ASIA

Population: 167.4 million

The criminalisation of homosexuality in Bangladesh dates back to 1860 and was put into place by the British Raj, yet the government still refuses to overturn the law

Timeline:

1860: Section 377 of the Penal Code on “unnatural offences” criminalises same-sex sexual activity with a maximum punishment of life imprisonment

2009: Bangladesh Parliament refuses to overturn Section 377 of the Penal Code

2013: Bangladesh Parliament refuses to overturn Section 377 of the Penal Code (again); Government officially recognises hijras as a “third sex” identity

2014: Roopbaan, the first LGBTI+ Bengali-language magazine in Bangladesh, is launched

2016: Activists Xulhaz Mannan and Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy are hacked to death; investigation is stalled resulting in a chilling effect within the LGBTQ+ community

2018: Bangladesh rejects recommendations to remove Section 377 of the Criminal Code and adopt effective protection from discrimination, harassment and violence against LGBTQ+ community

2019: Pinki Khatun, a trans woman, is elected as a councillor in Kotchandpur

2021: Six men are finally convicted and sentenced to death in the killings of Xulhaz Mannan and Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy

LGBTQ+ people have very few rights in Bangladesh. Homosexuality is outlawed in Section 377 of the colonial-era Penal Code on “unnatural offences”, and carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Despite the fact that these laws were put into place by the British Raj in 1860, the Bangladesh Parliament has repeatedly refused to overturn them, most recently in 2013.

LGBTQ+ Bangladeshis face stigma, discrimination, and violence, including from police or other officials. Although the Bangladesh Parliament officially recognised hijras as a “third sex” for the purpose of voting and the National ID in 2013, that has not translated into safety for this group. Like others in the community, they are targets for blackmail, harassment, and abuse.

Same-sex marriage is illegal in Bangladesh and there are no recognitions for same-sex civil unions. Adoption to same-sex couples is not allowed and LGBTQ+ Bangladeshis cannot serve openly in the military. The one area of rights secured by LGBTQ+ Bangladeshis is around gender recognition. They do have the right to change their legal gender, and there is recognition of a legal third gender.

Population: 445.4 thousand

A 2019 change to the Penal Code increased punishments for male and female same-sex sexual activity, including the death penalty for sodomy

Timeline:

1951: Penal Code criminalises homosexuality

2015: Matthew Woolf founds The Brunei Project, a (now defunct or underground) human rights initiative with a focus on LGBTQ+ rights

2016: The Brunei Project organises Brunei's first "International Day Against Homophobia" event

2019: Sharia Law comes into effect in Brunei; Penal Code changed to make offences including sodomy punishable by death; lesbian sex carries a penalty of 40 strokes of the cane and a maximum of 10 years in jail; after outcry, Brunei extends moratorium on death penalty

Brunei Darussalam applies Sharia Law and has some of the harshest penalties for consensual same-sex sexual activities in Asia, including whipping, stoning, caning, and death. The country has a long history of criminalising homosexuality but a shift to Sharia Law in 2019 brought with it harsher punishments and an increased culture of fear. After international outcry, the Sultan claimed that there would be a moratorium on the death penalty for sodomy, though whether (or when) it might be lifted is unknown.

In 2015, a human rights group called The Brunei Project formed and organised a private event for the International Day Against Homophobia the following year. The group’s website and Facebook page are no longer available online.

Population: 1.4 billion

Colonial-era attitudes and prohibitions are giving way to new rights and protections for LGBTQ+ people in India

Timeline:

1860: Section 377 of British Penal Code criminalises homosexual activity

1994: Hijras are legally granted voting rights as a third sex; Ashok Row Kavi founds the Humsafar Trust to support LGBTQ+ human rights

2003: A hijra is gang-raped in Bangalore and then gang-raped by the police

2008: Four Indian cities (Delhi, Bangalore, Pondicherry, and Kolkata) hold coordinated pride events

2011: A Haryana lesbian couple is murdered by their nephews because of their relationship

2015: The Rajya Sabha unanimously passes the Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, guaranteeing employment rights and entitlements and provisions to prohibit abuse

2018: Consensual homosexual intercourse decriminalised; Article 15 of the Constitution is interpreted to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity

2019: Transgender people in India are allowed to change their legal gender post-sex reassignment surgery

2022: MP Supriya Sule introduces a private member's bill to legalise same-sex marriages; India's Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment announces that gender-affirming healthcare will be covered by insurance in the nation

The consequences on the rights and protections of LGBTQ+ people of British colonialism in India can hardly be overstated, but in more recent years much progress has been made. For example, transgender people gained employment rights and protections in 2015, homosexuality was decriminalised in 2018, and in 2022, an MP tabled a bill to legalise same-sex marriage. Currently, same-sex couples can legally enter into unregistered cohabitation agreements, but they cannot adopt children or serve openly in the military. Transgender people have voting rights, employment discrimination protections, and the legal right to change their gender, and as of this year, gender confirming surgeries are paid for by national healthcare.

The human rights picture for LGBTQ+ Indians is rapidly improving, particularly in urban centres, but there are still cases of harassment (including by authorities), discrimination, blackmail, and violence.

Population: 33.1 million

Malaysia has two sets of laws - civil law and Islamic Sharia law - and both criminalise homosexuality

Timeline:

1994: The government bans anyone who is homosexual, bisexual, or transsexual from appearing in state-controlled media

1995: The Religious Affairs Minister of the state of Selangor praises the Islamic Badar vigilante groups who had been involved in the arrest of 7,000 individuals for engaging in "unIslamic" activities such as homosexuality in 1994

2005: The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) chief Mohd Anwar Mohd Nor states that the Navy would never accept homosexuals

2010: The Film Censorship Board of Malaysia announces it will only allow depiction of homosexual characters as long as the characters "repent" or die

2017: LGBT Pride march organised by Taylor's University planned in June is cancelled due to Islamist pressure; government’s Islamic Development Department endorses conversion therapy; government denies Pelangi Campaign’s registration

2018: Two women are convicted for attempting to have lesbian sex in a car parked in public area, and are fined and caned

2019: A court sentences five men charged with attempting gay sex to fines, imprisonment, and caning

2021: A court declares that no state laws within Malaysia can be in conflict with or override federal laws banning gay sex; Deputy Minister for Religious Affairs, Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, proposes an amendment to the Syariah Courts that would allow state Sharia (Syariah) courts to establish even harsher sentences for same-sex conduct

Malaysia retains its colonial-era criminal ban on sodomy, which can be punished by fines, caning, and prison sentences of up to 20 years. In addition to the secular law, Muslim citizens may also be charged in special Islamic courts under Sharia laws which prohibit both same-sex relations and non-normative gender expression, resulting in frequent arrests of transgender people. Vigilante executions, beatings, and torture are tolerated, and LGBTQ+ people face the additional risk of being deported. Government officials are outspoken in their opposition to LGBTQ+ rights and are proactive in banning organisations, conferences, and media that may involve LGBTQ+ rights.

LGBTQ+ Malaysians are not protected by anti-discrimination legislation and do not have any rights to marriage, civil unions, adoption, to to serve openly in the military.

Population: 555 thousand

Homosexuality is forbidden under the Penal Code and Islamic Sharia law in the Maldives

Timeline:

1968: Penal Code criminalises homosexuality

2009: The Maldives enacts a new Constitution that includes a chapter on rights and freedoms but LGBTQ+ rights are excluded

2013: Gay blogger Hilath Rasheed is violently attacked and has his throat cut outside his home in the Maldives; he has subsequently fled the country

2015: Penal Code is amended criminalising same-sex marriage and tightening laws around same-sex sexual activity

The Maldives has a Penal Code that works in tandem with Islamic Sharia law. Though not often prosecuted, homosexuality is criminalised in the Maldives and punishable with prison sentences, fines, and lashings. LGBTQ+ people face discrimination without legal protection, and have no rights when it comes to marriage, adoption, or changing their legal gender. Hate crimes are frequent and tolerated. Due to institutional and cultural homophobia, LGBTQ+ activism in the Maldives is mostly virtual.

Population: 228.4 million

Colonial-era laws and religious disapproval of LGBTQ+ people in Pakistan is slowly giving way to more permissive ideas; transgender rights are leading the way

Timeline:

1860: Penal Code, developed by the British Raj, criminalises sodomy

2010: The Supreme Court orders the full recognition of the transgender community, including the provision of free medical and educational facilities, microcredit schemes and job quotas for transgender people in every government department

2018: Parliament passes the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act which establishes broad protections for transgender people in everything except public accommodations and services

2019: Shireen Mazari, the Federal Minister for Human Rights, appoints Ayesha Moghul, a transgender woman to her department for the first time

2020: A transgender woman named Gul Panra is shot dead in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

Homosexuality is illegal and can carry a punishment of us to life in prison. Additionally LGBTQ+ people are vulnerable to vigilante violence including beating, torture, and murder. In 2010, Pakistan recognised a third gender and the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2018 established protections for transgender people but there is still no anti-discrimination legislation on the basis of sexual orientation. LGBTQ+ people cannot marry, adopt, or serve openly in the military.

Population: 5.9 million

A conservative society, Singapore still has laws on the books that criminalise homosexuality and LGBTQ+ people have few rights and protections

Timeline:

1871: Singapore Penal Code criminalises male same-sex sexual activity, and oral and anal sex between anyone

2007: Penal Code reviewed and anal and oral sex is legalised for heterosexuals and lesbians, but not for gay men who can face two years in prison

2020: The High Court dismisses three legal challenges to the criminalisation of same-sex activity

Same-sex sexual activity between males is illegal and prosecutions do occasionally occur. Despite some attempted court challenges to the relevant law, Singaporean courts have dismissed cases as recently as 2020. A deep review of the Penal Code in 2007 resulted in some changes, including, curiously, the decriminalisation of anal and oral sex for heterosexuals and lesbians but not for gay men. Same-sex sexual activity between women is legal. LGBTQ+ people cannot adopt or marry, and can only serve in the military in some positions, but Singaporeans do have the right to change their legal gender.

There is an active LGBTQ+ rights community in Singapore that brought the Pink Dot event to the country starting in 2009. Activists and organisations persist in bringing legal challenges to the relevant laws.

Population: 21.5 million

A recent ruling by a UN committee may mark the end of criminalisation for homosexuality begun in 1883 by colonial forces

Timeline: 

1883: Section 377 of the Sri Lankan Penal Code (IPC) states that "whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal" would be punished with imprisonment or fines

1995: Articles 365 is amended to replace the word "males" with "persons" so that same-sex sexual activity between two consenting adult females was outlawed in addition to that between consenting adult males

2004: Equal Ground, Sri Lanka’s nonprofit organisation seeking economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Questioning/Queer (LGBTIQ) community, is founded

2016: A Registrar-General-issued circular instructs all registrars in the country to change the sex and name in the birth certificate based on the gender recognition certificate, legalising gender change

2017: Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapaksa calls homosexuality a mental disorder, and advocates for the rape of lesbians by convicted sex offenders as a way to “cure” them

2018: At a government rally, President Maithripala accuses his opponent of choosing a “butterfly life” (a derogatory term referencing LGBTQ+ people) over national values; Sirisena LGBTQ+ community condemn the president’s remarks

2022: The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), a UN committee, makes a judgment in relation to Sri Lanka’s Penal Code and determines that countries outlawing women having sex with other women are breaching human rights

Although the relevant articles of the Penal Code may apply equally to people of any sexuality or gender identity, they create an environment of hostility and danger for LGBTQ+ Sri Lankans who report unequal application of these laws (and others such as “cheating by impersonation”) that they say are used to persecute them. Police and government workers routinely use the threat of arrest to assault, harass, and sexually, and monetarily extort LGBTQ+ individuals in Sri Lanka and vigilante attacks are tolerated.

There are no anti-discrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Same-sex couples may not marry or adopt. For transgender Sri Lankans, there is the legal ability to change gender but the process is medicalised and onerous. Gender dysphoria is classified as a mental health problem.

Despite a long history of hostility and human rights concerns for LGBTQ+ people in Sri Lanka, there is hope for change. In March of 2022, a UN committee made a judgment concerning Sri Lanka’s Penal Code and determined that countries outlawing women having sex with other women were breaching human rights. Sri Lanka now has six months to respond to the UN.