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- On Friday, Taiwan became the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage.
- Business Insider created a series of maps to visualize how gay rights vary around the world.
- Despite same-sex marriage being legal in the US, homosexuality is still illegal in 35% of countries in the United Nations.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
On Friday, Taiwan’s Parliament passed a new bill legalizing same-sex marriage — becoming the first country in Asia to do so.
Despite the rain, thousands of people took to the streets of Taipei to celebrate the victory, marching and waving rainbow flags.
While the decision pushed gay rights one step further, there are still many places in the world where it’s difficult and in some cases illegal to be out.
In April, the Sultan of Brunei introduced sharia law to the majority-Muslim nation, making the death penalty possible for anyone convicted of having gay sex. After international backlash, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah said in a televised speech last week that the death penalty would not be imposed in any cases, including those dealing with homosexuality.
The controversy in Brunei is an example of how much of an up-hill battle LGBTQ rights continue to be around the world. For example, gay sex is still illegal in 35% of countries in the United Nations, according to statistics released this year by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA).
To explain just how much gay rights differ on an international scale, Business Insider created a set of maps to visualize the issue. The results show that while homosexuality is no longer outlawed in the majority of the world, there’s still a long way to go in terms of acceptance and equality for LGBTQ people.
Brunei is the first nation to institute Sharia Law in southeast Asia.
Shayanne Gal/Business Insider
Sharia Law varies from country to country. Technically 11 other countries practice Shariah Law, but they vary in how they punish those convicted of sodomy. In Mauritania, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, sodomy carries the possibility of the death penalty, but offenders are more likely to see jail time. The death penalty is carried out more frequently in such cases in Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.
Religion is an un-ignorable factor in the maps. While the majority of the world has legalized homosexuality, the countries where it is still outlawed are concentrated in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa — areas with majority-Muslim nations.
Shayanne Gal/Business Insider
According to the Associated Press, "Islamic scholars overwhelmingly teach that same-gender sex is a sin."
The Quran teaches that homosexuality should be punished but doesn’t detail how. The Prophet Muhammad was reportedly more explicit that homosexuals should be killed in some of his teachings. That’s why some countries that implement Sharia law make homosexuality a capital crime.
Following Trump’s transgender military ban, just 19 countries in the world allow people with gender dysphoria to serve in the military.
Shayanne Gal/Business Insider
The Netherlands was the first country to allow transgender people to enter the military in 1974, according to CNN. Thailand is one of the more recent countries to accept transgender soldiers, but they’re only allowed to serve in a administrative capacity.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
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- Abortion bans are popping up all around the country. Here are the states that have passed new laws to challenge Roe v. Wade in 2019
- 23 ways anti-abortion activists are attempting to erode Roe v. Wade without repealing it
Source: Business Insider – sgal@businessinsider.com (Shayanne Gal)