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Sierra Leone queer people forced to margins of economy

Despite legal advances, LGBT+ people face severe discrimination in Sierra Leone

Uganda Police spokesperson Rusoke Kituuma (Photo courtesy of Business Times Uganda)
Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act creates barriers to justice
DIck Bayford Botswana AG
Botswana officially erases ban on same-sex intimacy

Resources

This site's activist journalists have laid the groundwork for Project Not Alone, which frees imprisoned victims of African homophobia. This illustration shows two gay men waiting for donations that will pay their fines and set them free.
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Map of 66 countries that criminalize homosexuality
Homosexuality is now illegal in 65 nations
21 varieties of traditional African homosexuality
Death penalty, ex-gay therapy, 100s of prisoners, the Commonwealth, more

Upbeat news

DIck Bayford Botswana AG
Botswana officially erases ban on same-sex intimacy
The launch of the Malawi coalition (Photo courtesy of Africa Brief)
LGBTIQ+ coalition launches in Malawi, vows to push legal reforms
Cameroon: Five men freed after 4 months in prison for homosexuality
MP Asumani Basalirwa is the new face of homophobia in the Parliament of Uganda. (Photo courtesy of the Parliament of Uganda)
Uganda: Voters reject anti-LGBTQI+ lawmakers

Important work funded by our readers

A young, queer Nigerian’s journey from shame to healing
How one Nigerian woman risked everything to be herself
Marriage was a gay man’s shield. Exposure forced him to start again
Word cloud showing the names (pseudonyms) of the 56 prisoners for whom Project Not Alone has won early release.
Readers’ donations have freed a total of 56 victims of African homophobia

Africa

Sierra Leone queer people forced to margins of economy
Uganda Police spokesperson Rusoke Kituuma (Photo courtesy of Business Times Uganda)
Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act creates barriers to justice
DIck Bayford Botswana AG
Botswana officially erases ban on same-sex intimacy
Afrobeats’ uneasy relationship with queerness at home in Nigeria

Caribbean

How one nonbinary Haitian activist built community through micro-credit

After Trump cuts, 20 LGBT+ organizations in Haiti had to close

Non-binary and transgender young people, expelled from the Dominican Republic in 2025 and welcomed at the premises of the Heritage for the Protection of Human Rights (HPDH) association in Ouanaminthe (Photo by @merlinjean)

In mourning and under fire, Haitians mark International Trans Visibility Day

Europe

Russian version of the film "Call Me By Your Name"
Russia escalates crackdown on LGBT content with fines and arrests
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his buddy, Relarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenka (Photo courtesy of the Atlantic Council)
Belarus adopts law against positive accounts of gay sex
Turkey puts LGBT activists on trial, threatens 3-year prison terms
Young participant at Coming Out's rally for LGBT* rights holds a sign that states "Let's Live in Peace." (Photo courtesy of Coming Out)
LGBTQ+ news from Russia, Ukraine and Vanuatu

Asia

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his buddy, Relarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenka (Photo courtesy of the Atlantic Council)
Belarus adopts law against positive accounts of gay sex
Marhamah Rosli (Photo: Bernama photo courtesy of Qnews / Malaysian National News Agency)
Don’t say ‘LGBT’, says Malaysia official. Say ‘deviant culture’ instead
Cover illustration from the annual report about 2025 from JusticeMakers Bangladesh in France.
Bangladesh grows even more dangerous for its LGBTQI+ citizens
Agustina, 41, a trans woman from Jakarta, Indonesia, poses before the Trans Super Heroes fashion show on Dec. 17, 2023. (Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana photo courtesy of Reuters)
Indonesia parliament considering dangerous ban on LGBTQ content

Middle East/North Africa

Cairo 52 Lawsuit
Egyptian court victory for trans people seeking gender transition
Two men holding hands. (Photo courtesy of Mimoun Kabdani)
Surviving hate: Gay man speaks out after street attack in Morocco
Spotlight on Mauritania, where LGBT people hide their identities for fear of stigma
LGBTQ rights advocacy is only possible in secret in Libya. (Photo courtesy of Kuchu Times / Zoonar.com)
Spotlight on Libya, where the LGBTQ community hides in the shadows

Americas

Zambia: One grim example of how Trump has slashed anti-AIDS efforts

Zambia’s anti-HIV program, which saved 100,000s of lives, has begun to crumble.

How one nonbinary Haitian activist built community through micro-credit
After Trump cuts, 20 LGBT+ organizations in Haiti had to close
Non-binary and transgender young people, expelled from the Dominican Republic in 2025 and welcomed at the premises of the Heritage for the Protection of Human Rights (HPDH) association in Ouanaminthe (Photo by @merlinjean)
In mourning and under fire, Haitians mark International Trans Visibility Day

Oceania

Young participant at Coming Out's rally for LGBT* rights holds a sign that states "Let's Live in Peace." (Photo courtesy of Coming Out)

LGBTQ+ news from Russia, Ukraine and Vanuatu

HUNGARY-LGBT-PRIDE-ANNIVERSARY

LGBTQ rights in 2026: What to expect around the world

Map of the 65 countries where sexual relations between people of the same sex are illegal. YELLOW countries have sodomy laws that are currently being challenged before local courts. Sri Lanka, in PINK, currently has a bill before its parliament to repeal its sodomy law. Indonesia, in ORANGE, has laws that criminalize homosexuality only in some subnational jurisdictions. All states in RED have nationwide sodomy laws and no known legislative efforts or court challenges to remove them.

LGBTQ rights update: 2025 tally and 2026 preview