While global LGBTQ+ rights have made significant strides in recent years—marriage equality in many regions, increased recognition for trans identities—there remains a sobering truth: in 2025, 65 countries still criminalise LGBTQ+ people, with Mali joining the list and Trinidad and Tobago re-criminalising same-sex intimacy. Meanwhile, Namibia offers a rare glimmer of hope, having recently decriminalised same-sex activity.
According to the Human Dignity Trust, LGBTQ+ people continue to face criminalisation in dozens of jurisdictions across the globe. These laws vary in enforcement but share a common thread: they deny queer people their basic rights and dignity.
The Colonial Roots of Homophobic Laws
Colonial legacies—particularly from the British Empire—are closely tied to these laws. Even in regions where queer culture was historically accepted, colonising powers imposed laws criminalising same-sex relationships and gender diversity.
“During the colonial era, European powers exported these legal systems… imposing them at times over diverse indigenous traditions where same-sex activity and gender diversity was not necessarily taboo,” explains Alistair Stewart, head of advocacy at Human Dignity Trust.
He adds that 33 of the 56 Commonwealth nations still criminalise same-sex relations—many using laws untouched for over a century.
“More than half of countries which criminalise LGBT people today can trace the source of these laws to Britain.”
Modern Consequences of Historic Oppression
Even when unenforced, these laws legitimise discrimination in housing, employment, healthcare, and education. They fuel violence, extortion, and social isolation for LGBTQ+ people globally.
“Even where the law is not enforced, criminalisation leaves LGBT people subject to harassment and extortion,” Stewart says.
Julia Ehrt, executive director of ILGA World, warns of the hidden harm these laws cause:
“That has negative effects in regards to access to a social life. There’s a lot of violence in the streets and in families. Many LGBTQ+ people have to be in hiding.”
She also highlights more recent developments, like Indonesia’s 2022 criminal code outlawing sex outside of marriage, potentially criminalising all same-sex intimacy.
A Role for the International Community
Advocates stress the need for respectful, locally led efforts to repeal such laws. Former colonial powers like the UK have a moral obligation to support decriminalisation efforts—without replicating imperial structures.
“There’s an obligation from the UK to support local movements,” says Ehrt.
Stewart echoes this, noting the importance of supporting local organisations, exercising diplomatic pressure, and donating to frontline LGBTQ+ causes, always with cultural sensitivity.
“Respect should be the bedrock on which change is sought.”
🌐 Countries Where It’s Still Illegal to Be LGBTQ+ in 2025
This list by Human Dignity Trust includes jurisdictions with laws criminalising LGBTQ+ people, varying in severity from fines to life imprisonment and, in some cases, the death penalty.
Countries include:
- Afghanistan: Death penalty possible under Taliban rule.
- Iran & Yemen: Same-sex activity punishable by death.
- Brunei & Mauritania: Harsh punishments under Sharia law (death by stoning, though rarely enforced).
- Malaysia & Nigeria: Long prison terms and public flogging.
- UAE, Saudi Arabia, Somalia: Severe punishments under both secular and religious codes.
- Indonesia: Newly passed law criminalises sex outside marriage—indirectly targeting LGBTQ+ individuals.
- Mali: Newly criminalised in 2024 with multiple provisions banning same-sex activity.
- Trinidad and Tobago: Court of Appeal ruling re-criminalised same-sex intimacy in 2025.
Across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and parts of the Caribbean and Pacific, anti-LGBTQ+ laws continue to threaten lives.
🏳️🌈 Glimmers of Hope
Since 2022, Barbados, Mauritius, Dominica, Cook Islands, and most recently, Namibia, have scrapped colonial-era laws. Progress is slow, but steady.
Activists remain hopeful that continued advocacy and education will shrink the list further in the coming years.
