Rob Salerno

75 Articles Published | Follow:
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
Although Ukraine in general does not acknowledge same-sex marriages, a court recognized the marriage Tymur Levchuk and Zorian Kis, a Ukrainian diplomat stationed in Israel. Zoryan Kis, First Secretary of the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel, and his partner Tymur Levchuk. The couple had lived together since 2013 and were legally married in the United States in 2021.. (Photo courtesy of Teenergizer)
2025 LGBTQ rights update: Anti-trans hysteria mars Europe’s LGBTQ gains
Governmental leaders of North America, clockwise from top left: Mark Carney, prime minister of Canada; Claudia Scheinbaum, president of Mexico; Donald Trump, president of the United States; and Jens-Frederik Nielsen, prime minister of Greenland. (Photos courtesy of Canada, Wikipedia, Reuters and PBS)
2025 LGBTQ rights global update: In North America, one nation raged alone
2025 LGBTQ rights update: Mixed results in Oceania
Veteran LGBTI rights attorney Alice Nkom remains locked in a legal dispute with Cameroonian authorities who accuse her of “financing terrorism” — a charge she vehemently denies, declaring that her principled stand is in defense of the rule of law in Cameroon.
2025 LGBTQ rights update: African activists resist growing repression
Map of LGBT Rights in Asia: DARK BLUE: Equal marriage and non-discrimination law; LIGHT BLUE: Limited recognition of same-sex unions and discrimination banned in certain regions only; PURPLE: Foreign same-sex marriages recognized, adoption legal, and discrimination banned; GREEN: At least some sexual orientation discrimination banned nationwide; PALE GREEN: Sexual orientation discrimination banned only in certain regions; BEIGE: Crackdowns on LGBT rights advocacy and expression, but homosexuality legal, if only technically; ORANGE: Sodomy illegal; MAGENTA: Sodomy illegal, but discrimination against trans people prohibited.
2025 LGBTQ rights update: Many bright spots in Asia amid the gloom
2025 LGBTQ rights update: Progress and backsliding in Latin America and Caribbean
Pride marcher in New Zealand poses with the flag of the tiny island nation Niue. (Claire-Eastham-Farrelly photo courtesy of NZTV)
Niue: Tally of nations with anti-homosexuality laws drops to 65
How Trinidad lost the right to gay sex
Hungary's homophobic Prime Minister Viktor Orban: losing support? ( Elekes Andor photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
2024 LGBTQ rights global update: Some progress, some setbacks in Europe
Map of LGBT Rights in Oceania — BLUE: Same-sex marriage legal and sexual orientation/gender identity discrimination prohibited; PURPLE: Foreign same-sex marriages recognized, no discrimination protections;GREEN: Sexual orientation discrimination prohibited; YELLOW: Sodomy illegal; YELLOW with GREEN outline: Sodomy illegal, but some sexual orientation discrimination prohibited; RED: Constitution bans same-sex marriage, but homosexuality is legal, no discrimination protections; GREY: Sodomy legal, same-sex marriage not permitted, no discrimination protections
2024 LGBTQ rights global update: Progress and reversals in Oceania and Australia
Global update: The struggle for LGBTQ rights continues in Asia
Map of LGBT Rights in Africa — BLUE: Same-sex marriage is legal and discrimination based on sexual orientation prohibited. (Note: The little blue islands are Spanish, French, and UK territories); MAUVE: Limited recognition of foreign same-sex marriages; ORANGE: Same-sex sexual relations are illegal
2024 LGBTQ rights global update: Progress and reversals in Africa
2024 LGBTQ Rights Global Progress – Latin America and Caribbean
Demonstrators opposing same-sex marriage took to the streets of Blantyre, Malawi, on July 13, 2023. (Lameck Masina photo courtesy of VOA)
COMMENTARY: Malawi court’s anti-gay ruling is full of nonsense
LGBTQ rights supporters celebrate decriminalization of sodomy in 2025. (Photo courtesy of @EqualNamibia on X)
Joy in Namibia as court decriminalizes gay sex