Asia

Graphic from the Azerbaijan LGBTQ organization Qiy Vaar states, "Get Out of Our Lives"
Azerbaijan police detain over 100 in queer nightclub raid
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
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
Donald Trump on the campaign trail in 2016 (David Becker photo courtesy of Reuters)
Annus Horribilis: After the grim revelations of 2025, what next?
Logo of the conference Shaping Tomorrow: Queer Asylum in Europe
LGBTQ rights reports ‘mean the difference between life and death’
Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (Noushad Thekkayil photo courtesy of Euractiv / NurPhoto / Getty Images)
Kazakhstan Senate approves ban on positive depictions of LGBTQ people
Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstant (Photo courtesy of Expedia.com)
Kazakhstan shelves anti-LGBTQ+ bill for additional study
Iran, captained by Alireza Jahanbakhsh (pictured), is scheduled to face Egypt in what's set to be a pride match in Seattle at the FIFA World Cup. (Etsuo Hara photo courtesy of ABC / Getty)
Iran and Egypt protest World Cup match scheduled amid Pride celebrations
Rainbow flag: St. Paul's Foundation for International Reconciliation needs your financial support for its work advancing LGBT rights. Click the image to donate.
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Mohammad Alamgir (Photo courtesy of JMBF)
Bangladesh police carry out midnight raid against LGBT rights defender
Ershad Halim (Photo courtesy of the University of Dhaka)
Gay teacher at Dhaka University pleads innocent after arrest on sex harassment charges
Costume party in Tomsk, Siberia. (Photo courtesy of Novaya Gazeta Europe)
Russia’s police hunt for gays, but find clowns
Rainbow flag: St. Paul's Foundation for International Reconciliation needs your financial support for its work advancing LGBT rights. Click the image to donate.
Kazakhstan parliament passes ‘Anti-LGBT Propaganda’ law
Hijras crying after being physically assaulted by an organised group while returning from the Boalkhali Police Station in Chittagong, after submitting a complaint against the same group for demanding extortion money. (Photo courtesy of JMBF)
Bangladesh police arrest dozens of third-gender people
Location of Bangladesh in South Asia. (Map courtesy of GISgeography)
Bangladeshi repression extends far beyond LGBTQ community
A scene from last month's Euro-Mediterranean Summer Universities of Homosexualities (UEEH) human rights gathering in Vic-en-Bigorre, France. (Photo courtesy of JMBF)
In Bangladesh, anti-gay intimidation, violence and persecution are escalating