Changes in gay laws

LAWS outlawing consensual gay sex have been repealed in about 25 countries in the past 20 years but more than 70 nations still have such prohibitions, a UN expert has said.

Vitit Muntarbhorn, the body’s first independent expert investigating discrimination based on sexual orientation, said lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people live in “a crucible of egregious violations” of human rights, enduring violence and discrimination in parts of the world.

Addressing a general assembly committee, Mr Muntarbhorn noted “a global trend toward decriminalisation of consensual same-sex relations”.