LGBTQ rights in Niue | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Legal status | Legal |
| Military | New Zealand's responsibility |
| Discrimination protections | No |
| Family rights | |
| Recognition of relationships | No |
| Adoption | No |
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Niue face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents. Same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples.
Similarly to the Cook Islands, Samoa and New Zealand, Niue possesses a traditional third gender population: the fiafifine (also known as the fakafifine). They have traditionally been accepted by Niuean society, [1] [2] and would play an important domestic role in communal life.
In 2007, during a gathering of delegates from around the Pacific in Māngere, New Zealand, a local fiafifine called out the discrimination and stigma faced by the fiafifine community: "Our communities were an accepted part of Pacific life and culture prior to Western colonisation, but have been subject to much stigma and discrimination in more recent times." [3]
Male homosexual activity was formerly illegal in Niue, but was decriminalized by the Niue Assembly in June 2024. [4] [5]
Consensual male sodomy was previously punishable by up to ten years' imprisonment, while indecency between males is punishable by up to five years' imprisonment under sections 43 and 44 of the Criminal Law Code, excepted below. These sections have been repealed: [6]
43 Buggery
44 Attempted buggery and indecent assaults on males
Same-sex unions are not recognised (even though they are in New Zealand). [7] The Family Law Code 2007 does not expressly prohibit same-sex marriages, but generally assumes the parties to be of the opposite sex. The law forbids marriages within the degrees of consanguinity and marriages where the wife is less than 15 years of age and the husband less than 18 years of age, but makes no mention of same-sex partners. Marriages are recorded by the Registrar of the High Court (Letititala he Fakafiliaga Lahi), or any minister of religion or other person who has been appointed as a marriage officer. [8]
Much like the rest of Polynesia, open displays of affection between partners regardless of sexual orientation may offend. [9]
| Same-sex sexual activity legal |  |
| Equal age of consent | |
| Anti-discrimination laws in employment only |  |
| Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services | |
| Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas (Incl. indirect discrimination, hate speech) | |
| Same-sex marriages | |
| Recognition of same-sex couples | |
| Stepchild adoption by same-sex couples | |
| Joint adoption by same-sex couples | |
| LGBT people allowed to serve openly in the military | (New Zealand's responsibility) |
| Right to change legal gender | |
| Access to IVF for lesbians | |
| Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples | |
| MSMs allowed to donate blood | |
