LGBT rights in Oceania

LGBT rights in Oceania
Oceania
Same-sex sexual activity legal?	Legal in 7 out of 14 states Legal in 10 out of 11 territories
Gender identity/expression	Legal in 3 out of 14 states Legal in 7 out of 11 territories
Military service	Allowed to serve openly in 2 out of 6 states having an army Legal in all 11 territories
Discrimination protections	Legal in 4 out of 14 states Legal in 9 out of 11 territories
Family rights
Recognition of relationships	Legal in 2 out of 14 states Legal in 7 out of 11 territories
Restrictions:	Same-sex marriage constitutionally banned in 1 out of 14 states
Adoption	Legal in 2 out of 14 states Legal in 6 out of 11 territories

Oceania is, like other regions, quite diverse in its laws regarding homosexuality. This ranges from significant rights granted to the LGBT community in e.g. marriage in New Zealand and the Pitcairn Islands to remaining criminal penalties for homosexual activity in e.g. Kiribati and Nauru.^[1]

Oceania

  Same-sex marriage

  Other type of partnership (or unregistered cohabitation)

  No recognition

  Same-sex sexual activity illegal

Legislation by country or territory

Tables:

Australasia

LGBT rights in:	Same-sex sexual activity	Recognition of same-sex unions	Same-sex marriage	Adoption by same-sex couples	LGB allowed to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination laws concerning sexual orientation	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Australia (including territories of  Christmas Island,  Cocos (Keeling) Islands and  Norfolk Island)	Legal in South Australia since 1972, in Victoria since 1981, New South Wales since 1983, the Northern Territory since 1984, the Australian Capital Territory since 1985, Western Australia since 1990, Queensland since 1991, Norfolk Island since 1993 and Tasmania since 1997 Legal in Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Age of consent discrepancy in Queensland only) + UN decl. sign.[2]	Unregistered cohabitation since 2009 Domestic patnership in Tasmania (2004),[3] South Australia (2007),[4] Victoria (2008),[5] New South Wales (2010)[6] and Queensland (2012)[7]; Civil union in the Australian Capital Territory (2012)[8]	Banned federally under the Marriage Amendment Act 2004[9] (Pending)[10]	/ Joint adoption in Western Australia (2002), the Australian Capital Territory (2004), New South Wales (2010), Tasmania (2013) and Victoria (2016)[11]; Banned in South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory	Since 1992	Bans all anti-gay discrimination.[12]	[12]
New Zealand	Legal since 1986 + UN decl. sign.[2]	Unregistered cohabitation since 2001; Civil union since 2005.	Legal since 2013[13]	Legal since 2013[13]	Since 1993	Bans all anti-gay discrimination	Covered under the "sex discrimination" provision of the Human Rights Act 1993 since 2006.

Melanesia

LGBT rights in:	Same-sex sexual activity	Recognition of same-sex unions	Same-sex marriage	Adoption by same-sex couples	LGB allowed to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination laws concerning sexual orientation	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Fiji	Legal since 2010 + UN decl. sign.[14][2]					Bans some anti-gay discrimination[2]
New Caledonia (overseas collectivity of France)	Legal (No laws against same-sex sexual activity has ever existed in the collectivity) + UN decl. sign.[2]	Civil solidarity pact since 2009	Legal since 2013	Legal since 2013	French responsibility	Bans all anti-gay discrimination	(Requires sterilization for change)
Papua New Guinea	Male illegal Penalty: 3 to 14 years imprisonment (Not enforced) Female always legal[2]
Solomon Islands	Illegal Penalty: Up to 14 years imprisonment.[2]				Has no military	The latest draft of the Constitution (expected to factually replace the existing Constitution by late 2016) explicitly allows for discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, and also allows for the advocacy of hatred (and incitement to cause harm) on the basis of sexual orientation.[15]
Vanuatu	Legal since 2007 + UN decl. sign.[2]

Micronesia

LGBT rights in:	Same-sex sexual activity	Recognition of same-sex unions	Same-sex marriage	Adoption by same-sex couples	LGB allowed to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination laws concerning sexual orientation	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
Guam (Unincorporated territory of the United States)	Legal since 1978 + UN decl. sign.[2]	Since 2015	Legal since 2015	Legal since 2002	US responsibility	Bans some anti-gay discrimination. The US hate crime laws apply to all US external territories as well	Bans some discrimination relating to gender identity or expression. The US hate crime laws also apply to all US external territories as well
Federated States of Micronesia	Legal + UN decl. sign.[2]				Has no military
Kiribati	Male illegal Penalty: 5-14 years imprisonment (Not enforced) Female legal[2]				Has no military
Marshall Islands	Legal since 2005 + UN decl. sign.[2]				Has no military
Nauru	Male illegal Penalty: 3-14 years imprisonment (Not enforced) Female legal + UN decl. sign.[2]				Has no military
Northern Mariana Islands (Unincorporated territory of the United States)	Legal since 1983 + UN decl. sign.[2]	Since 2015	Legal since 2015	Legal since 2015	US responsibility	The US hate crime laws also apply to all US external territories as well	The US hate crime laws also apply to all US external territories as well
Palau	Legal since 2014 + UN decl. sign.[16]		Constitutional ban since 2008		Has no military

Polynesia

LGBT rights in:	Same-sex sexual activity	Recognition of same-sex unions	Same-sex marriage	Adoption by same-sex couples	LGB allowed to serve openly in military?	Anti-discrimination laws concerning sexual orientation	Laws concerning gender identity/expression
American Samoa (Unincorporated territory of the United States)[17]	Legal since 1980 + UN decl. sign.[2]		[18]		US responsibility	The US hate crime laws also apply to all US external territories as well	The US hate crime laws also apply to all US external territories as well
Easter Island (Overseas territory of Chile)	Legal since 1999 (Age of consent discrepancy) + UN decl. sign.[2]	Civil union since 2015.	(Pending)	LGBT individuals may adopt (Pending)	Chile responsible for defence.		Since 2007.
Cook Islands (Part of the Realm of New Zealand)	Male illegal Penalty: 5-14 years imprisonment (Not enforced) Female legal + UN decl. sign.[2]				New Zealand's responsibility	Bans some anti-gay discrimination[19]
French Polynesia (Overseas collectivity of France)	Legal (No laws against same-sex sexual activity has ever existed in the collectivity) + UN decl. sign.[2]	Since 2013	Legal since 2013	Legal since 2013	French responsibility	Bans all anti-gay discrimination	(Requires sterilization for change)
Niue (Part of the Realm of New Zealand)	Legal since 2007 + UN decl. sign.[2]				New Zealand's responsibility
Pitcairn Islands (Overseas territory of the United Kingdom)	Legal since 2001 + UN decl. sign.[2]	Since 2015	Legal since 2015[20]	Legal since 2015[21]	UK responsible for defence	Constitutional ban on discrimination.[22]
Samoa	Male illegal Penalty: 5-7 years imprisonment (Not enforced) Female always legal + UN decl. sign.[2]				Has no military	Bans some anti-gay discrimination[23]	Samoa has a large transgender or "third-gendered" community called the Fa'afafine. This is a recognized part of traditional Samoan customs, and usually refers to trans women.
Tokelau (Part of the Realm of New Zealand)	Legal since 2007 + UN decl. sign.[2]				New Zealand's responsibility
Tonga	Male illegal Penalty: Up to 10 years imprisonment and whipping (Not enforced) Female always legal[2]
Tuvalu	Male illegal Penalty: Up to 14 years imprisonment (Not enforced) Female legal + UN decl. sign.[2]				Has no military
Wallis and Futuna (Overseas collectivity of France)	Legal (No laws against same-sex sexual activity has ever existed in the collectivity) + UN decl. sign.[2]	Civil solidarity pact since 2009	Legal since 2013	Legal since 2013	French responsibility	Bans all anti-gay discrimination	(Requires sterilization for change)

See also

• LGBT rights by country or territory

References

1. "Avert.org – Age of Consent". Avert.org. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
2. State-sponsored Homophobia: A world survey of laws prohibiting same sex activity between consenting adults The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, authored by Lucas Paoli Itaborahy, May 2014
3. "Relationships Act 2003". Tasmanian Legislation. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
4. "South Australia gays get new rights by Tony Grew (7 December 2006)". pinknews.com.au. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
5. Relationships Act 2008 (Vic)
6. "Massive support for register". Star Observer. May 13, 2010. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
7. Agius, Kym (December 1, 2011). "Bligh asks ALP to support gay marriage". Retrieved September 14, 2012.
8. "Civil Unions Bill 2011". ACT Government. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
9. Marriage Amendment Act 2004
10. http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/australian-parliament-vote-same-sex-marriage-again-year040814
12. Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) Bill 2013
13. Marriage equality Bill officially signed into law, GayNZ.com, Retrieved 19 April 2013
14. Chand, Shalveen (26 February 2010). "Same sex law decriminalised". Fiji Times. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
15. Verheyen, Vincent. "Sexual orientation [LGBTQ+] and the draft of the new Solomon Islands Constitution". Retrieved 3 March 2016.
16. Palau decriminalises sex between men
17. "Sodomy Laws American Samoa". Sodomylaws.org. 28 March 2004. Archived from the original on 2012-02-19. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
18. Sagapolutele, Fili. "gay marriage illegal in American Samoa". USNews. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
19. Employment Relations Act 2012
20. Pitcairn Island: Same Sex Marriage and Civil Partnership Ordinance 2015
22. The Pitcairn Constitution Order 2010
23. Labour and Employment Relations Act 2013