Belarus A 2014 report prepared by the
United Kingdom, under the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government of 2010–2015, raised concerns about LGBTQ treatment in
Belarus:
Georgia On 8 July 2023, over 2,000 anti-LGBTQ+ protesters violently disrupted the LGBTQ+ Pride festival in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Homophobia remains widespread in Georgia, and several journalists were attacked during similar protests in Tbilisi two years ago.
India On 6 October 1860, sodomy was legally forbidden in
India according to Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. This was ruled unconstitutional in 2009 by the Delhi High Court, but reaffirmed on 11 December 2013 by a Supreme Court ruling. It was again legalised by the Supreme Court on 6 September 2018.
Indonesia Traditionally, Indonesians are
quite tolerant towards LGBTQ people who keep quiet and stay discreet about their private lives. However, this level of tolerance is not extended towards the LGBTQ rights movements, which has faced fierce condemnation in the public sphere from Indonesian authorities. A wave of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric began in January 2016 when Higher Education Minister
Mohamad Nasir said LGBTQ people should be barred from university campuses. The Minister called for a ban on gay groups on university campuses after a group of
University of Indonesia (UI) students established a counselling and support group called the Support Group and Resource Center on Sexuality Studies (SGRC). The group was meant as a counselling service, resource centre and support group on sexuality and gender issues, especially for LGBTQ youth and students, who often suffer from abuses, harassment, violence and discrimination regarding their gender and sexuality. SGRC sees LGBTQ people as human beings who need a friend and protection. The group, which sought to advocate for those who suffer from gender-based violence, explained that they do not "turn" or "encourage" people to be
gay, nor had they tried to "cure" gay people. Amid the heat of the issue, the University of Indonesia refused to be held responsible for SGRC's actions and announced the group was not an officially registered student organisation.
Muhammadiyah, said it would not issue any edict condemning members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, Muhammadiyah's secretary-general, Abdul Mukti said. Muhammadiyah considered LGBTQ expression immoral, but that publicly condemning people affiliated with those identities and orientations would not help them return to normalcy. Other religious groups, such as
Christianity and specifically
Roman Catholicism, have expressed their rejection of LGBTQ rights in Indonesia. Indonesian Catholic authorities have reiterated that Catholicism does not recognise
same-sex marriage but assured that, despite their perceived transgressions, LGBTQ people should be protected and not harmed. The Indonesia Psychiatric Association (PDSKJI) classifies homosexuality, bisexuality and transgenderism as
mental disorders. Referring to
Law No.18/2014 on Mental Health and the association's Mental Health and Mental Disorder Diagnostic Guidelines, the PDSKJI categorises homosexual and bisexual Indonesians as "people with psychiatric problems" and transgender people as having "mental disorders". Some military figures have used conspiracy theory rhetoric. Defense Minister
Ryamizard Ryacudu called the LGBTQ movement a "
proxy war" to
brainwash Indonesians, and claimed that it received "foreign funding", Anthropologist Sharyn Graham Davies commented that the main focus of this opposition was that sexual and gender diversity may be tolerated but as long as LGBTQ people remain invisible in the Indonesian society and did not form a visible movement. On the other hand, amid fierce hostilities, some officials – including former
Governor of Jakarta,
Basuki Tjahaja Purnama and former Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister
Luhut Binsar Panjaitan — have defended the LGBTQ community. "Whoever they are, wherever they work, he or she continues to be an Indonesian citizen. They have the right to be protected as well," Panjaitan said.
Malaysia Same-sex relationships in Malaysia are
criminalised. In 2018, Malaysian LGBTQ people faced government-enforced clampdowns.
Poland Opposition to
LGBTQ rights in Poland comes mainly from right-wing politics, such as the ruling in 2015-2023
Law and Justice party, and from the
Catholic Church in Poland, in which a majority of Poles are members. According to
ILGA-Europe's 2020 report, Poland ranks the lowest of European Union countries for LGBTQ rights. According to some opinion polls, opposition to LGBTQ rights has been diminishing, with support for
civil partnerships rising from 52% in 2017 to 60% in 2019. The number of Poles who say that homosexuality should not be accepted in society dropped from 41% in 2001 to 24% in 2019.
Russia Opposition to the LGBTQ rights movement is very prevalent in
Russia, including within the
Kremlin. President
Vladimir Putin enacted laws in 2012 which criminalised education about LGBTQ issues, calling it "
gay propaganda". It banned telling minors that homosexuality was normal or natural. This was opposed by some nations with many members of the public in the U.S. and Western Europe calling for a
boycott of the
2014 Winter Olympics in
Sochi. However, President Putin assured that all athletes would be respected, regardless of their sexuality and in the event, no boycott occurred. The law passed has been described as taking Russia's LGBTQ community "from being a stigmatized fringe group to full-blown
enemies of the state", and has been described as a major contributor to a wave of anti-gay violence by several
neo-Nazi organisations (such as
Occupy Paedophilia), which target gay teens online and meet up with them, posting on YouTube their acts of assault against the LGBTQ teens, which have even resulted in the death of several LGBTQ teens in Russia, which are rarely investigated by the authorities, defining them as "civil movements fighting the sins of society". Anti-LGBTQ and anti-gender rhetoric in Sweden is promoted by a range of actors, including the far-right
Sweden Democrats and
Christian Democrats, who have opposed legal reforms strengthening transgender rights. The increasing normalization of anti-gender discourse has also coincided with growing political violence and intimidation, particularly directed at trans advocates. This includes online harassment, threats, and public vilification. Researchers argue that such violence, both symbolic and physical, plays a central role in silencing dissent and undermining democratic participation. Research on the effect of suppressing information about sexuality awareness in schools showed a correspondence with increases in the level of homophobic bullying by peers, as well as increased incidence in depression and suicide amongst LGBTQ people trying to come to terms with their sexuality. In 1987, Thatcher also declared that "hard left education authorities and extremist teachers" were indoctrinating the nation by teaching the younger generation "political slogans", "anti-racist mathematics" and telling their pupils that they have an "inalienable right to be gay", rather than "taught to respect traditional moral values". In 2003, despite opposition from socially liberal Conservatives such as later prime minister
David Cameron, Section 28 was repealed by the
Labour government under
Tony Blair. In June 2009, Cameron, whilst campaigning for the 2010 general election, formally apologised for his party introducing the law, stating that it was a mistake and had been offensive to gay people. In 2013,
same-sex marriage was legalised under Cameron's premiership (despite his government voting against it) which Cameron described as "an important step forward" and said that he thought that "it is right that gay people should be able to get married too". As of 2010, the largest voice against LGBTQ equality in the UK came from the
Church of England over the issue of same-sex marriage. Labour passed into law in 2005 the ability for same-sex couples to enter civil partnerships, but they could not take place in a church or be called a "marriage". The Church of England opposed the-then coalition Government's plans (this government came to an end in May 2015) to extend this to "full marriage rights." The
British National Party has shifted its platform from recriminalisation to an extension of
section 28-style legislation, i.e. making it illegal to portray homosexuality positively in the media. In 1999, the
Admiral Duncan pub, a gay bar in
London's
Soho, was targeted up as part of a terrorist campaign by a former
National Socialist Movement and
British National Party (BNP) member,
David Copeland; three people were killed, and seventy maimed or injured by a nail bomb detonated in the pub.
United States History 1950s and 1960s and
Roy Cohn, leaders of the
Lavender scare In the 1950s in the
United States, open homosexuality was taboo. Legislatures in every state had passed laws against homosexual behavior well before this, most notably
anti-sodomy laws. During the
Cold War politicians frequently described homosexuals as "subversives" who undermined national security and patriotism, and described them as
Communist sympathisers or a Communist
Fifth column. During the
Lavender Scare,
Joseph McCarthy used accusations of homosexuality as a
smear tactic. Senator
Kenneth Wherry publicized fears that
Joseph Stalin had obtained a list of closeted homosexuals in positions of power from
Adolf Hitler, which he believed Stalin intended to use to blackmail these men into working against the U.S. for the Soviet regime. In the
1950 report produced by a Senate subcommittee titled "Employment of Homosexuals and Other Sex Perverts in Government" said that "the pervert is easy prey to the blackmailer... It is an accepted fact among intelligence agencies that espionage organizations the world over consider sex perverts who are in possession of or have access to confidential material to be prime targets where pressure can be exerted." Along with that security-based concern, the report found homosexuals unsuitable for government employment because "those who engage in overt acts of perversion lack the emotional stability of normal persons. In addition, there is an abundance of evidence to sustain the conclusion that indulgence in acts of sex perversion weakens the moral fiber of an individual to a degree that he is not suitable for a position of responsibility." McCarthy and
Roy Cohn more often used the secrets of closeted gay American politicians as tools for blackmail than did foreign powers. The modern roots of the
Christian right's views on
sexual matters were evident in the years 1950s–1960s, a period in which many
conservative Christians in the United States viewed sexual promiscuity as not only excessive, but in fact as a threat to their ideal vision of the country.
1970s and 1980s Beginning in the 1970s, conservative Christian protests against promiscuity began to surface, largely as a reaction to the "
permissive Sixties" and an emerging prominence of sexual rights arising from
Roe v. Wade and the
LGBTQ rights movement. The Christian right proceeded to make sexuality issues a priority political cause. The Bryant campaign achieved success in repealing some city anti-discrimination laws, and proposed other citizen initiatives such as a
failed California ballot question designed to ban gay people or those who supported LGBTQ rights from holding public teaching jobs. Bryant's campaign attracted widespread opposition and
boycotts which put her out of business and destroyed her reputation. From the late 1970s onwards, some
conservative Christian organizations such as the
Christian Broadcasting Network,
Focus on the Family,
Concerned Women for America, the
American Family Association, and the
Christian Coalition of America, along with right-wing Christian hate groups such as the
Westboro Baptist Church, have been outspoken against LGBTQ rights. Late in 1979, a
new religious revival among conservative
Evangelical Protestants and
Roman Catholics ushered in the
Republican coalition politically aligned with the
Christian right that would reign in the United States between the years 1970s and 1980s, becoming another obstacle for the progress of the
LGBTQ rights movement. The Christian right champions itself as the "self-appointed conscience of American society". During the 1980s, the movement was largely dismissed by political pundits and mainstream religious leaders as "a collection of buffoonish has-beens". Later, it re-emerged, better organized and more focused, taking firm positions against abortion, pornography, sexual deviancy, and extreme feminism.
1990s and 2000s protesters in
Washington, D.C., 2019 Influential Christian right organizations were at the forefront of the anti-gay rights movement in the United States in the 1990s and 2000s, including Focus on the Family, Family Research Council, and the
Family Research Institute.
2010s and 2020s in 2020 with a sign reading, "Save Our Kids from LGBT Indoctrination" During the
presidency of Donald Trump, some Christian conservatives refrained from engaging in debates about sexual morality. However, beginning in the early-2020s, an
anti-LGBTQ movement occurred in the United States, heavily focused on transgender Americans. This
conservative political backlash against
LGBTQ rights included
bathroom use restrictions,
bans on gender transition,
"don't say gay" laws,
laws against drag performances,
book bans,
boycotts, and
conspiracy theories around grooming.
U.S. public opinion Public opinion has shifted towards increased acceptance of homosexuality and equal rights for gays and lesbians since the late 1970s. According to the Gallup poll, the percentage of Americans who think that same-sex relations between consenting adults should be legal increased from 43% in 1977 to 59% in 2007. In 1977, 56% of Americans thought that gay people should have equal rights in terms of job opportunities. , that number has risen to 89%. In April 2015, a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that 61% of Americans supported same-sex marriage and a similar share were against state-by-state legalization. Numerous studies have investigated the prevalence of acceptance and disapproval of homosexuality and have consistently found correlations with various demographic, psychological, and social variables. For example, studies (mainly conducted in the United States) have found that heterosexuals with positive attitudes towards homosexuality are more likely to be non-religious, politically liberal or moderate, young, female and have close personal contact with
openly gay men and lesbians. and are less likely to support traditional gender roles.
United States Armed Forces Homosexual activity was a reason for expulsion from the United States Armed Forces from their very beginning, although that was not codified until 1920. The "
Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy that began in 1994 barred the military from questioning people about their sexual orientation, but maintained the barring of service members who had
come out. The barring of homosexuals was removed altogether in December 2010 by President
Barack Obama. Even before
DADT was established, advocates for allowing gay people to
openly serve pointed out that neither
unit cohesion nor morale were affected when the
UK admitted gay people into the military. A similar comparison has been made to the lack of negative consequences when African-Americans and women were admitted into the military.
Boy Scouts of America The
Boy Scouts of America now accepts gay and bisexual people in its organizations. Previously, there was an exclusion enforced commonly for Scoutmasters, but also for scouts in leadership positions. Their rationale was that homosexuality is immoral and that Scouts are expected to have certain
moral standards and values, as the
Scout Oath and
Scout Law requires boys to be "morally straight". The Boy Scout organization did not view their policy as unjustly
discriminatory, but instead defends their policy saying that, "Tolerance for diversity of values does not require abdication of one's own values". In 2000 the
United States Supreme Court ruled in
Boy Scouts of America v. Dale that the Boy Scouts of America is a
private organization, and as such can decide its own membership rules. There is still a movement to try to persuade the organization to change its policy or allow local chapters to decide for themselves. In 2005, the
U.S. Congress passed the
Support Our Scouts Act of 2005 to exempt the BSA from anti-discrimination laws, to require the
Department of Defense to support scouting
Jamborees (thus rendering ineffective a Federal Court injunction prohibiting this as an
unconstitutional establishment of religion in violation of the
First Amendment) and to require
state or local governments that receive Community Development Block Grant money from the
Department of Housing and Urban Development to allow BSA to have meetings in their facilities or on their property. The BSA historically has received much of its funding and support from religious groups noted for their opposition to the
gay rights movement. Some BSA local councils found that
United Way's, municipalities', school districts' and businesses' support and funding was reduced because of their adherence to the BSA's policy on sexual orientation. In order to continue receiving funding, local councils like New Jersey signed nondiscrimination agreements contrary to BSA National Council policy. Other outdoor-focused, youth-based organizations such as the
4-H club and
Girl Scouts of the USA do not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. In most countries where Boy Scouts organizations exist homosexuality is not regarded as incompatible with scout values, and gay members are not excluded from activities; this includes the
United Kingdom, where scouting was founded by
Baden-Powell. In July 2015, the Boy Scouts' executive board voted to end the ban on adult leaders who are openly gay. ==See also==