We've come to the end of the 2010s and it's been a pretty good decade for LGBT+ rights. In England same-sex marriage was legalised and 'gender reassignment' was added to the Equality Act, giving protection to trans people against discrimination.
At the end of 2019, take a look at which countries same-sex marriages are legal, which countries it's illegal to be gay, and which countries have laws concerning gender identity.
Countries where same-sex marriage is legal:
· Argentina
· Australia
· Austria
· Belgium
· Brazil
· Canada
· Colombia
· Denmark
· Ecuador
· England
· Finland
· France
· Germany
· Iceland
· Ireland (Republic of)
· Luxembourg
· Malta
· Netherlands
· New Zealand
· Norway
· Portugal
· Scotland
· South Africa
· Spain
· Sweden
· Taiwan
· United States
· Uruguay
· Wales
… and don’t forget that Northern Ireland passed same-sex marriage laws which will come into effect on 13th January 2020!
Countries where same-sex sexual activity is illegal*:
· Afghanistan
· Algeria
· Antigua & Barbuda
· Bangladesh
· Barbados
· Bhutan
· Brunei
· Burundi
· Cameroon
· Chad
· Comoros
· Cook Islands
· Dominica
· Egypt
· Eritrea
· Eswatini (also known as Swaziland)
· Ethiopia
· Gabon
· Ghana
· Grenada
· Guinea
· Guyana
· Indonesia
· Iran
· Iraq
· Jamaica
· Kenya
· Kiribati
· Kuwait
· Lebanon
· Liberia
· Libya
· Malawi
· Malaysia
· Maldives
· Mauritania
· Mauritius
· Morocco
· Myanmar
· Namibia
· Nigeria
· Oman
· Pakistan
· Palestine
· Papua New Guinea
· Qatar
· Saint Kitts and Nevis
· Saint Lucia
· Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
· Samoa
· Saudi Arabia
· Senegal
· Sierra Leone
· Singapore
· Solomon Islands
· Somalia
· South Sudan
· Sri Lanka
· Sudan
· Syria
· Tanzania
· The Gambia
· Togo
· Tonga
· Tunisia
· Turkmenistan
· Tuvalu
· Uganda
· United Arab Emirates
· Uzbekistan
· Yemen
· Zambia
· Zimbabwe
*Some of these countries have laws prohibiting sex between men but not sex between women. Find out more about LGBT+ rights in these countries on Human Dignity Trust
World map showing laws concerning gender identity
Map credit: AHC300 [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]