Countries With National Non-Discrimination Protections
Many countries in the world, including the United States, do not have federal anti-discrimination protections for sexual orientation or gender identity. Like in the United States, some of these countries may have particular municipal or state anti-discrimination provisions, but they are not listed unless the protections cover the entire country.
The list below is comprised of the countries with federal protections on the basis of sexual orientation for the workplace. Countries in bold also have gender identity specific protection in addition to sexual orientation protection.
AFRICA
Botswana
Cape Verde
Mauritius
Mozambique
South Africa
ASIA
Australia
Fiji
Guam
Nepal
New Zealand
Taiwan
EUROPE
All Members of the European Union*
Albania
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia
Georgia
Iceland
Kosovo
Macedonia
Montenegro
Norway
Serbia
MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA
Israel
THE AMERICAS and the CARIBBEAN
Bolivia
British Virgin Islands
Canada
Costa Rica
Colombia
Ecuador
Faukland Islands
French Guiana
Guadeloupe
Martinique
Mexico
Nicaragua
Peru
Uruguay
Venezuela
*The European Union members are required to implement the Employment Equality Directive, but not all have put the non discrimination provisions into national law. The members of the European Union are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, For more information on the EU’s Employment Equality Directive see: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/08/69&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
This list is compiled by the Council for Global Equality in June 2011 from a variety of sources including advocacy organizations in the countries listed, the International Lesbian and Gay Association, Wikipedia, Lieden University’s Law School, and other government sources. Due to the rapidly changing legal landscape, there may be errors in this list, and it will change over time. If you have questions or new information to share about a particular country, please contact info@globalequality.org.