The International Lesbian and Gay Association has published its 2008 world map of state homophobia.
According to the map, in seven countries in the world (Mauritania, Sudan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran and some Nigerian northern states) death penalty still applies to the ‘crime’ of being gay.
In Iran the law states: ‘the penalty for sodomy is death, the Sharia judge will decide the method of execution’. In Saudi Arabia if a married man involves himself in a gay relationship the law states he should be lapidated, however if the man is single he should be whipped 100 times and exiled for a year.
However good news are coming out from Latin America where Colombia and Uruguay have enacted laws regulating civil partnerships while in Argentina a gay marriage legislative proposal is under review. In Cuba, one of the worst countries to be gay in Latin America, the persecution of gays has softened recently although it’s far from being a good situation yet.
In the April 10 general election in Nepal a gay activist, Sunil Pant, was elected member of the Constituent Assembly in charge of writing the country’s new Constitution.
As the Spanish PM Rodriguez Zapatero said in Parliament after it passed the gay marriage bill: ‘We are not the first but I am sure we will neither be the last ones. After us will come many other countries driven, ladies and gentlemen, by two unstoppable forces: freedom and equality’
