germany | Yes | Yes |
| Austria | Yes | Yes |
| Azerbaijan | None | None |
| Belgium | Yes | Yes |
| Belarus | Informal group(s) | None |
| Bulgaria | Yes | Yes |
| Croatia | Yes | Yes |
| Chipre | Yes | None |
| Denmark | Yes | Yes |
| Slovakia | Yes | None |
| Slovenia | Yes | Yes |
| Spain | Yes | Yes |
| Estonia | Yes | Yes |
| Finland | Yes | Yes |
| France | Yes | Yes |
| Grece | Yes | Yes |
| Hungary | Yes | Yes |
| Ireland | Yes | Yes |
| Iceland | Yes | Yes |
| Italy | Yes | Yes |
| Latvia | Yes | Yes |
| Liechtenstein | None | None |
| Lithuania | Yes | Yes |
| Luxembourg | Yes | None |
| Malta | Yes | None |
| Moldavia | Yes | None |
| Norway | Yes | Yes |
| Netherland s | Yes | Yes |
| Polonia | Yes | Yes |
| Portugal | Yes | Yes |
| United Kingdom | Yes | Yes |
| Czech Republic | Yes | Yes |
| Romania | Yes | None |
| Russia | Yes | Yes |
| Serbia | Yes | None |
| Sweden | Yes | Yes |
| Switzerland | Yes | Yes |
| Turkey | Yes | Yes |
| Ukraine | Yes | Yes |
| Country | Organizations | Press |
| Iran | None. A group of lesbian and gay refugees operates in Sweden | None |
| Israel | Yes | Yes |
Back to the index.
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| Not available |
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Africa: 53 Countries
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Americas: 93 Countries (excepting USA)
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Asia - Pacific: 50 Countries
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Europe: 50 Countries
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Middle East: 13 Countries
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Back to the index.