Introduction
Italy's first transgender member of parliament, Vladimiro Guadagno, participates in a sit-in at St. Peter's Square in Rome to protest the Vatican's opposition to a landmark 2008 U.N. declaration favoring the decriminalization of homosexuality. The Vatican fought the nonbinding measure, claiming it would encourage gay marriage. (AFP/Getty Images/Andreas Solaro)
|
By some measures, the last 10 years could be considered the “Gay Rights” decade, with countries around the world addressing concerns of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community. Beginning with the Netherlands in 2001, gay marriage metamorphosed almost overnight from a largely ridiculed notion to a legal reality in at least 10 countries. Sixteen other nations recognized same-sex civil unions. Nevertheless, homosexual acts remain illegal in most of Africa and the Muslim world, with severe penalties for anyone found guilty of the crime. If Uganda approves a proposal to criminalize repeated homosexual activity, it will join the five other countries (and parts of Somalia and Nigeria) where homosexual activity is punishable by death. In Russia and other Eastern European countries, gay and lesbian “pride parades” have sometimes met with violent responses, leading some observers to believe a backlash against rapid gay and lesbian advances may be developing in parts of the world.
|
|
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Individuals |
|
 |
Mar. 15, 2013 |
Gay Marriage |
 |
Mar. 01, 2011 |
Gay Rights |
 |
Sep. 18, 2009 |
Gays in the Military  |
 |
Sep. 26, 2008 |
Gay Marriage Showdowns  |
 |
May 05, 2006 |
Transgender Issues |
 |
Oct. 01, 2004 |
Gays on Campus |
 |
Sep. 05, 2003 |
Gay Marriage |
 |
Apr. 14, 2000 |
Gay-Rights Update |
 |
Mar. 05, 1993 |
Gay Rights |
 |
Sep. 04, 1992 |
Domestic Partners |
 |
Jun. 29, 1984 |
Gay Politics |
 |
Mar. 08, 1974 |
Homosexual Legal Rights |
 |
Jul. 10, 1963 |
Homosexuality: Morals and Security |
| | |
|