Part of a series on |
LGBT rights |
---|
![]() |
Lesbian ∙ Gay ∙ Bisexual ∙ Transgender |
![]() |
Section 171 of the Criminal Code of Cyprus was a section of the Cyprus Criminal Code, which was enacted in 1929, that criminalized homosexual acts between consenting male adults. Until 1998, the section read:
"Any person who (a) has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature, or (b) permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him against the order of nature is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for five years". [1]
Section 171 did not apply to women and did not criminalize lesbian sex. Although rarely enforced, it was challenged in the European Court of Human Rights by a Cypriot man named Alecos Modinos. The Court handed down its judgment in Modinos v. Cyprus on April 22, 1993, and overwhelmingly ruled by eight votes to one that Section 171 violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protected people's right to privacy. The judgment followed the opinion reached by the Court in two other similar cases: Dudgeon v. the United Kingdom (1981) and Norris v. Ireland (1988). Ironically, Section 171 had been cited by Turkish Cypriot Judge Mehmet Zeka in his dissenting opinion in the Dudgeon case to oppose the Court's invalidation of Northern Ireland's anti-buggery laws. Judge Zeka had argued that, as a Cypriot, he was in a "better position in forecasting the public outcry and the turmoil which would ensue if such laws are repealed or amended in favour of homosexuals either in Cyprus or in Northern Ireland. Both countries are religious-minded and adhere to moral standards which are centuries' old". [1]
Nonetheless, it was only five years after Modinos v. Cyprus was decided that the anti-sodomy provisions of Section 171 were effectively repealed. The slowness of the reform was due to the deep divisions created by such a morally charged issue. The repeal of Section 171 was openly supported by the liberal United Democrats, and openly opposed by the center-right Democratic Party. Former President George Vassiliou came out in support of the repeal, as did Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides, who argued that Cyprus "cannot ask Turkey to comply with the decisions of the Council [of Europe] regarding human rights violations [while] at the same time [refusing] to conform to such decisions." [2]
As Judge Zeka had predicted 17 years earlier, the proposed repeal of Section 171 sparked a huge public backlash. Nearly a thousand people protested outside the House of Representatives in Nicosia on May 15, 1997. Known as the Committee for the Fight Against the Decriminalization of Homosexuality, the protest was led by Cypriot Orthodox Church priests, monks and nuns, and featured signs reading "No to Sodom and Gomorrah in Cyprus" and "Cyprus is the island of saints, not homosexuals." [2] Archbishop Chrysostomos I actively campaigned against the repeal of Section 171, and the Pancyprian Christian Orthodox Movement collected 40,000 signatures (representing nearly 5% of the island's total population) on a petition opposing the reform, and even went as far as promising to compile a "blacklist" of all MPs voting for the repeal. [3]
The Council of Europe made repeated warnings to Cyprus that it could face expulsion or other political sanctions if it delayed any further in complying with the Court's decision in Modinos v. Cyprus. As a result, the bill decriminalizing private homosexual acts between consenting adults was passed by the House of Representatives on May 21, 1998, just eight days prior to the May 29 deadline set by the Council. It was passed with 11 of the House's 56 members intentionally absent. 36 MPs voted for the bill, eight voted against it, and one MP chose to abstain. [4]
Sex and the law deals with the regulation by law of human sexual activity. Sex laws vary from one place or jurisdiction to another, and have varied over time. Unlawful sexual acts are called sex crimes.
The United States has inherited sodomy laws which constitutionally outlawed a variety of sexual acts that are deemed illegal, illicit, unlawful or unnatural from the colonial laws in the 17th century. While they often targeted sexual acts between persons of the same sex, many sodomy-related statutes employed definitions broad enough to outlaw certain sexual acts between persons of different sexes, in some cases even including acts between married persons.
Dudgeon v the United Kingdom (1981) was a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case, which held that Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 which criminalised male homosexual acts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland violated the European Convention on Human Rights.
Section 377A was a Singaporean law that criminalised sex between consenting adult males. It was introduced under British colonial rule in 1938 when it was added to the Penal Code by the colonial government. It remained a part of the Singapore body of law after the Penal Code review of 2007 which removed most of the other provisions in Section 377. It was subsequently repealed in its entirety in 2023.
Section 377 of the British colonial penal code criminalized all sexual acts "against the order of nature". The law was used to prosecute people engaging in oral and anal sex along with homosexual activity. As per Supreme Court Judgement since 2018, Indian Penal Code Section 377 is used to convict non-consensual sexual activities among homosexuals with a minimum of ten years imprisonment extended to life imprisonment. It has been used to criminalize third gender people, such as the apwint in Myanmar. In 2018, then British Prime Minister Theresa May acknowledged how the legacies of British colonial anti-sodomy laws continue to persist today in the form of discrimination, violence, and death.
Modinos v. Cyprus 16 EHRR 485 is a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights concerning Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Cyprus have evolved in recent years, but LGBT people still face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female expressions of same-sex sexual activity were decriminalised in 1998, and civil unions which grant several of the rights and benefits of marriage have been legal since December 2015. Conversion therapy was banned in Cyprus in May 2023. However, adoption rights in Cyprus are reserved for heterosexual couples only.
The ages of consent vary by jurisdiction across Europe. The ages of consent – hereby meaning the age from which one is deemed able to consent to having sex with anyone else of consenting age or above – are between 14 and 18. The vast majority of countries set their ages in the range of 14 to 16; only four countries, Cyprus (17), the Republic of Ireland (17), Turkey (18), and the Vatican City (18), set an age of consent higher than 16.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Sri Lanka face significant challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Article 365 of the Sri Lankan Penal Code, which dates from the time of colonial British Ceylon, criminalizes sexual acts deemed "against the order of nature". This has been ruled unenforceable by the Supreme Court, but the court does not have the power to remove laws outright. A private members' bill submitted to parliament in August 2022 has been given the support of the ruling government and is likely to be passed by parliament in 2023.
National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality and Another v Minister of Justice and Others is a decision of the Constitutional Court of South Africa which struck down the laws prohibiting consensual sexual activities between men. Basing its decision on the Bill of Rights in the Constitution – and in particular its explicit prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation – the court unanimously ruled that the crime of sodomy, as well as various other related provisions of the criminal law, were unconstitutional and therefore invalid.
This is a list of important events relating to the LGBT community from 1801 to 1900. The earliest published studies of lesbian activity were written in the early 19th century.
Toonen v. Australia was a landmark human rights complaint brought before the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) by Tasmanian resident Nicholas Toonen in 1994. The case resulted in the repeal of Australia's last sodomy laws when the Committee held that sexual orientation was included in the antidiscrimination provisions as a protected status under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
A sodomy law is a law that defines certain sexual acts as crimes. The precise sexual acts meant by the term sodomy are rarely spelled out in the law but are typically understood by courts to include any sexual act deemed to be "unnatural" or "immoral". Sodomy typically includes anal sex, oral sex, manual sex, and bestiality. In practice, sodomy laws have rarely been enforced against heterosexual couples, and have mostly been used to target homosexual couples.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Belize face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT citizens, although attitudes have been changing in recent years. Same-sex sexual activity was decriminalized in Belize in 2016, when the Supreme Court declared Belize's anti-sodomy law unconstitutional. Belize's constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, which Belizean courts have interpreted to include sexual orientation.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in Northern Cyprus since 7 February 2014. Previous laws allowed three years prison sentences, according to Articles 171 and 173 of its criminal code. Female homosexuality was not criminalised. Arrests for homosexuality have occurred as recently as 2011.
Naz Foundation v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi (2009) is a landmark Indian case decided by a two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court, which held that treating consensual homosexual sex between adults as a crime is a violation of fundamental rights protected by India's Constitution. The verdict resulted in the decriminalization of homosexual acts involving consenting adults throughout India. This was later overturned by the Supreme Court of India in Suresh Kumar Koushal vs. Naz Foundation, in which a 2 judge bench reinstated Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. However, even that was overturned by a 5 judge bench in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India in 2018, decriminalizing homosexuality once again.
Queer Cyprus Association is an LGBTQ rights organisation in Northern Cyprus aimed to deal with criminal law amendments of TRNC which criminalises same-sex relationships. They seek equal human rights including to "fully decriminalize homosexuality, equalize the age of consent and better protect LGBTQ people under the law.”
This is a list of events in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQ+) history in Germany.
Decriminalization of homosexuality is the repeal of laws criminalizing same-sex acts between multiple men or multiple women. It has taken place in most of the world, except Africa and the Muslim world.
Some or all sexual acts between men, and less frequently between women, have been classified as a criminal offense in various regions. Most of the time, such laws are unenforced with regard to consensual same-sex conduct, but they nevertheless contribute to police harassment, stigmatization, and violence against homosexual and bisexual people. Other effects include exacerbation of the HIV epidemic due to the criminalization of men who have sex with men, discouraging them from seeking preventative care or treatment for HIV infection.