The global map of LGBTQ+ rights is a map of contested values: in some countries, same-sex relationships are legally recognized and discrimination is prohibited; in others, they are criminalized with sentences ranging from imprisonment to death. The variation is not random but tracks the intersection of colonial legal legacies — many criminalization laws were British colonial imports — religious conservatism, and contemporary political mobilization in both directions. What is remarkable, viewed historically, is both how rapidly legal protection has expanded in some contexts and how violently it continues to be resisted in others.
Juana