There are 68 countries or territories in the world where same-sex relationships can be prosecuted. Most of these locations are in Africa and the Middle East.
Jussi Nurminen,
Harri Vähäkangas
Singapore has decided to remove the ban on homosexual acts from its criminal code. The law banning sex between men dates back to when Singapore was a British colony. Women were not mentioned in the law.
Similar laws are in force in several countries, and about half of the countries that criminalize gay relationships belong to the Commonwealth of Nations formed by Britain and its former subjects. Among them are many small island states.
The law, which was repealed by Singapore’s parliament, carried a maximum penalty of two years in prison. No sentence has been given for years, but the change is still considered significant.
However, in the same context, it was decided to enshrine in the Constitution of Singapore that marriage is between a man and a woman.
Penalties threaten gays, especially in Africa
After the law change made in Singapore, there are still 68 countries or regions in the world where sexual minorities are punished based on criminal law.
For example, in Malaysia, Singapore’s neighbor, the maximum sentence can be 20 years in prison and a hundred lashes.
In 11 countries, the result can even be the death penalty, and in at least half of these countries executions are still carried out.
Often, the law specifically prohibits sex between men. Of the areas marked in red on the map, 42 have also criminalized sex between women.
Punishment is common, especially in African and Middle Eastern countries and in parts of Asia. There are 32 such countries in Africa alone, says the organization that monitors the status of sexual and gender minorities Human Dignity Trust (you switch to another service).
In some of the countries on the list, punishments are only given in certain areas. Such a country is, for example, Indonesia, where in some parts of the country the maximum you can get is eight years in prison and one hundred lashes.
In recent weeks, attention has been focused on the poor position of sexual minorities in Qatar, which is organizing the soccer World Cup.
The maximum punishment recorded in the law there is death by stoning.
Rainbow protest in Qatar:
In Finland, you could be punished until the year -71
In Finland, the criminalization of homosexual acts was repealed in 1971.
At the same time, however, a ban on solicitation was enacted, i.e. it was made punishable “publicly soliciting fornication between persons of the same sex”.
Homosexuality was classified as a disease until 1981.
Human rights and civil society organization Seta (you will switch to another service) reminds that the ban on exhortation affected, among other things, how homosexuality was treated in the Finnish media. The ban was lifted only in 1999.
This is how Yleisradio treated gayness in 1974: