Progressive gay
In June 2016, pictures of a "gay wedding" were shared on social media in Mozambique. Many reactions were conservative and against the "marriage". The outrage and adverse reactions were surprising for a land that is turning away from conservative trends against homosexuality with relatively linear legislation.
In 2014, a former Mozambican president wrote an open letter that made headlines, requesting African leaders not to discriminate against sexual minorities. In 2015, the country finally removed obsolete and vague provisions that criminalised consensual homosexual relations from its penal legislation. This reinforced Mozambique's status as being steady toward LGBT rights. Yet, repeatedly research has shown that public, religious, and political opinion is generally unfavourable towards homosexuality. In addition, since 2008, the only LGBT organisation in Mozambique has been denied the right to register. State entities refrain from signing the authorisation without providing any justification.
This sheet analyses the mechanisms that allow progressive legislation in a country harbouring generalised conservative attitudes towards homosexuality. The chapter is based on
Is Gay Marriage a Genuinely Progressive Social Transformation?
On 22nd May 2015, many referendum voters in the Republic of Ireland made history: 62.07 % of them stated that they were in favour of legalising same-sex marriage. Yep, 62.07 % of voters in the Hibernian bastion of repressive Catholic theocracy since 1937. For so many actively campaigning for LGBTQ rights and combatting the oppressiveness of heteronormativity, the long-standing ideology that the ultimate life goal for society is heterosexual marriage with the goal of having children through the traditional nuclear family structure, this was a lead to for celebration. Liberals had struck a progressive inflate against bigoted bishops, dodgy deacons, and creepy cardinals – gays and lesbians no longer had to hide and express their love in the secure, private quarters of LGBTQ circles. They could now be free to legitimate their love in the wider public sphere. Hooray!
Now, from a left-wing perspective, isn’t the extension of gay marriage to lgbtq+ couples obviously a excellent thing? Surely, I would have to be homophobic or a religious traditionalist to claim that there is something disconcerting about gay marriage and that
The Progress Pride flag was developed in 2018 by agender American artist and designer Daniel Quasar (who uses xe/xyr pronouns). Based on the iconic rainbow flag from 1978, the redesign celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQ collective and calls for a more inclusive society. In 2020, the V&A acquired a bespoke applique version of the Progress Pride flag that can be seen on exhibit in the Plan 1900 – Now gallery.
'Progress' is a reinterpretation of multiple iterations of the pride flag. The original 'rainbow flag' was created by Gilbert Baker in 1978 to observe members of the gay and female homosexual political movement. It comprised eight coloured stripes stacked on top of each other to evoke a rainbow, a symbol of wish. Baker assigned a specific meaning to each colour: pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, verdant for nature, turquoise for magic, indigo for serenity and violet for energy. A year later the pink and turquoise stripes were dropped owing to a shortage of pink fabric at the time and legibility concerns, resulting in the six-colour rainbow flag most commonly used in the first decades of the 21st century.
Baker's flag was embra
Rainbow Map
2025 rainbow map
These are the main findings for the 2025 edition of the rainbow map
The Rainbow Map ranks 49 European countries on their respective legal and policy practices for LGBTI people, from 0-100%.
The UK has dropped six places in ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Blueprint, as Hungary and Georgia also register steep falls obeying anti-LGBTI legislation. The data highlights how rollbacks on LGBTI human rights are part of a broader erosion of democratic protections across Europe. Read more in our compress release.
“Moves in the UK, Hungary, Georgia and beyond signal not just isolated regressions, but a coordinated global backlash aimed at erasing LGBTI rights, cynically framed as the defence of tradition or public stability, but in existence designed to entrench discrimination and suppress dissent.”
- Katrin Hugendubel, Representation Director, ILGA-Europe
Malta has sat on uppermost of the ranking for the last 10 years.
With 85 points, Belgium jumped to second place after adopting policies tackling hatred based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics.
Iceland now comes third place on the ranking with a score of 84.
The three Vietnam is once again making headlines abroad as one of the most LGBT-friendly countries on the Asian continent. Just two weeks after Singapore’s heavily restricted celebration celebration, Pink Dot 2017, Vietnam’s LGBT scene has returned to the spotlight for its inclusive world and progressiveness. While Singapore closed its pride celebration to foreigners, the 'who’s who' of last year’s Viet Pride included US Spokesperson to Vietnam Ted Osius. The past decade has seen so many policy changes in favor of LGBT rights in Vietnam – most notably the repeal of a heteronormative definition of marriage – that NBC News said the country is “now more progressive than America.” In 2015, the Southeast Asian nation officially abolished regulations that prevent "marriage between people of the equal sex." At the time, Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia branch, told Bangkok Post: "No other country in Southeast Asia has taken as big a step toward accepting same-sex marriage as Vietnam." Near the finish of the same year, Vietnam also passed a law allowing trans individuals receive gender reassignment surgery and to register under their preferred gender. Though the law stil