Worldwide gay rights report released
ILGA, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, released its "State Sponsored Homophobia Report 2011" on May 17 in conjunction with IDAHO, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.
The document welcomes the legalization of same-sex marriage in Argentina and Iceland, the Brazilian court ruling that created national civil unions, and the U.N. Human Rights Council's statement, signed by 85 nations, condemning persecution of LGBT people.
The researchers found that 76 nations still ban gay sex and seven of them have laws punishing gay sex with the death penalty: Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen, 12 states in Nigeria, and southern parts of Somalia.
The report is "a tool for all activists, scholars and journalists to see ... where the world stands on laws related to sexual orientation and gender identity," the group said.
ILGA's secretaries-general, Gloria Careaga and Renato Sabbadini, said, "The day is not far, when homophobia and transphobia will be considered everywhere ... with the same abhorrence currently reserved to sexism and racism, and no amount of self-serving rhetoric will prevent the wall of state-sponsored homophobia from crumbling."
