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An important aspect of civil rights, in my opinion. Everyone loves to focus on gay marriage, but no one really seems to mention the fact that homosexuality itself used to be a crime (punishable by death). to this day, around 80 governments in the world punish homosexuality by death or imprisonment. Some countries have been chilling with the gays since the creation of their state (Poland) while others are coming around in this age (Mozambique). Here is a list of when each nation in the world legalized same-sex activity.

Never illegal: Benin, Burkina Faso, Bolivia, Poland, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, CAR, Chad, DRC, Equitorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Djibouti, South Korea, North Korea, Madagascar,China (the region),Mauritius, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, French Polynesia
1700s
France:1791
Belgium: 1795
Switzerland: 1798
1800s
El Salvador: 1800s
Guatemala: 1800s
Dominican Republic: 1822
Brazil: 1831
Peru: 1836
Ottoman Empire - Turkey: 1858
Serbia: 1865 (passed under the Ottoman commonwealth)
San Marino: 1865
Suriname: 1869
Mexico: 1871
Paraguay: 1880
Japan: 1880
Argentina: 1887
Italy: 1890
Taiwan: 1895
Honduras: 1899
1900s
RSFSR: 1917
Denmark: 1933
Greenland: 1933 (passed under the Danish Commonwealth)
Philippines: 1933
Uruguay: 1934
Iceland: 1940
Sweden: 1942
Greece: 1951
PLO: 1951
Jordan: 1951
Thailand: 1956
Mongolia: 1961
Czech Republic: 1962
Hungary: 1962
Slovakia: 1962
Germany: 1968 (W. Germany 1969)
Canada: 1969
Austria: 1971
Finland: 1971
Costa Rica: 1971
Norway: 1972
Australia: 1972(to 1997)
East Timor: 1975
Bahrain: 1976
Croatia: 1977
Slovenia: 1977
Guam: 1978
Spain: 1979
Cuba: 1979
American Samoa: 1980
Colombia: 1981
Portugal: 1982
Northern Mariana Islands: 1983
New Zealand: 1986
Israel: 1988
Liechtenstein: 1989
Ukraine: 1991
Hong Kong: 1991
stonia: 1992
Russia: 1993 (female homosexuality never criminalized)
Guinea-Bissau: 1993
Belarus: 1994
Moldova: 1995
Romania: 1996
Ecuador: 1997
PRC: 1997
Kazakhstan: 1998
South Africa: 1998
Chile: 1999
2000s
Azerbaijan: 2000
Georgia: 2000
Iraq: 2003
Armenia: 2003
Belize: 2003 (female homosexuality never criminalized)
USA: 2003
Puerto Rico: 2003(passed under US commonwealth)
Cape Verde: 2004
Marshall Islands: 2005
Nepal: 2007
Tokelau: 2007
Nicaragua: 2008
Panama: 2008
Fiji: 2010
Lesotho: 2012
Lebanon: 2014
TRC/Northern Cyprus: 2014
Mozambique: 2015

Shadowstar1922 wrote:Russia: 1993 (female homosexuality never criminalized)
Belize: 2003 (female homosexuality never criminalized)

I'd like more information on these. Why?

interesting... how was it treated before the 1700s?

making it illegal is more of a modern history issue?

I'm sure it was fine during roman times...

nice list though.

Foopzheart wrote:

Shadowstar1922 wrote:Russia: 1993 (female homosexuality never criminalized)
Belize: 2003 (female homosexuality never criminalized)

I'd like more information on these. Why?

It was illegal to execute women in a lot of countries. Ontop of that, female homosexuality never attacked or threatened femininity or female gender norms, but male homosexuality greatly hindered masculinity and male gender norms.

it's just gender norms, man

In Indochina, specifically Laos and Vietnam, male homosexuality is more accepted than female homosexuality. lesbians are looked down more there than here. Mainly because, male homosexuality didn't hurt masculinity, but female homosexuality hurt femininity

@Frook: Homosexuality was treated quite fairly in France, mainly because of the French Revolution. Since the French Revolution was a product of socialism, they tolerated gays and promoted healthy sexuality. Though gay couples weren't as open about their love as straight couples, they were allowed to live with each other and could not be sentenced to jail, and were often protected by legislation. There was still social discrimination, but it was tolerated to an extent.

thought you asked during the 1700s

The only reason why homosexuality was illegalized and attacked, and homophobia institutionalized into governments was because of the spead of Christianity and Islam. Africa, the Americas, and all of Asia with disregard to the Middle East tolerated gay people and were often equal to straight people in indigenous tribes. In Chinese, Korean, and Japanese ancient culture, gay people were represented in literature and the arts and it was actually encouraged in China for young men to take lovers before settling with a woman. Though it was encouraged for men to settle with a woman, they were allowed to settle with another man and only faced social teasing.

In Native american tribes (a majority of them) homosexuals were seen as a connection between the real world and the spirit world and were seen as better and divine. When native american villages had gay couples, they would party and celebreate them because it was a sign of prosperity.

In The Roman Empire, it was seen as more manly to be gay than to be straight. A lot of men had sex with other men during their military employment, even though it was illegal (not because they were gay but because lust was seen as corruptible - the Roman government feared soldiers would desert if they fell in love with a local person)

In Greece, it was the same way, being gay was seen as more manly and was actually promoted, especially in Sparta. You were encouraged to take on a male lover. A lot of men returning from being a soldier would only find a wife simply to have kids. A good number of men with wives didn't really feel anything for their wife and would often leave them for their former male lover. Women did it too sometimes, though female homosexuality was seen as weird (not negative weird, just odd)

West Africa had a lot of gay couples too and were completely accepted in culture.

The only area in the world where gay people were not accepted before Christian and Islamic Empires were Eastern Africa.

France, Denmark Japan, and RSFSR passed cohabitation rights and federal benefits before the gay marriage fight.

Shadowstar1922 wrote:

Foopzheart wrote:

Shadowstar1922 wrote:Russia: 1993 (female homosexuality never criminalized)
Belize: 2003 (female homosexuality never criminalized)

I'd like more information on these. Why?

It was illegal to execute women in a lot of countries. Ontop of that, female homosexuality never attacked or threatened femininity or female gender norms, but male homosexuality greatly hindered masculinity and male gender norms.

it's just gender norms, man

In Indochina, specifically Laos and Vietnam, male homosexuality is more accepted than female homosexuality. lesbians are looked down more there than here.

@Frook: Homosexuality was treated quite fairly in France, mainly because of the French Revolution. Since the French Revolution was a product of socialism, they tolerated gays and promoted healthy sexuality. Though gay couples weren't as open about their love as straight couples, they were allowed to live with each other and could not be sentenced to jail, and were often protected by legislation. There was still social discrimination, but it was tolerated to an extent.

France, Denmark Japan, and RSFSR passed cohabitation rights and federal benefits before the gay marriage fight.

Neat. Thanks for the information. Learning is great