LGBT Rights
The rights of gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered persons in the British Virgin Islands are relatively restricted as compared with their rights in most Western countries, including the United Kingdom. Before 2000, the BVI criminal code considered “buggery” a crime. Same-sex activity was decriminalized in that year by an Order in Council by the British government, which acted only under pressure from the EU and UN and against the wishes of the majority of BVI residents.
Read more about this topic: Human Rights In The British Virgin Islands
Famous quotes containing the word rights:
“A state that denies its citizens their basic rights becomes a danger to its neighbors as well: internal arbitrary rule will be reflected in arbitrary external relations. The suppression of public opinion, the abolition of public competition for power and its public exercise opens the way for the state power to arm itself in any way it sees fit.... A state that does not hesitate to lie to its own people will not hesitate to lie to other states.”
—Václav Havel (b. 1936)