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List of countries which permit or outlaw homosexual behavior

This is a list of laws from around the world permitting or outlawing homosexual behaviour (see sodomy laws). The list is arranged alphabetically by continent (with the Middle East listed seperately).

List of Homosexuality Laws

Africa

Country	Gay Male	Lesbian	Max Penalty	Comments
Algeria	Illegal	Illegal	3 years
Angola	Illegal	Illegal	Unknown
Benin	Illegal	Illegal	Unknown
Botswana	Illegal	Legal	7 years
Burkina Faso	Legal	Legal
Burundi	Legal	Legal
Cameroon	Illegal	Illegal	5 years
Cape Verde	Illegal	Illegal	Bail
Central African Republic	Legal	Legal
Chad	Legal	Legal
Comoros	Legal	Legal
Côte d'Ivoire	Legal	Legal
Congo	Legal	Legal
Djibouti	Illegal	Illegal	Unknown
DR Congo	Unknown	Unknown
Equatorial Guinea	Unknown	Unknown
Eritrea	Legal	Legal
Ethiopia	Illegal	Illegal	3 years
Gabon	Legal	Legal
Gambia	Illegal	Unknown	14 years
Gambia	Illegal	Legal	Unknown
Guinea	Illegal	Illegal	3 years
Guinea Bissau	Legal	Legal
Kenya	Illegal	Unknown	14 years
Lesotho	Legal	Legal
Liberia	Illegal	Illegal	Misdemeanor
Libya	Illegal	Illegal	5 years
Madagascar	Legal	Legal
Malawi	Illegal	Illegal	Unknown
Mali	Legal	Legal
Mauritania	Illegal	Illegal	Death
Mauritius	Illegal	Illegal	5 years
Morocco	Illegal	Illegal	3 years
Mozambique	Illegal	Legal	3 years
Namibia	Illegal	Legal	Unknown
Niger	Legal	Legal
Nigeria	Illegal	Legal	Death
Rwanda	Legal	Legal
São Tomé and Príncipe	Legal	Legal
Senegal	Illegal	Illegal	5 years
Seychelles	Illegal	Unknown	Unknown
Sierra Leone	Unknown	Unknown
Somalia	Illegal	Illegal	3 years
South Africa	Legal	Legal
Sudan	Illegal	Illegal	Death
Swaziland	Illegal	Illegal	Prison
Tanzania	Illegal	Illegal	25 years
Togo	Illegal	Illegal	3 years
Tunisia	Illegal	Illegal	3 years
Uganda	Illegal	Legal	Life
Zambia	Illegal	Legal	14 years
Zimbabwe	Illegal	Legal	3 years

America, North & Central

Country	Gay Male	Lesbian	Max Penalty	Comments
Antigua and Barbuda	Legal	Legal
Bahamas	Legal	Legal
Barbados	Illegal	Illegal	Unknown
Belize	Legal	Legal
Canada	Legal	Legal		The sodomy laws were removed from the Criminal Code of Canada in the late 1960s by the then justice minister Pierre Trudeau with his famous statement 'The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation'.
Costa Rica	Legal	Legal
Cuba	Illegal	Illegal	1 year
Dominican Republic	Legal	Legal
El Salvador	Legal	Legal
Grenada	Illegal	Legal	Unknown
Guatemala	Legal	Legal
Haiti	Legal	Legal
Honduras	Legal	Legal
Jamaica	Illegal	Legal	10 years
Mexico	Legal	Legal
Nicaragua	Illegal	Illegal	3 years
Panama	Legal	Legal
Saint Lucia	Illegal	Illegal	25 years
Trinidad and Tobago	Illegal	Illegal	10 years
United States	Legal	Legal		Sodomy laws in the United States were judged unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in 2003 in the case Lawrence v. Texas.

America, South

Country	Gay Male	Lesbian	Max Penalty	Comments
Argentina	Legal	Legal
Bolivia	Legal	Legal
Brazil	Legal	Legal
Chile	Legal	Legal
Columbia	Legal	Legal
Ecuador	Legal	Legal
Guyana	Illegal	Legal	Life
Paraguay	Legal	Legal
Peru	Legal	Legal
Suriname	Legal	Legal
Uruguay	Legal	Legal
Venezuela	Legal	Legal

Asia

Country	Gay Male	Lesbian	Max Penalty	Comments
Afghanistan	Illegal	Illegal	Unknown
Armenia	Legal	Legal
Azerbaijan	Legal	Legal
Bangladesh	Illegal	Illegal	Life
Bhutan	Illegal	Illegal	Life
Brunei	Illegal	Illegal	10 years
Cambodia	Legal	Legal
China	Legal	Legal
Georgia	Legal	Legal
India	Illegal	Illegal	Life
Indonesia	Legal	Legal
Japan	Legal	Legal
Kazhakstan	Legal	Legal
Kyrgyzstan	Illegal	Legal	10 years
Laos	Unknown	Unknown
Malaysia	Illegal	Illegal	20 years
Maldives	Illegal	Legal	Life
Mongolia	Legal	Legal
Myanmar	Illegal	Illegal	10 years
Nepal	Illegal	Illegal	Life
North Korea	Unknown	Unknown
Pakistan	Illegal	Illegal	Death
Philippines	Legal	Legal
Singapore	Illegal	Illegal	Life
South Korea	Legal	Legal
Sri Lanka	Illegal	Legal	12 years
Taiwan	Legal	Legal
Tajikistan	Illegal	Legal	Unknown
Thailand	Legal	Legal
Turkmenistan	Illegal	Legal	Unknown
Uzbekistan	Illegal	Legal	3 years
Vietnam	Legal	Legal

Europe

Country	Gay Male	Lesbian	Max Penalty	Comments
Albania	Legal	Legal
Andorra	Legal	Legal
Austria	Legal	Legal
Belgium	Legal	Legal
Belarus	Legal	Legal
Bosnia-Herzegovina	Legal	Legal
Bulgaria	Legal	Legal
Croatia	Legal	Legal
Cyprus	Legal	Legal
Czech Republic	Legal	Legal
Denmark	Legal	Legal		Homosexuality was decriminalized for consenting adults in 1930 and in 1989 Denmark became the first country to grant registered homosexual couples the civil and legal rights of married heterosexual couples.
Estonia	Legal	Legal
Finland	Legal	Legal
France	Legal	Legal
Germany	Legal	Legal		See Paragraph 175.
Greece	Legal	Legal
Hungary	Legal	Legal
Iceland	Legal	Legal
Ireland	Legal	Legal
Italy	Legal	Legal
Latvia	Legal	Legal
Liechtenstein	Legal	Legal
Lithuania	Legal	Legal
Luxembourg	Legal	Legal
Macedonia	Legal	Legal
Malta	Legal	Legal
Moldavia	Legal	Legal
Monaco	Legal	Legal
Netherlands	Legal	Legal
Norway	Legal	Legal
Poland	Legal	Legal
Portugal	Legal	Legal
Romania	Legal	Legal
Russia	Legal	Legal
San Marino	Legal	Legal
Serbia and Montenegro	Legal	Legal
Slovakia	Legal	Legal
Slovenia	Legal	Legal
Spain	Legal	Legal
Sweden	Legal	Legal
Switzerland	Legal	Legal
Turkey	Legal	Legal
Ukraine	Legal	Legal
United Kingdom	Legal	Legal
Vatican City	Legal	Legal

Middle East

Country	Gay Male	Lesbian	Max Penalty	Comments
Bahrain	Illegal	Illegal	10 years
Egypt	Illegal	Illegal	Varied
Iran	Illegal	Illegal	Death
Israel	Legal	Legal
Iraq	Legal	Legal		Legal but taboo.
Jordan	Legal	Legal		Legal but taboo.
Kuwait	Illegal	Illegal	7 years
Lebanon	Illegal	Illegal	1 year
Oman	Illegal	Illegal	3 years
Palestine	Illegal	Illegal	10 years
Qatar	Illegal	Illegal	5 years
Saudi Arabia	Illegal	Illegal	Death
Syria	Illegal	Illegal	1 year
United Arab Emirates	Illegal	Illegal	Death
Yemen	Illegal	Illegal	Death

Oceania

Country	Gay Male	Lesbian	Max Penalty	Comments
Australia	Legal	Legal
Fiji	Illegal	Legal	14 years
Kiribati	Illegal	Legal	14 years
Marshall Islands	Illegal	Legal	10 years
Micronesia	Legal	Legal
Nauru	Unknown	Unknown
New Zealand	Legal	Legal
Papua New Guinea	Illegal	Legal	14 years
Samoa	Illegal	Illegal	7 years
Solomon Islands	Illegal	Illegal	14 years
Tonga	Illegal	Legal	10 years
Tuvalu	Illegal	Legal	14 years
Vanuatu	Legal	Legal

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