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Brenda Biya (Olivier Corsan photo courtesy of Le Parisien)

Does the law apply to Cameroon president’s lesbian daughter?

Brenda Biya challenges norms around sexuality in conservative Cameroon

Bassirou Diomaye Faye
Senegal president signs harsh anti-gay bill into law
Meddie Ssentongo, Horst Backe, Christopher Nkambwe and Steven Kabuye appearing before a Canadian Parliamentary Committee to testify on the status of LGBTQI people in Uganda.
Canadian parliament hears plight of LGBTQI+ Ugandans

Resources

Scene of wicker basket making (Photo: @benin_tourisme_vibrant)
West African viewpoint: Seeking jobs for LGBT+ youths in Benin
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

Upbeat news

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
Participants pose for a photo at the Legal Cafe that's a regular monthly event.
Cameroon Legal Café empowers participants to know their rights
Edward Mwebaza, executive director of Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF), addresses the media. (Photo courtesy of HRAPF)
Uganda drops the first case brought under its Anti-Homosexuality Act

Important work funded by our readers

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
Rainbow flag: St. Paul's Foundation for International Reconciliation needs your financial support for its work advancing LGBT rights. Click the image to donate.
To support LGBT rights, include St. Paul’s Foundation in your year-end giving

Africa

Brenda Biya (Olivier Corsan photo courtesy of Le Parisien)
Does the law apply to Cameroon president’s lesbian daughter?
Bassirou Diomaye Faye
Senegal president signs harsh anti-gay bill into law
Meddie Ssentongo, Horst Backe, Christopher Nkambwe and Steven Kabuye appearing before a Canadian Parliamentary Committee to testify on the status of LGBTQI people in Uganda.
Canadian parliament hears plight of LGBTQI+ Ugandans
Parliament Speaker Anita Among and two supporters at Mothers Day Breakfast. (Photo courtesy of Parliament of Uganda)
U.S.-sanctioned for corruption, a Uganda leader cites anti-gay stance

Caribbean

Vincent McDoom lifts the lid on homophobia in France’s Caribbean entertainment industry

Microcredit and LGBT+ inclusion: Urgent need for innovation in economic aid

‘Join us in raising the issue of Guadeloupe school named after anti-gay singer’

Europe

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
Vincent McDoom lifts the lid on homophobia in France’s Caribbean entertainment industry
Archbishop Laurent Mbanda of Rwanda now leads the anti-gay church coalition Gafcon, the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans. (Photo courtesy of AFP/Getty/BBC)
Anti-gay Anglicans ease off their challenge to female archbishop
Microcredit and LGBT+ inclusion: Urgent need for innovation in economic aid

Asia

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

Middle East/North Africa

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
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
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

Americas

Meddie Ssentongo, Horst Backe, Christopher Nkambwe and Steven Kabuye appearing before a Canadian Parliamentary Committee to testify on the status of LGBTQI people in Uganda.

Canadian parliament hears plight of LGBTQI+ Ugandans

Queer Ugandans call on Canada to do more to protect human rights

President John Dramani Mahama speaks at Temple University Center for Anti-Racism on March 27. (Click the image to see video of his remarks, courtesy of Rightify Ghana)
Ghana’s president plays a double game on anti-LGBTQ bill
Arthur Schaper, the California Mass Resistance field director, speaks in opposition to a California high school's Wellness Center in 2023, claiming that it would encourage students to change their gender.(Vincent Medina photo courtesy of Norwalk Patriot)
Mass.-based U.S. ‘pro-family’ group pushed Senegal’s anti-LGBTQ+ law
Vincent McDoom lifts the lid on homophobia in France’s Caribbean entertainment industry

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