Asia

Fighting hate on the ballot: Queer resistance in elections in 2026
Government Unani and Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh (Photo courtesy of Facebook)
Bangladesh students expelled and jailed over alleged homosexuality
Donald Trump on the campaign trail in 2016 (David Becker photo courtesy of Reuters)
LGBTQ+ rights activists ask Canada to help restore what Trump devastated
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
Kazakhstan arrests LGBTI rights activists
HUNGARY-LGBT-PRIDE-ANNIVERSARY
LGBTQ rights in 2026: What to expect around the world
Pakistani Senator Mushtaq Ahmad proposes the creation of a government "gender re-assigment board" that would control a trans person's official gender identity. (Photo courtesy of Global Living Space)
Anti-trans officials and violence reverse progress for transgender Pakistanis
U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C.
Trump regime takes its anti-transgender campaign global
An anti-LGBT briefing at an Indonesian air base in December 2024. (Photo courtesy of New Mandala and the Indonesian Air Force)
Indonesia’s two homophobias
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?