Serving openly in military

LGBTQ+ people are banned from serving openly in the military in 111 countries.

Loading map of LGBT rights...
  • Legal
  • Lesbians, gays, bisexuals permitted, transgender people banned
  • Don't Ask, Don't Tell
  • Illegal
  • Varies by region or ambiguous
  • Unknown or N/A

Recent Changes

  • Mar 16 2023Became Lesbians, gays, bisexuals permitted, transgender people banned in Venezuela
  • Jan 1 2022Became Legal in Zhambyl oblysy
  • Jan 1 2022Became Lesbians, gays, bisexuals permitted, transgender people banned in Kazakhstan
  • Dec 17 2021Became Lesbians, gays, bisexuals permitted, transgender people banned in Ukraine
  • Sep 15 2021Became Illegal in Kābul
  • Aug 5 2021Became Illegal in Kandahār
  • Feb 26 2021Became Legal in United States
  • Jan 26 2021Became Legal in Texas

Serving openly in military

The ability for homosexuals to serve in the military and be open about their sexuality.

Summary

50
Legal
50 regions (25%)
Legal
63
Somewhere in between
63 regions (32%)
Somewhere in between
48
Illegal
48 regions (24%)
Illegal
37
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
37 regions (19%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
Europe
38%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
19 regions (38%)
Somewhere in between
26 regions (52%)
Illegal
1 regions (2%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
4 regions (8%)
Oceania
29%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
4 regions (29%)
Somewhere in between
regions (0%)
Illegal
regions (0%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
10 regions (71%)
South America
75%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
9 regions (75%)
Somewhere in between
3 regions (25%)
Illegal
regions (0%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
regions (0%)
North America
39%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
9 regions (39%)
Somewhere in between
4 regions (17%)
Illegal
2 regions (9%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
8 regions (35%)
Africa
0%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
regions (0%)
Somewhere in between
20 regions (37%)
Illegal
27 regions (50%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
7 regions (13%)
Asia
21%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
9 regions (21%)
Somewhere in between
10 regions (23%)
Illegal
18 regions (41%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
7 regions (16%)

Progress Over Time

Number of countries with equality for serving openly in military over the past 60 years.
There are no recent changes about Serving openly in military.

Serving openly in military by Country

Lesbians, gays, bisexuals permitted, transgender people banned

Serving openly in military is lesbians, gays, bisexuals permitted, transgender people banned in 48 regions.

  1. Asia (3)
  2. Cambodia
  3. Kazakhstan 2022
  4. Taiwan 2002
  5. North America (3)
  6. Guatemala
  7. Honduras
  8. Mexico 2012
  9. South America (2)
  10. Peru 2009
  11. Venezuela 2023

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Serving openly in military is don't ask, don't tell in 15 regions.

  1. North America (1)
  2. El Salvador
  3. South America (1)
  4. Paraguay 2010

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