Pride Month: new ILGA World data and maps on laws affecting LGBTI people globally

As several countries worldwide celebrate Pride Month in June, ILGA World has released new data and maps on the global state of the rights of lesbianadjective/noun to describe a woman whose enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction is to other women. Women and non-binary people may use this term to describe themselves. More, gayadjective to describe people whose enduring physical, romantic, and/ or emotional
attractions are to people of the same gender. Men, women and non-binary people may use this
term to describe themselves. More, bisexualadjective used to describe a person who has the capacity to form enduring physical, romantic, and/ or emotional attractions to those of the same gender or to those of other genders. More, transadjective/umbrella term to describe a person whose gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. More, and intersexan umbrella term for the spectrum of variations of sex characteristics that naturally occur within the human species. Intersex people are born with variations of sex characteristics (such as genitals, reproductive organs, hormonal and chromosomal patterns) that are more diverse than stereotypical definitions of male or female bodies. Up to 1.7% of the global population are born with such traits; yet, because their bodies are seen as different, intersex children and adults are often stigmatised and subject to harmful practices – including in medical settings - and discriminated against. More (LGBTI) people.

The latest data and maps from the ILGA World Database indicate that States and law enforcement continue to create barriers to LGBTI people exercising their basic rights.

• 65 UN member States criminalise consensual same-sex sexual acts
  • In 2025, the total number grew for the first time in almost a decade
• The death penalty is the legally prescribed penalty for consensual same-sex sexual acts in 7 UN member States. In 5 more, there is no full legal certainty
• At least 63 UN member States have laws, rules, and regulations that limit freedom of expression related to sexual, genderrefers to a social construct which places cultural and social expectations on individuals based on their assigned sex. More, and bodily diversity
• At least 61 UN member States present legal barriers for organisations openly advocating the rights of LGBTI people to register and operate
• 17 UN member States have nationwide bans on ‘conversion therapies’
• Marriage equality is a reality in 37 UN member States and Taiwan
• 9 UN member States ban non-consensual and non-vital medical interventions on intersex youth
• 18 UN member States allow legal gender recognition based on self-determination at the national level.

Additional data and maps (including on protection against discriminationunequal or unfair treatment which can be based on a range of grounds - such as age, ethnic background, disability, and diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions or sex characteristics, amongst others. More, hate crimeoffences that are motivated by hate or bias against a particular group of people. This could be based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or sex characteristics amongst others. More law, and more) are available on the ILGA World Database.

The negatives

Since June 2025, the total number of countries that criminalise consensual same-sex relations rose again for the first time in almost a decade: Burkina Faso introduced such a law for the first time in its history, and Trinidad and Tobago reversed its decriminalisation ruling. In addition, Senegal tightened its criminalising provisions, triggering a wave of arrests and violence across the country. Türkiye‘s government has been reportedly working on a legal reform that would criminalise any “conduct contrary to the biological sex” or any celebration akin to same-sex marriage.

More States have chosen to curtail discussions about sexual orientationrefers to a person’s capacity for profound emotional, affectional and sexual attraction to - and intimate and sexual relations with - individuals of a different gender or the same gender or more than one gender. More, gender identityrefers to a person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth. More and expression, and sex characteristicsa term that refers to physical features relating to sex - including genitalia and other sexual and reproductive anatomy, chromosomes, hormones, and secondary physical features emerging from puberty. More. In China, the government enforced obscenity laws against authors of gay erotica and suppressed content platforms, and Malaysia blocked access to the website of several dating apps linked to the LGBTI community. The parliament of Ghana passed the so-called anti-LGBTQ bill, only a few days before the opening of a large foreign-funded anti-rights conference in the country.In Australia, following a court ruling that upheld it is discriminatory to exclude a trans woman user from a women-only app, the trans community faced yet another wave of hostility from politicians and netizens alike. Meanwhile, a private member’s Bill that would weaken anti-discrimination protections for trans people and women was introduced to federal parliament.

In El Salvador, the government issued an order banning “inclusive language” in education, while local authorities in Brazil enacted laws banning youth participation in Pride marches.  Amid unprecedented numbers of anti-trans bills considered across the country, the United States introduced a bill to the House of Representatives to ban content on “gender dysphoriasignificant distress caused when a person's gender assigned at birth is not the same as the one with which they identify. More or transgenderism” in any activity aimed at children,  and the Supreme Court issued a decision forcing new passports to show a person’s sexrefers to the classification of a person as male, female, or other - usually made at birth, written on a birth certificate, and usually based on the appearance of their external anatomy. A person’s sex, however, is actually a combination of bodily characteristics, including chromosomes, hormones, internal and external reproductive organs, and secondary sex characteristics. More assigned at birth, rather than their gender identity. Kazakhstan and Belarus adopted laws that ban sharing information on ‘non-traditional sexual orientations’ and ‘sex change’, likening these to ‘propaganda’.  In Russia, the repression has been escalating since the State declared the LGBTI movement an “extremist organisation”: authorities conducted dozens of raids against clubs and pressed charges of “extremism” against community members.

Hungary and Slovakia passed constitutional amendments undermining our communities’ rights, with the former going as far as banning Pride marches and threatening arrests for defiance.

The International Olympic Committee introduced a disgraceful and misguided policy that reinstated sex testing for all women who want to compete in the games, and banned trans and intersex women athletes from competing in the female category.

In the United Kingdom, following the Supreme Court ruling on sex and gender definitions under the Equality Act, the updated code of practice reflects an exclusionary approach that will negatively impact both trans people and cisgendera person whose gender identity is the same as the sex they were assigned at birth. The term is commonly used to refer to a person who does not identify as trans. More women. Portugal introduced several bills that could potentially limit or remove protections against discrimination on the grounds of gender identity or expression, and sex characteristics. And India approved a law that removes the right to self-perceived gender identity and conflates it with sex characteristics.

The positives

The UN Human Rights Council renewed the mandate of the UN expert explicitly working to protect LGBT and gender-diverse persons from violence and discrimination. The Council of Europe set its first intersex human rights standards, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights released its inaugural report on intersex discrimination and violence.

Saint Lucia decriminalised consensual same-sex sexual acts, the Dominican Republic did the same for its armed forces, and Botswana officially removed the remaining colonial-era provisions that criminalised consensual same-sex sexual acts— more than six years after the courts first struck them down — while Cuba passed a law allowing gender marker changes without abusive preconditions.

The EU Court of Justice ruled that member states must recognise same-sex marriages performed elsewhere, while the Supreme Court in the United States rejected efforts to overturn its 2015 marriage equalitywhere national marriage legislation also includes same-sex couples or gender-neutral reference to the spouses. References to “gay marriage” that are sometimes made by media outlets and decision-makers incorrectly are incorrect, as no country has created a marriage law specifically for same-sex couples. More ruling.

In Hong Kong, a judge recognised the parental rights of a lesbian couple. In Kenya, courts ruled that the State must consider applications to change sex and gender markers on official documents and directed the government to introduce trans protection legislation—a continental first. In Romania, a court confirmed the obligation to recognise gender identity registered in another EU member state, following the landmark ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union. In Poland, the Supreme Administrative Court confirmed that the refusal to transcribe same-sex marriages concluded abroad is incompatible with EU law.

Thousands defied the Budapest Pride ban in a landmark moment for European democracy, and Nepal explicitly included gender and sexual minorities in a ministry’s name and mandate.