Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen call for the death penalty nationwide for same-sex relations, the report says, while other places can impose death penalties regionally, along with fines and prison sentences. Seventy-three countries, or 37 percent of the United Nations, declare same-sex physical relations illegal, according to a comprehensive survey of sexual orientation laws from the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA).
Yet in several nations, the laws don’t even pretend to protect LGBT citizens-instead, they actively work against them. The massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando made it clear: Basic legal rights are no guarantee of safety.
