Homosexuality laws of the world

World laws on homosexuality

US laws on homosexuality

Same-sex unions in Europe.

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The countries of the world have a wide variety of laws relating to sexual relations between people of the same sex - everything from full same-sex marriage to the death penalty as punishment for homosexual intercourse. Among the first laws on same-sex relations ca. 600 BC are those in ancient Crete and Sparta, which encouraged all adult men to engage in mentoring homoerotic friendships.

The first recorded laws against sexual intercourse between men are dated by liberal scholars to 550 BC, during the Babylonian captivity of the Jewish people; they are recorded in Leviticus (though conservative scholars date Leviticus much older), and they prescribe the death penalty. It is largely seen as a distinction between Judaism and Paganism on par with worshiping "false gods". At the time same-sex relations were incorporated into many Pagan religions. This pattern was continued throughout history with punitive laws arising from traditional interpretations of Judaism and its descendants: Christianity and Islam. With the advent of colonialism this attitude spread along with political control from the imperial powers of the Abrahamic religions. In post-colonial times some non-Abrahamic religions have maintained their adoptive views of homosexuality. Usually an Abrahamic religion is the primary factor when accounting for a law against homosexuality and the major supporter.

Christian psychologists in Europe also attempted to rationalize the negative views of sodomy predominant in Europe in the middle ages with secular language, calling it a disease, by which means it was later absorbed as non-religious science in Communist states.

In addition to laws against the practice of homosexuality, many countries around the world consider calling a person homosexual sufficient grounds for a libel lawsuit. For example, Jason Donovan and Liberace have sued newspapers that ran articles insinuating they were gay; both men won their lawsuits.

This is a list of laws around the world concerning homosexuality. The list is arranged alphabetically by region. It should be noted that this list should not be assumed to represent a standard for measuring a nation's views, per se. Many nations which retained negative laws for a lengthy period of time, or even retain them today, may in practice be less oppressive of homosexuality than this suggests, with such laws simply being unenforced anachronisms. Similarly, a country which lacks formal laws against it may possess a culture which is openly hostile and may chose to persecute individuals by other means.

For greater depth in coverage see these related articles.

1 Homosexuality laws
2 See also
3 External links
4 Categories

Homosexuality laws

Country links marked "(☆)" feature special "Gay rights" articles about the country in question.

Africa

Country	Laws against homosexuality	Max. Penalty	Min. Penalty	Same-sex Unions	Laws against discrimination	Comments
Algeria	Yes	3 years	Fine	-	No	See Gay rights in Algeria
Angola	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	-	No
Benin	Yes	3 years	Unknown	-	No
Botswana	Yes	7 years	Fine	-	No
☆Burkina Faso	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Burkina Faso
Burundi	No	-	-	-	No
☆Cameroon	Yes	5 years	Fine	-	No	See Gay rights in Cameroon
Cape Verde	No	-	-	-	No	Homosexual acts decriminalised by the new Penal Code of 2004.
☆Central African Republic	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in the Central African Republic
☆Chad	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Chad
Comoros	Unclear	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Comoros
☆Republic of the Congo	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in the Republic of the Congo
Côte d'Ivoire	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
Djibouti	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	-	No	See Gay rights in Djibouti
☆Egypt	Unclear	-	-	-	No	Although not illegal, commonly oppressed with vague morality laws. See Gay rights in Egypt
Equatorial Guinea	No	-	-	-	No
Eritrea	Yes	3 years	10 days	-	No	See Gay rights in Eritrea
Ethiopia	Yes	3 years	10 days	-	No	See Gay rights in Ethiopia
☆Gabon	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Gabon.
Gambia	Yes	14 years	Fine	-	No
☆Ghana	Yes	?	?	-	No	See Gay rights in Ghana
Guinea	Yes	3 years	6 months	-	No
Guinea Bissau	Yes	?	?	-	No
☆Kenya	Male only	14 years	Fine	-	No	See Gay rights in Kenya
Lesotho	Male only	Unknown	Unknown	-	No
Liberia	Yes	Fine	Fine	-	No	See Gay rights in Liberia
Libya	Yes	5 years	Fine	-	No	See Gay rights in Libya
Madagascar	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Madagascar
Malawi	Yes	14 years	Unknown	-	No
☆Mali	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Mali
Mauritania	Yes	Death	Death	-	No	See Gay rights in Mauritania
Mauritius	Yes	5 years	Fine	-	No	See Gay rights in Mauritius
☆Morocco	Yes	3 years	6 months	-	No	See Gay rights in Morocco
Mozambique	Yes	3 years	Fine	-	No
Namibia	Male only	Unknown	Unknown	-	Yes	Laws against discrimination in Labour Code since 1992
☆Niger	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Niger
☆Nigeria	Yes. See [1]	Death/14 years	Fine	-	No	Areas under Sharia have instituted death for men and women. See Gay rights in Nigeria
Rwanda	No	-	-	-	No	Homosexual age of consent set at 18, 16 for heterosexual sex.
São Tomé and Príncipe	Yes	?	?	-	No
Senegal	Yes	5 years	1 month	-	No	See Gay rights in Senegal
Seychelles	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	-	No	See Gay rights in Seychelles
Sierra Leone	Yes	Life	-	-	Yes*	*The Anti-Corruption Commission stated in a press release that in a bid to attract competent and qualified staff, they operate a transparent recruitment policy, which even forbids discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Somalia	Yes	3 years	3 months	-	No	Areas under Sharia have instituted death for men and women.
☆South Africa	No*	-	-	Same-sex marriage	Yes	*The age of consent is under review. See [2] Constitution explicitly protects against sexual orientation discrimination. Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage. See Gay rights in South Africa
Sudan	Yes	Death	5 years	-	No	See Gay rights in Sudan
Swaziland	Male only	Prison	Fine	-	No
Tanzania	Yes	Life	-	-	No	In Zanzibar male homosexual acts are punished with up to 25 years imprisonment or fine. Lesbian acts are punished with up 7 years imprisonment or fine.
Togo	Yes	3 years	Fine	-	No
Tunisia	Yes	3 years	Fine	-	No	See Gay rights in Tunisia
Uganda	Male only	Life (20 years)	Fine	-	No
Zambia	Male only	14 years	Fine	-	No
Zimbabwe	Male only	3 years	Fine	-	No	See Gay rights in Zimbabwe

Asia

Country	Laws against homosexuality	Max. Penalty	Min. Penalty	Same-sex Unions	Laws against discrimination	Comments
☆Afghanistan	Yes	15 years	5 years	-	No	Homosexuality is still a crime, but the death penalty (imposed under the Taliban) is no longer used. The Penal Code from 1976 in force, stipulates long imprisonment for adultery and pederasty. See Gay rights in Afghanistan.
☆Bahrain	Male only	10 years	Fine	-	No	See Gay rights in Bahrain
Bangladesh	Yes	Life	10 years	-	No
Bhutan	Yes	?	?	-	No	See Gay rights in Bhutan
Brunei	Yes	10 years	Fine	-	No	See Gay rights in Brunei
☆Cambodia	No	-	-	-	No	Former king Norodom Sihanouk has called for legalization of gay marriage. See Gay rights in Cambodia
☆China (PRC)	No	-	-	-	No	Marriage laws under-review. see Gay rights in China
Hong Kong	No	-	-	-	Considered	AD under consideration. Court ruling in 2005 equalised age of consent with that for heterosexual sex. See [3] and the judgment appeal by the Government in 2006 failed. See [4]. See Gay rights in China#Hong Kong.
☆India	Yes	Life	Fine	-	No	Law remains on books but government does not prosecute, criminalizes 'carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman, or animal'. See Gay rights in India.
Indonesia	No*	-	-	-	No	*According to the Penal Code, homosexual acts are legal. However, article 292 criminalizes homosexual acts with a person under the age of 18, with up to 5 years imprisonment; the age of consent for heterosexuality is lower. In 2002, the Aceh province was given the right to instate islamic sharia by laws by the national parliament. Such law does apply to muslims only, and for example the city of Palembang in South Sumatra has introduced jail time and hefty fines, for homosexual acts. See [5] also in 2003, a proposal to nationally criminalize homosexuality failed; See Gay rights in Indonesia.
☆Iran	Yes	Death	Death (but many are imprisoned or pardoned "under the table")	-	No	Sex change operations have been given official government support as means to cure a gender identity disease. Law in Iran, in general, is not formally in order and is often abused by government officials. Executions for homosexuality continue, most recently teenagers Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni. See LGBT rights in Iran.
☆Iraq	No. See [6]	-	-	-	No	Criminal code amended to include death penalty for homosexuality in 2001. The U.S. occupation restored the criminal code back to its original 1969 edition. No provisions of the current Iraqi criminal code deal with homosexuality. However, death squads are operating in the country killing gays. See Gay rights in Iraq.
☆Israel and West Bank	No	-	-	Same sex marriage recognised in Israel. See [7] and Civil Partnership (Under process of legislation)	Yes	Fairly strong support for giving legal recognition to same-sex couples. Only Middle Eastern nation to support gay rights legislation. The armed forces of Israel allow service without any distinction based on sexual orientation. See Gay rights in Israel.
☆Japan	No	-	-	-	Yes	AD in Human Rights Act since 2001. See Gay rights in Japan.
☆Jordan	No	-	-	-	No	While not a crime, reports have shown that gays can be victims of vigilante "honor killings." See Gay rights in Jordan.
Kazhakstan	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Kazhakstan
Kuwait	Yes	7 years	Fine	-	No	See Gay rights in Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Kyrgyzstan
Laos	No	-	-	-	No	See Penal Code.[8]
☆Lebanon	Yes	1 year	Fine	-	No	A small public campaign exists to legalize homosexual relations between consenting adults in private. See Gay rights in Lebanon.
Macao	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Macao
Malaysia	Yes	20 years	Fine	-	No	Former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who was himself jailed for homosexuality, has called for their repeal. The daughter of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Marina Mahathir, has called for an end to discrimination based on sexual orientation.[9] However, as Prime Minister, her father warned gay ministers in foreign countries not to visit his nation.[10] See Gay rights in Malaysia
Maldives	Male only	10 years	Fine	-	No	See Gay rights in The Maldives
Mongolia	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Mongolia
Myanmar	Yes	Life	10 years	-	No	See Gay rights in Burma
Nepal	Yes. See [11]	1 year [12]	5,000 rupees [13]	-	No	See Gay rights in Nepal
North Korea	No	-	-	-	No	No public discussion or reference to homosexuality is allowed. Seen as a capitalist disease or vice. See Gay rights in North Korea.
Oman	Yes	3 years	Fine	-	No	See Gay rights in Oman
Pakistan	Yes, See [14]	Life	2 years	-	No	The law applies to both men and women; See Gay rights in Pakistan
☆Palestinian Authority	Yes, (Gaza only) - Legal in West Bank. See [15] and [16]	10 years (Gaza only)	?	-	No	Homosexual acts illegal in Gaza by the Criminal Code Ordinance 1936 in force. While it is legal in the West Bank where the Jordan Penal Code of 1960 in in force, some are arrested or tortured. Gay Palestinians often attempt to flee to Israel as they are targeted for death in PA-controlled areas. See Gay Palestinian issues.
☆Philippines	No	-	-	-	Considered	Communist Party facilitates same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriages banned since 2003. See Gay rights in the Philippines
Qatar	Yes	5 years	Fine	-	No	See Gay rights in Qatar
☆Saudi Arabia	Yes	Death	Death	-	No	Jail time, fines or whipping may be used in lieu of the death penalty. See Gay rights in Saudi Arabia
☆Singapore	Yes	Life	2 years	-	No	Law is rarely enforced, usually when it suspects risk of HIV infections during events such as sex parties. [17] Government officials have made calls to embrace diversity [18]. Former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong stated that open homosexuals can be employed in the civil workforce. See Discrimination against homosexuals in Singapore.
☆South Korea	No	1 year (military only)	-	-	No	No mention of homosexuality in Constitution or Civil Penal Code, although in practice widespread discrimination against homosexuals and censorship against gay websites is fairly common. Military Penal Code states up to a maximum of one year servitude or dishonorable discharge for homosexual acts performed while on active duty. See Gay rights in South Korea.
Sri Lanka	Yes	10 years	Fine	-	No	See Gay rights in Sri Lanka
Syria	Yes	3 years	Fine	-	No	See Gay rights in Syria
☆Taiwan	No	-	-	-	No	Pending law allows same-sex marriage. See Gay rights in Taiwan.
Tajikistan	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Tajikistan
☆Thailand	No	-	-	-	No	Thailand now permits gays and transsexuals to serve in its military. [19]. See Gay rights in Thailand
Turkmenistan	Male only	2 years	Fine	-	No	See Gay rights in Turkmenistan
☆United Arab Emirates	Yes	Death	Unknown	-	No	See Gay rights in the United Arab Emirates.
Uzbekistan	Male only	3 years	Fine	-	No	Only applies to anal sex; See Gay rights in Uzbekistan.
Vietnam	No	-	-	-	No	Same-sex marriages banned since 1998. Reports suggest that this law may extend to a prohibition on same-sex couples living together or having any sort of public commitment celebration.
Yemen	Yes	Death	Flogging	-	No	See Gay rights in Yemen

Europe

Country	Laws against homosexuality	Max. Penalty	Min. Penalty	Same-sex Unions	Laws against discrimination	Comments
Albania	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Albania
Andorra	No	-	-	Stable unions	Yes, See [20]
Armenia	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Armenia
☆Austria	No	-	-	-	Yes	See Gay rights in Austria.
Azerbaijan	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Azerbaijan
☆Belgium	No	-	-	Same-sex marriage	Yes	See Gay rights in Belgium
☆Belarus	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Belarus.
☆Bosnia-Herzegovina	No	-	-	-	Yes	AD in Gender Equality Act since 2003. See Gay rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina
☆Bulgaria	No	-	-	-	Yes	Gay rights in Bulgaria
Chechen Republic	Yes	Death [21]	Caning	-	No	See Gay rights in Chechen Republic.
☆Croatia	No	-	-	Unregistered cohabitation	Yes	See Gay rights in Croatia.
☆Cyprus	No, however in Northern Cyprus homosexuality is still technically illegal, See [22]	-	-	-	Yes	See Gay rights in Cyprus
☆Czech Republic	No	-	-	Registered partnership	Yes	See Gay rights in the Czech Republic
☆Denmark	No	-	-	Registered partnership	Yes	First counry to legalize same-sex partnerships of any kind (1989) See Gay rights in Denmark
☆Estonia	No	-	-	-	Yes	See Gay rights in Estonia
Faroe Islands	No	-	-	-	No
☆Finland	No	-	-	Registered partnership	Yes	See Gay rights in Finland.
☆France	No	-	-	pacte civil de solidarité	Yes	It should be noted that pacte civil de solidarité (French civil unions) have become an increasingly popular choice among opposite sex and same-sex couples. See Gay rights in France.
Georgia	No	-	-	-	Yes	See Gay rights in Georgia
☆Germany	No	-	-	Registered partnership	Yes	See Gay rights in Germany
Gibraltar	No	-	-	No	Yes - See [23]	AoC set at 18 for male-male sex, 16 for others, See [24]
☆Greece	No	-	-	-	Yes	See Gay rights in Greece
Guernsey	No	-	-	No	Considered	AoC set at 18 for male-male sex, 16 for others [25]
☆Hungary	No	-	-	Unregistered cohabitation	Yes	See Gay rights in Hungary
Iceland	No	-	-	Registered partnership	Yes	See Gay rights in Iceland
☆Ireland	No	-	-	Considered	Yes	See Gay rights in the Republic of Ireland.
Isle of Man	No	-	-	No	Yes
Italy	No	-	-	Some regions	Yes	Civil unions are recognised in Tuscany, Umbria, Emilia Romagna, Campania, Marche, Veneto, Puglia, Lazio, Liguria and Abruzzo. See Gay rights in Italy.
Jersey	No	-	-	No	Considered
Latvia	No	-	-	-	No	Same-sex marriages banned.
☆Liechtenstein	No	-	-	-	Considered	Gay rights in Liechtenstein
Lithuania	No	-	-	-	Yes
Luxembourg	No	-	-	Registered partnerships	Yes
☆Macedonia	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Macedonia.
Malta	No	-	-	-	Yes	See Gay rights in Malta
Moldova	No	-	-	-	Considered
Monaco	No	-	-	Yes	Yes	See Gay rights in Monaco
☆Montenegro	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Montenegro.
☆Netherlands	No	-	-	Same-sex marriage and Registered partnerships	Yes	The first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. See Gay rights in the Netherlands.
Norway	No	-	-	Registered partnership	Yes	See Gay rights in Norway.
☆Poland	No	-	-	-	Yes	See Gay rights in Poland.
☆Portugal	No	-	-	Registered partnership	Yes	See Gay rights in Portugal.
☆Romania	No	-	-	-	Yes	See Gay rights in Romania.
☆Russia	No	-	-	-	No	Proposals (by NPRF)to recriminalize homosexuality failed in 2002, 2003 and 2004. See Gay rights in Russia.
San Marino	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in San Marino
☆Serbia	No	-	-	-	Yes*	*AD in Kosovo since 2001. See Gay rights in Serbia.
☆Slovakia	No	-	-	-	Yes	See Gay rights in Slovakia.
Slovenia	No	-	-	Registered partnership	Yes
☆Spain	No	-	-	Same-sex marriage	Yes	Unregistered and Registered Cohabitation in a number of regions. See Gay rights in Spain.
☆Sweden	No	-	-	Registered partnership	Yes	Partnerships have the same rights as heterosexual marriage including adoption, but are legally distinct from marriage. See Gay rights in Sweden.
Switzerland	No	-	-	Registered partnership	No	See Gay rights in Switzerland
☆Turkey	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Turkey.
☆Ukraine	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Ukraine.
☆United Kingdom	No	-	-	Civil partnership	Yes	See Gay rights in the United Kingdom.
Vatican City	No	-	-	-	No	Homosexuality is technically legal, but contrary to the teachings of the ruling Roman Catholic Church; See Gay rights in the Vatican City.

North and Central America

Country	Laws against homosexuality	Max. Penalty	Min. Penalty	Same-sex Unions	Laws against discrimination	Comments
Antigua and Barbuda	Yes	15 years	-	-	No	British laws are not applied to A & B, and therefore the Sexual Offences Act 1995 criminalizing homosexual acts, is still possible to enforce.[26]
Aruba	No	-	-	?	Yes	The Dutch Government states that as part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Aruba is obliged to recognize civil unions and same-sex marriage as valid. However, the Aruban Government says it won't recognize them. A judge ruled in favor of the Dutch Government, case is now pending in higher court.
Bahamas	No	-	-	-	No	"Public" homosexual sex is a 20 year jail sentence and the age of consent for homosexual sex is 18 - 16 for heterosexual sex. See [27]
Barbados	Yes	Life	-	-	No	Laws currently under review - technically still illegal, but not enforced. [28].
Belize	Yes	10 years	-	-	No	Reinstated the old "carnal intercourse" laws in the books that date back from 1988, which were updated in 2003 - but the law was not enforced between 1988 and 2002 [29] and [30] and also under section 26 ii (d) of the immigration act 1958, "Any prostitute or homosexual or any person who may be living on or receiving or may have been living on or receiving the proceeds of prostitution or homosexual behaviour." is outlawed from incoming to Belize. See[31]
Bermuda	No	-	-	-	Considered	The age of consent is 18 for male-male sex, 16 for others from 1994. See [32]
☆Canada	No	-	-	Same-sex marriage	Yes	Anti-discriminatory laws provided by constitution and Egan v. Canada; in all provincial/territorial civil rights codes since Vriend v. Alberta. Common-law marriage since M. v. H., 1999; SSM since Civil Marriage Act, 2005. For more, see Gay rights in Canada.
Cayman Islands	No	-	-	-	Yes
Costa Rica	No	-	-	-	Yes	Same-sex marriages banned. Scandalous sodomy is banned.
☆Cuba	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Cuba.
Dominica	Yes	10 years	-	-	No
Dominican Republic	No	-	-	-	No
El Salvador	No	-	-	-	No
Grenada	Male only	10 years	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Grenada.
☆Guadeloupe	No	-	-	Pacte civil de solidarité	Yes	Guadeloupe is a Département Français d'Outre-mer, so French Law is in force. See Gay rights in France.
Guatemala	No	-	-	-	Yes	AD in Youth and Childhood Act since 1997
Haiti	No	-	-	-	No
Honduras	No	-	-	-	No	Same-sex marriages and adoption banned in the Constitution since 2005.
☆Jamaica	Male only	10 years	10 years	-	No	See LGBT rights in Jamaica.
☆Martinique	No	-	-	Pacte civil de solidarité.	Yes	Martinique is a Département Français d'Outre-mer, so French Law is in force. See Gay rights in France.
Mexico	No	-	-	Yes (Mexico City only)	Yes	Mexican Congress reformed the Constitution in 2001, to forbid discrimination of any kind; in 2003, this change produced the Federal Law to Prevent Discrimination that forbids discrimination by sexual orientation and Civil unions for Mexico City, See [33] and [34];
Netherlands Antilles	No	-	-	Yes	Yes	As part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, civil unions and same-sex marriage are recognized as valid, however, they cannot be performed in the Netherlands Antilles themselves.
Nicaragua	Yes, See [35]	-	-	-	No
Panama	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Panama.
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Male only	10 years	-	-	No
Saint Lucia	Male only	10 years	Fine	-	No
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Yes	10 years	Unknown	-	No	Applies to both men and women
Trinidad and Tobago	Yes	25 years	Fine	-	No	Applies to both men and women
Turks and Caicos Islands	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Turks and Caicos Islands.
☆United States	No. See Lawrence v. Texas	-	-	Civil Unions: VT, CT, and NJ. Domestic partnerships: CA,ME, DC. Reciprocal benefits: HI. Same-sex marriage: MA.	In some states	Some states cover sexual orientation and gender identity, some only cover sexual orientation and some do not cover either. See National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Resource Library [36]. Also see Gay rights in the United States for further information.

Oceania

Country	Laws against homosexuality	Max. Penalty	Min. Penalty	Same-sex Unions	Laws against discrimination	Comments
American Samoa	No	-	-	-	No	[37]
☆Australia	No*	-	-	registered partnership only in Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory	Yes	*The Queensland age of consent for anal sex is 18, 16 for non-anal sex. See [38]; domestic partnerships in all. See [39] and [40]; Same-sex marriage banned under federal law [41] and a registered partnership exists in Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory giving most, but not all rights to same-sex couples. See Gay rights in Australia.
Cook Islands	Male only	14 years	Fine	-	No
☆Fiji	No, See [42]	-	-	-	Yes	Sodomy law ruled unconstitutional by Fiji High Court on August 26, 2005. Constitution explicitly protects against sexual orientation discrimination [43]. See Gay rights in Fiji.
Guam	No	-	-	-	No	[44]
Kiribati	Male only	14 years	Fine	-	No
Marshall Islands	Male only	10 years	Fine	-	No
Micronesia	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Micronesia.
Nauru	Male only* See [45]	14 years hard labor [46]	14 years hard labor [47]	-	No	*Legislation also indexed in written laws and of the criminal code of Queensland. See [48]
New Caledonia	No	-	-	Considered. See Pacte civil de solidarité.	Considered	See Gay rights in France
☆New Zealand	No	-	-	Civil unions	Yes	See Gay rights in New Zealand.
Niue	Male only	10 years	Fine	-	No
Palau	Male only	10 years	Fine	-	No	-
Papua New Guinea	Male only	14 years	Fine	-	No	See Gay rights in Papua New Guinea.
Solomon Islands	Yes	14 years	Fine	-	No
Tahiti, French Polynesia	No	-	-	-	No
Tokelau	Male only	10 years	Fine	-	No
Tonga	Male only	10 years	Fine	-	No
Tuvalu	Male only	14 years	Fine	-	No
Vanuatu, New Hebrides	No	-	-	-	No	AoC higher for homosexual sex at 18, lower for heterosexual sex. See [49].
Western Samoa	Yes	7 years	Fine	-	No	[50]

South America

Country	Laws against homosexuality	Max. Penalty	Min. Penalty	Same-sex Unions	Laws against discrimination	Comments
☆Argentina	No	-	-	Civil unions in Buenos Aires City and Rio Negro Province.	Yes	There are no national anti-discriminatory laws, however, the cities of Buenos Aires and Rosario have specific laws protecting against gay discrimination. See Gay rights in Argentina.
Bolivia	No	-	-	-	No
☆Brazil	No	-	-	Civil unions in Rio Grande do Sul.	Yes*	*Anti discriminatory laws in some cities and states. Other Brazilian areas do not have specific laws to protect LGBT people. See Gay rights in Brazil.
☆Chile	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Chile.
Colombia	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Colombia.
☆Ecuador	No	-	-	-	Yes	Anti-discrimination laws have been in Ecuador's constitution since 1998. See Gay rights in Ecuador.
Falkland Islands	No	-	-	Yes	Yes	See [51]
☆French Guiana	No	-	-	Yes. See Pacte civil de solidarité.	Yes	French Law applies. See Gay rights in France.
Guyana	Male only	Life	Life	-	Considered	See Gay rights in Guyana.
Paraguay	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Paraguay.
Peru	No	-	-	-	Yes	See Gay rights in Peru.
☆Suriname	No	-	-	-	No	See Gay rights in Suriname
Uruguay	No	-	-	Uruguay to permit same-sex civil unions	Yes
☆Venezuela	No	-	-	No	Yes	The 1999 Organic Labour Law provides protection forLGBT people. See Gay rights in Venezuela.