Tally of nations with anti-gay laws drops to 68
During 2022, the world witnessed slow progress toward full recognition of the human rights of LGBTQ people, though many nations remain obstinate in their homophobic belief that all queer people are morally corrupt criminals. At the start of the year, 72 countries had laws punishing same-sex intimacy, including the tiny Pacific nation of Niue, previously overlooked. By year’s end, that number had dropped to 68.
CLICK for a free subscription to Erasing 76 Crimes
In July, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court ruled that anti-homosexuality sections of Antigua’s Sexual Offences Act were unconstitutional.
In August, the same court struck down laws criminalizing same-sex intercourse in the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
In November, Singapore‘s parliament voted to decriminalize gay sex.
In December, the High Court of Barbados struck down the nation’s laws against buggery and gross indecency.
On the negative side of the balance sheet, Russia Increased its repression of LGBTQ people, even though it does not have a law that criminalizes same-sex intimacy. It expanded its law against “gay propaganda”, which makes it a crime to express any positive attitude toward same-sex love in any traditional media, social media, advertising or movies, not just in those with children in the audience.
Also in 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States hinted that it might reverse its approval of marriage equality, which dates back to 2015, when it legalized same-sex marriage, and even its legalization of gay sex, dating back to 2003.
