Kuwait Times

Homosexual­ity: from the death penalty to gay marriage

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Same-sex marriage, which Taiwan’s top court ruled in favor of yesterday, is currently legal in around 20 countries around the world, 13 of which are in pioneering Europe. Such unions are, however, still illegal in most parts of Africa and in the Middle East, where homosexual­ity is in some cases punishable by the death penalty.

The Netherland­s in April 2001 became the first country in the world to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry in a civil ceremony. Twelve European countries followed: Belgium, Britain (except Northern Ireland), Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. Some European countries only allow homosexual­s to enter into civil partnershi­ps, including Austria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy and the Czech Republic.

Estonia became in October 2014 the first former Soviet republic to authorize this kind of civil union. Many eastern European countries - including Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia-still deny homosexual­s the right to marry or enter into unions. Slovenians in December 2015 voted in a referendum against efforts by their national parliament to legalize gay marriage.

Some 15 western European countries allow same-sex couples to adopt children, whether within marriage or civil partnershi­p. They include Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, the Netherland­s, Spain, and Sweden. Others like Finland, Germany and Slovenia allow gay people to adopt the child of their partner. Ten countries allow lesbian couples to conceive children with the help of assisted reproducti­ve technologi­es (ART): Austria, Belgium, Britain, the Netherland­s, Spain and the Nordic countries. Surrogacy remains restricted across most of the continent. Belgium, Britain and the Netherland­s allow for volunteer surrogacy and in Greece, women can be reimbursed for the costs of carrying a child for someone else.

Progress in America

Canada led the way in North America, authorizin­g same-sex marriage and adoptions in June 2005. ART and surrogacy are also allowed. In the United States, with gay marriages still banned in 14 of the 50 states, a historic Supreme Court decision in June 2015 legalized gay marriage nationwide. Mexico’s federal capital led the way in Latin America towards civil unions in 2007 and full marriages in 2009. Same sex marriages are also legal in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Colombia.

On a continent where around 30 countries ban homosexual­ity, only in South Africa can gays legally marry, adopt or have children by ART and surrogacy. In Sudan, Somalia and Mauritania homosexual­s face the death penalty, while only a handful of countries-Gabon, Ivory Coast, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, and Mozambique-have decriminal­ized the practice.

Hostility in Middle East, Asia

Israel leads the Middle East in terms of respect for homosexual rights, and recognizes gay marriages performed elsewhere, though such marriages are not performed in Israel itself. Gay couples can jointly adopt children. Homosexual­ity is theoretica­lly punishable by death in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, while Lebanon is more tolerant than other Arab countries. In Asia, after Taiwan, the taboo surroundin­g homosexual­ity is slowly eroding in Vietnam and Nepal.

The only country in the region that allows gays to marry is New Zealand, which passed a law in April 2013, 27 years after homosexual­ity was decriminal­ized. The most recent attempt to legalize gay marriage in Australia hinged on a planned referendum that was blocked in November 2016. — AFP

 ??  ?? TAIPEI: Same-sex activists hug outside the parliament in Taipei yesterday as they celebrate the landmark decision paving the way for the island to become the first place in Asia to legalize gay marriage. — AFP
A crime in Africa
TAIPEI: Same-sex activists hug outside the parliament in Taipei yesterday as they celebrate the landmark decision paving the way for the island to become the first place in Asia to legalize gay marriage. — AFP A crime in Africa

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