Homosexuality around the world

by Mareen Poeschl

When Britain introduced civil partnerships in 2005 it was an important step towards equality for gay couples.

Shamefully, being gay is not publicly accepted worldwide.

In some countries gay people are still being harassed by fellow citizens and in others, governments persecute gays and put them on the death row.

Unfortunately, homophobia is widespread and gay people are still far from being accepted throughout the world.

Although homosexuality has been declared legal in Turkey since 1858 - the then Ottoman rulers legalised it - today it is still excluded from public discourse.

It is rarely discussed and spoken about in the Turkish society, which makes it harder for the gay community to be accepted.

The constitution officially condemns the persecution of homosexuals but in reality gays, transgenders and transvestites are discriminated, suppressed and violently attacked.

This leads to the common habit of people not coming out and leading double lives to escape discrimination as well as to spare their families a loss of reputation.

They therefore conceal their identity not only to their families but sometimes even to husbands or wives.

In Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates or Yemen, you can be put on death row for being homosexual.

Ideologically motivated attackers such as Islamic-fundamentalists or right-wing neo-fascists are amongst those who mostly threaten homosexuals.

According to Human Rights Watch, there were even cases where attackers attracted homosexuals in chat rooms on the Internet to meet up.

The Turkish police often don’t take charges filed by gay people seriously enough.

What adds to the problem in Turkey is the tradition of honour killings.

Family

If a family member is bringing shame and disgrace over the family – mostly in context with women trying to get out of forced marriages or men coming out or for a variety of other reasons – an honour killing or act of violence is committed by another member of the family.

They believe this is the only way to restore the family’s honour.

According to a report on gender, sexuality and human rights in Turkey, published by Human Rights Watch in 2008: “Homophobic murders have become a particularly contested subject."

"Activists allege that police do not adequately investigate murders of gay men and transgender people, and do not take possible motives of hate into account.”

Sadly, there are a number of other countries where the situation for homosexuals is as bad as it is in Turkey.

Amongst these examples are the African countries of Somalia and Uganda.

At the moment, the Ugandan government is about to pass a bill which would not only prohibit any form of sexual relation between people of the same sex but could also mean lifetime jail sentences for those involved.

Friends and family could also be jailed in case they are aware of it and don’t let the authorities know immediately.

Homosexuals infected with HIV, could also be denied medical treatment and will be put on death row.

This proposal has been heavily criticised.

Western countries are threatening to stop supporting Uganda with development aid if this bill goes through.

Navi Pillay, the UN’s high commissioner of human rights, said: “It is extraordinary to find legislation like this being proposed more than 60 years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (as well as many subsequent international laws and standards) made it clear this type of discrimination is unacceptable”.

Jamaica

Jamaica is also known for being one of the most homophobic countries outside of the Middle East.

Although homosexuality itself is legal in Jamaica, homophobia is deeply rooted in their society.

It is illegal to engage in anal intercourse and "acts of gross indecency" - a very flexible term - are illegal as well.

Gay people are being publicly persecuted, attacked, threatened by death and even killed.

Hatred against homosexuals in Jamaica has taken on unforeseen dimensions.

The government and even priests are fuelling the unbelievable hatred.

In Britain, the British civil partnership applies to bureaucratic issues such as inheritance questions, pension benefits or the ability to apply for the parental responsibilities for the partner’s children.

In short it is a way for homosexual couples to register their relationship officially and therefore get the same benefits a married couple would get.

In the USA, some states have even introduced same-sex marriages even though homosexuality only became legal throughout the whole country as late as 2003.

There is still a long way to go to achieve acceptance for the gay community in many countries.

Even in Western Europe, where homosexuality has overall been widely accepted, gay couples are still not entirely on equal terms with heterosexual couples.

The few very positive exemptions in Europe are Sweden, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands – they have banned all forms of heterosexist discrimination and allow homosexual couples to have exactly the same rights as heterosexual couples.