Where is being gay still against the law?

India recently decriminalised gay sex in a landmark ruling for LGBT rights, overturning a ban dating back more than 150 years.

The judges of the Supreme Court were unanimous in their decision to overturn the ban on consensual same-sex relations, a law dating back to colonial times, which was previously punishable by a sentence up to life in prison.

The only other country in South Asia where such relations are not criminalised is Nepal, whose Supreme Court in 2007 ordered the government to identify all the laws that discriminated against LGBT+ people – and to investigate legal recognition of same-sex relationships.

Although the decision is a historic move for India, many countries continue to outlaw gay sex.

Gay sex was illegal in India from 1861 (Manjunath Kiran/AFP/Getty Images)

Where is it illegal to be gay?

According to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), there are 71 countries that criminalise same-sex relations and several others which have legal restrictions.

Russia and Lithuania do not have laws against homosexual acts, for example, but do have repressive laws against “propaganda” of homosexuality.

Lucas Ramon Mendos, senior research officer at the ILGA, told PinkNews provisions criminalising same-sex relations have been declared unconstitutional both in Trinidad and Tobago, but added “a final judgement still has to be made.”

“Things are also evolving in Costa Rica, where the Supreme Court ruled in August that laws banning marriage equality in the country are unconstitutional and must be changed within 18 months, and a similar decision has recently been made in Austria,” he adds.

Police detain a LGBT activist during a protest in Moscow in 2017 (MAXIM ZMEYEV/AFP/Getty Images)