Gay and Lesbian rights in the world

One of the most controversial issues in the world today is the issue of gay and lesbian rights. Known to activists as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans-gender rights (LGBT rights), they seek legislation that will give them the same rights as are available to heterosexual couples as pertaining to marriage, child bearing, adoption and inheritance. They argue that since they cannot control their sexual preferences and in fact nobody can, then they should not be discriminated against based on those preferences and thus their unions should have an equal standing in the eyes of the law as that of a different sex couple. They argue that a marriage is a marriage regardless of the sex of the couple and that to even refer to a union as a ‘same-sex marriage’ is discriminatory.

Currently, the status of gay and lesbian rights varies even in countries where they are recognized.
For example in France, a parliamentary commission on the Family and Rights of Children released a report which stated that in cases where children are confronted with mutated versions of the family, the welfare and well being of the child should be taken into consideration and the child should not be allowed to suffer from situations imposed on them by adults. It adds that “the interest of the child should take precedence over adults’ exercise of their freedom… including with regard to parents’ lifestyle choices.”
In Israel, the High Court of Justice ruled to have same-sex marriages performed in other countries recognized. However, it is still illegal to perform such ceremonies within the country.
In Australia, at the federal level, the government bans the recognition of same-sex marriage. But the current Labor party government favours uniform state and territory registered partnership legislation. However all states and territories provide a range of rights to cohabiting couples, equal to those afforded to heterosexual cohabiting couples. These rights are available without registration.
In Canada, a 2006 bill seeking the repeal of same-sex marriages in Canada failed at its first reading and therefore same-sex marriage is still recognized through out Canada.

The United States is more fragmented in legislation relating to gay and lesbian rights. In 1996, the United States congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which defines ‘marriage’ as a union between a man and a woman amongst other stipulations. As of November 2008, 29 states had passed constitutional amendments explicitly barring recognition of same-sex marriage, 19 of which prohibit legal recognition of any same-sex union and 19 others and the territory of Puerto Rico have legal statutes that define ‘marriage’ as a union of two persons of the opposite sex. The states of Vermont, New Jersey, New Hampshire and California offer civil unions. While the state of Oregon offers domestic partnership laws that grant some of the rights and responsibilities of a marriage. Maine, Washington, Maryland and the District of Colombia grant limited benefits through domestic partnerships. Hawaii has reciprocal beneficiary laws.

Many African countries are very conservative and homosexuality is seen as a taboo. In most of Africa, any form of homosexuality is an alien concept and is viewed as a form of perversion. Due to the strong connection between religion and the state, gay and lesbian rights are usually not even considered. In fact, in many Northern African countries, gays and lesbians are actively persecuted. The Moroccan penal code stipulates that homosexuality is illegal and is punishable by 3 years imprisonment and a fine. However, this law is rarely enforced and recently gays and lesbians were allowed to form a group which seeks equal rights for gays and lesbians and combats all forms of discrimination. In Egypt, although the law does not expressly forbid homosexuality, gays are usually charged with ‘propagating extremist ideas’ and debauchery. In July 2001, 50 suspected gay men were put on trial in a state court for the above mentioned crimes.

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