ILGA_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_2012

“Section 165. Any male person who, whether in public or private, commits any act of gross indecency with
another male person, or procures another male person to commit any act of gross indecency with him, or
attempts to procure the commission of any such act by any male person with himself or with another male
person, whether in public or private, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for five years.”
(Sections amended by Act No. 5 of 2003)
Lesotho
Male/Male Illegal Female/Female Legal
Sodomy is prohibited as a common-law offence. It is defined as “unlawful and intentional sexual relationship
through the anus between two human males”. 148
Liberia
Male/Male Illegal Female/Female Illegal
New Penal Law, Volume IV, Title 26, Liberian Code of Laws Revised, Approved in 1976 and Published in
1978. 149
Articles 14.74, 14.79 and 50.7 consider "voluntary sodomy" as a first degree misdemeanor, with a penalty of up
to one year imprisonment, with sodomy being defined as "deviate sexual intercourse" between human
beings who are not (living as) husband and wife, that consists of contact between penis and anus, mouth
and penis, or mouth and vulva.
Libya
Male/Male Illegal Female/Female Illegal
Penal Code of 1953 150
Article 407: Sexual assault/rape
“(1) Any individual who has sexual intercourse with another person using violence, by means of threats or
through deception shall be punished with a term of imprisonment of a maximum of ten years.
(2) This punishment shall also be imposed on any individual who has had sexual intercourse with the consent
of a person who was not yet 14 years of age or with a person who did not resist on account of mental or
physical disability. If the victim was not yet 14 years of age or was over 14 years of age but had not yet
reached the age of 18, the maximum term of imprisonment shall be 15 years.
(3) If the offender is a relative of the victim, a guardian, a tutor or a custodian, or if the victim is his servant, or
if the victim has a special dependant relationship to the offender, a term of imprisonment of between five
and 15 years shall be imposed.
(4) If an individual has sexual intercourse with another person with their consent (outside marriage), the two
persons involved shall be punished with a term of imprisonment of five years at most.”
Article 408: Lewd acts
“(1) Any individual who commits lewd acts with a person in accordance with one of the methods specified in
148 Initial report of Lesotho, CCPR/C/81/Add.14
149 See Jayweh, F. “Gays and the Laws of Liberia: Do Liberians have Laws to Prohibit Lesbian and Gay’s Practices in
Liberia?”, available at: http://www.concern-liberians.org/chat_room/view_post.php?post_id=779197
150 See German Bundestag, Printed Paper 16/3597, p. 16.
http://www.volkerbeck.de/cms/files/16_3597_minor_interpellation.pdf
State-Sponsored Homophobia – May 2011
ILGA – The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association - www.ilga.org
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