"In several of these countries, LGBT people are being arrested and detained, sentenced to prison by the judge, simply because they are gay." "Homosexual conduct is criminalized in 38 states in Africa, and in many, laws are becoming stricter," said Boris Dittrich, advocacy director of the LGBT rights program of Human Rights Watch. Here are six nations that have recently adopted or have especially harsh anti-gay laws: Obama spoke to that point last week in an appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, noting that Russia is not the only nation to legally discriminate against the LGBT community.ĭespite positive recent developments for LGBT people in the United States and other parts of the world, consensual same-sex relationships remain a crime in at least 76 countries, according to a United Nations report released in 2011. "The sad truth is that many countries around the world have preceded Russia in singling out LGBT people." "What's happening in Russia is horrific but to make it even worse, Russia is not alone," said Jessica Stern, executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. Long hostile toward gay rights movements and to homosexuality more broadly, the Russian public overwhelmingly supports the new law, according to public opinion polls. While homosexual relations have been legal in Russia since 1993, the new law has been assailed by critics as the latest and most serious attempt by the authorities to criminalize and stigmatize Russia's gay community. Set to the host the World Cup in 2018, Russia had recently received a similar request from the International Olympic Committee concerning the 2014 Sochi Winter Games after Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko said that the new law would be enforced during the Olympics. On Tuesday, FIFA, the federation governing world soccer competition, requested "clarification and more details" from the Russian government concerning the law, passed in July with vocal support from Russian President Vladimir Putin. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron have resisted such calls, they and other high-profile figures and institutions have criticized what appears to be Moscow's increasing anti-gay posture. A new Russian law that criminalizes "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations among minors" has sparked growing calls from the global gay community and its supporters for a boycott of Russia's upcoming Winter Olympics.