Last week I posted a list of the legal age of consent for homosexuals in
the countries of Europe.

Since then, I have received e-mail from several people who asked me to post
similar information for other parts of the world.

So I am posting the information I have about countries in Asia,
Africa and the Americas. I got this information from a danish gay magazine.
They usually publish accurate information, but I have no way of confirming
their information. According to the article, the information was compiled
in cooperation with ILGA, the International Lesbian & Gay Association.

Along with the information for the various countries, I am posting some
additional info that was published along with the lists. Any errors in
translation from danish are entirely my fault.

Below is the information for Asia and the Middle East.

Asia / Middle East countries
----------------------------

General info:
	Homosexual relationships are forbidden in many of the countries in
	the Middle East and Asia. In the Middle East, this should be taken
	seriously, due to the impact of Islam, whereas in South-East Asia,
	it is very easy to get in contact with young guys without running 
	into legal problems - e.g. in Thailand, the Phillipines, Malaysia, 
	Indonesia, Singapore and Sri Lanka.

	Even though there is a ban on homosexual relations in some of these
	countries, acceptance is either widespread in the general population,
	or the subject is largely ignored. Only when religious fundamenta-
	lists bring up the subject - which happens from time to time - there
	may be problems for a period of time. This has happened in Sri Lanka
	and in the Phillipines some 4-6 years ago.

	In Thailand, there are two age limits: One is for ordinary relations
	between local guys (15 years); another is for more 'commercial'
	relations (18 years) - for example, this applies to relationships
	between a foreigner and a Thai.

	In most countries in South East Asia, there is a relaxed attitude 
	towards suxal relationships between guys - also when it comes to
	relationships between young locals and older foreigners. Sex between
	guys is for fun and pleasure before getting married - pre-marital
	sex is unthinkable in this part of the world.

	In most countries there is also a very relaxed attitude towards 
	prostitution, In most tourist-class hotels in e.g. Thailand, it
	is common to allow guests in the rooms, as long as you pay for a
	double room.

Country			Legal age of consent
--------------------------------------------
Bangladesh		illegal
Brunei			illegal
Burma			not mentioned in the law
Phillipines		18
Hong Kong		21
India			illegal, but common
Indonesia		18
Iran			illegal, death penalty
Iraq			illegal, death penalty
Israel			18
Japan			12
Jordan			illegal
Cambodia (Kampuchea)	no information available
South Korea		18
North Korea		not mentioned in the law
China (Peoples Rep.)	not mentioned in the law
Kuwait			illegal
Lebanon			illegal
Malaysia		illegal, but common
Nepal			not known, but common
Oman			illegal
Pakistan		illegal
Qatar			illegal
Saudi Arabia		illegal
Singapore		illegal, but it happens
Sri Lanka		illegal, but common
Syria			illegal
Taiwan			18
Thailand		15, 18 for relationships with prostitutes
United Arab Emirates	illegal
Vietnam			legal, but age is not known

--
Henrik Storner (storner@olivetti.dk / storner@diku.dk)
Tech. Support
Olivetti Denmark.