LGBTQ rights update: 2025 tally and 2026 preview

Read more at Erasing 76 Crimes.

Criminalization of gay sex — 2025 tally and 2026 preview

Criminalized Sodomy: Burkina Faso, Trinidad & Tobago

Decriminalized Sodomy: St. Lucia, Niue (reported in 2025; it happened in 2024).

Decriminalized Sodomy in Armed Forces: Dominican Republic

Repeal of Sodomy Laws Proposed: Guyana, Sri Lanka; Massachusetts (USA)

Court Challenges Pending: Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago, Zambia, possibly also St Vincent & the Grenadines and Jamaica

Criminalization Proposed: Niger

The net change in the number of criminalizing states was zero, thanks to losing two states as we gained two others, keeping the total at 65. The same thing happened in 2024, when Mali and Iraq criminalized sodomy while Namibia and Dominica decriminalized it. The number of criminalizing states hasn’t dropped since 2023, when Cook Islands and Mauritius decriminalized. And in fact, prior to 2024, no state had made sodomy a crime since 2019.

It should also be noted that the four states that criminalized sodomy in 2024-25 are all internationally recognized sovereign states with large populations, while the four decriminalizing states include three microstates, two of which aren’t sovereign.

Looking ahead to 2026, we can probably expect the criminalization wave across West Africa to continue into Niger, and possibly some other former French colonies in the area. As for decriminalization, our most likely candidates are Guyana, whose president vowed to decriminalize during last fall’s elections, and Grenada, the last of five Caribbean countries where a constitutional challenge was pending before the local courts. We may see a court challenge go ahead in Zambia this year as well, though the timeline is not currently clear. We’re also unlikely to get a result on the Privy Council appeal of Trinidad & Tobago’s sodomy law until 2027 or later. It also appears that efforts to get decriminalization passed in Sri Lanka have stalled.

Recognition of same-sex unions — 2025 tally and 2026 preview

Equal Marriage Brought into Effect: Liechtenstein, Thailand (both passed in 2024)

Equal Marriage codified: Guanajuato (Mexico)

Codification of Equal Marriage Proposed: Brazil; Virginia, Ohio, Oregon, Missouri (USA, by referendum); Aguascalientes, Chihuahua (Mexico)

Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage: Gabon (passed 2024)

Criminalized Same-Sex Marriage: Burkina Faso

Constitutional Ban on Gay People Adopting: Slovakia

Civil Unions: Lithuania (court ruling, legislation pending), Okinawa (Japan)

Civil Unions Enhanced: Czechia (passed in 2024)

Limited Recognition of Same-Sex Unions: Suriname, Turks & Caicos Islands (UK), Japan, India, European Union (court ruling affecting Poland, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Romania, yet to be implemented)

Court Challenges for Equal Marriage Pending: Japan, Botswana

Civil Union Bill Pending: Poland, Lithuania, Nagasaki (Japan)

Same-Sex Adoption Legalized: Guanajuato (Mexico – Codified), Czechia (stepchild only; passed in 2024), Thailand (passed in 2024)

Ended Discrimination against Same-Sex Couples in Adoption: Luxembourg, Israel, Chile

Surrogacy Legalized: Western Australia

Despite the number of developments listed above, we’ve entered a period where advances in same-sex marriage rights have slowed down, and we should be upfront about that going into 2026. We didn’t win same-sex marriage anywhere, and courts and governments only granted limited civil unions or relationship recognition for a specific limited rights in a handful of jurisdictions.

2026 doesn’t appear to offer much hope for advances, either. A supreme court case in Japan could go either way – or could even find that banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional but order no solution. Sint Maarten (Netherlands) appears to just be waiting for a court challenge to copy the successful challenge in its partner states Aruba and Curacao in 2024, but none has been filed as far as I can see. And no other states in Europe or Latin America appear open to it now, with one asterisk.

At time of writing, the US military has imposed a regime change in Venezuela, removing its sitting president/dictator Nicolas Maduro to stand trial in New York. Who knows who’ll be running Venezuela by the end of 2026? Trump has ruled out the opposition leader who won a Nobel Peace Prize last year, and he insists that the US will be running the country somehow. Meanwhile, Maduro’s vice president has assumed the presidency with the support of Maduro’s supreme court. It’s easy to imagine a democratic Venezuela that is more amenable to LGBT rights than Maduro – there have been intermittent discussions about it in government since 2009. But it’s also easy to imagine that a US-imposed leader may not be keen to advance LGBT rights while dependent on Trump’s support, or another despot taking over in the event of a power vacuum.

Various countries in Africa and in parts of the Muslim world have proposed bills that would impose criminal sanctions on same-sex marriage, including Ghana and Niger. We’ll have to watch out for these.

Poland’s government agreed to a weak civil union bill in the last week of December, but it remains to be seen if even that will survive a threatened presidential veto. And Lithuania’s government has been lukewarm to codifying civil unions into law after the 2025 court ruling made them possible.

Discrimination, hate crime, and conversion therapy protections — 2025 tally and 2026 preview

Sexual Orientation Discrimination Banned: Dominican Republic (court ruling), Aklan (Philippines), Karnataka (India)

Gender Expression Discrimination Banned: Manitoba (Canada), Aklan (Philippines), Karnataka (India)

Gender Identity Discrimination Ban Ordered by Court: Kenya

Discrimination Protections Removed: USA (Trump executive order); Iowa (gender identity protections repealed); UK (supreme court ruled trans women aren’t women under equality law)

SOGIE Discrimination Bans Proposed: Ukraine, Montenegro; Castille & Leon and Asturias (Spain)

Constitutional Ban on SOGIE Discrimination Proposed: Oregon, Ohio, Missouri, Vermont, Connecticut (USA, by referendum)

Conversion Therapy Banned: Spain (penalties enhanced); South Australia & New South Wales (passed 2024); Chiapas, Tamaulipas, Durango, San Luis Potosi & Guanajuato (Mexico, banned federally since 2024); Quezon City (Philippines); New South Wales, South Australia (Australia, both passed in 2024)

Conversion Therapy Bans Proposed/Pending: UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Colombia; Tasmania, Western Australia (Australia); Gibraltar (UK)

LGBTQ Hate Crime Laws: Australia (Nationwide) and Victoria and Tasmania; Karnataka (India)

Hate Crime Law Proposed: Mexico

Hate Crime Law Enhancements Proposed: Canada, Argentina, Ukraine, Romania, UK

Blood Donation Ban Ends: Australia

Blood Donation Ban Reinstated: Greece

Once again, we saw very limited gains in 2025 across these fields, though there were some milestones. The court finding that sexual orientation discrimination is banned under the Dominican Republic constitution is a major development that will likely have ripple effects going forward. And the developments across Australia have been positive even if they were mostly traced to last year.

Looking ahead to 2026, we’re probably heading into another bad year in the United States, which will likely only be mitigated or reversed if Democrats pull off major electoral victories in mid-term and state legislative elections in November. But the supreme court also looks likely to strike down all conversion therapy ban laws across the country during this session too.

Prospects look a little bit brighter in Europe, where applicant EU countries are all racing to shore up their LGBTQ human rights standards and discrimination rules as part of the accession negotiation process. I think the European countries with proposed conversion therapy bans also seem likely to actually pass them this year – maybe the Australian states too.

Freedom of expression and assembly — 2025 tally and 2026 preview

New Laws Banning LGBTQ Expression/Pride Events Passed: Hungary, Kazakhstan (signed in 2026), Burkina Faso

Laws Banning LGBTQ Expression/Assembly Proposed: Turkiye, Ghana, Senegal, Niger

These laws, modeled after the “LGBT Propaganda” laws passed by Russia back in 2013 and Uganda’s “Anti-Homosexuality Act” from 2024, have been multiplying in recent years in countries in Russia’s orbit and across Africa. The EU is doing work to push back against such laws, but with limited success.

Hungary will hold elections in the spring, which will present the best chance to get a less hostile government in power — and hopefully they can reverse the worst anti-LGBT and anti-democratic actions of the Orban regime.

Trans-specific issues — 2025 tally and 2026 preview

Gender Recognition Law Passed: Cuba; Veracruz (Mexico); New South Wales, ACT (Australia, passed in 2024)

Gender Recognition Made Easier: Czechia (surgical requirement ended); Poland (administrative process); Tabasco (Mexico, administrative process)

Gender Recognition Law Proposed: Costa Rica, Montenegro

Non-binary Gender Recognition Passed: Brazil (limited court order); Mexico City (Mexico)

Non-binary Gender Recognition Proposed: Luxembourg

Legal Gender Change Banned: Slovakia, Peru

Gender Care Banned/Restricted: USA (Supreme Court decision upholding bans in 27 states); Brazil; Sweden (passed 2024); New Zealand; Queensland (Australia)

Gender Care Ban/Restrictions Proposed: Turkiye; Argentina; Colorado, Missouri (USA, referendum pending)

Trans People Banned from Military: USA

Trans Sports Ban Proposed: Colorado, Washington (USA, referendum pending)

Transfemicide Laws Passed: Nayarit, Mexico City, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, and Mexico (Mexico)

Trans people made some substantial gains in 2025, particularly in Mexico, but also suffered some huge setbacks as a global anti-trans movement increasingly found its footing with right-wing governments. In particular, anti-trans activists have found success pushing bans on gender care for minors, but the agenda is clear that they want to expand this to all gender care and legal gender recognition cases.

Looking ahead to 2026, I think Mexico and the EU and its applicants are the likeliest states to see positive developments, though the anti-trans movement in Europe has been strong too. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re going to see a change in the trajectory of the USA on these issues unless Democrats win big in November.