LGBT RightsThe struggle for LGBT civil rights is still being fought every single day, but there have been a lot of victories not just for the US but for many other countries all over the world. In under 100 years, homosexuality has gone from being not only against the law, but considered by everyone to be a disease and mental illness; to now be a fully accepted and protected part of society for a larger number of countries across the world. LGBT rights are considered to be Human Rights and countless laws have been passed in order to make LGBT right into Equal Rights. Some of the laws include:
-Recognition of same-sex relationships; same-sex marriages and civil unions. -LGBT adoptions -Equal age of consent -LGBT persons are allowed to enter the military -Anti-discrimination laws established. |
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EqualityFrance was the first country to decriminalise homosexual acts between consenting adults when they adopted a new penal code that no longer criminalises sodomy in 1791. The rest of the world is not so progressive, as of May 2016, 74 countries still consider same-sex consensual sex a criminal offence. Sweden became the first country to pass laws protecting homosexuals regarding taxes, social services and inheritance in 1988. In 1989, Denmark was the first country to enact registered partnership laws, that carry almost the exact same rights as marriage (with the exclusion of adoption). The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage on April 1st 2001, As of this year, there are 21 countries that legalise same-sex marriage including Canada, South Africa, Norway, Argentina, Portugal, England, France, New Zealand, Ireland and the United States. After the countries previously mentioned began to create laws that protect homosexuals and give them equal rights, other countries were inspired and began to demand equal rights from their governments as well. There have been many bumps in the road for the LGBT community on the way to full equality under the law, as they began their journey as complete outsiders in society. They were considered to be non-existent, until they were seen, after that they were outlawed for hundreds of years. Nowadays, LGBT people can live equal and fulfilling lives in many countries across the world with many more expected to follow within the next few years.
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