Liberia

The Penal Law of 1976 prohibits same-sex sexual activity and criminalizes acts of “voluntary sodomy” under Section 14.47 and “deviant sexual intercourse” under Section 14.79. Section 50.8(a) provides a maximum penalty of one year of imprisonment. Both men and women are criminalized under this law. It is worth noting that Liberia’s Penal Law is of domestic origin, as Liberia is one of the countries in Africa that was never formally colonized. 

Liberia has faced multiple attempts to introduce anti-LGBTQ legislation, with notable efforts in 2012, 2018, and most recently in 2024. On July 18, 2024, Representative Johnson S. N. Williams (River Gee County District #3), a newly elected member of the opposition party Coalition of Democratic Change (CDC), introduced the Anti-Homosexuality Law of Liberia 2024 in the House of Representatives, which referred it to a joint committee on Gender, Health, and Judiciary for review. The bill sought to add a new penal provision, Section 14.80, which would strengthen the criminalization of consensual same-sex intimacy by reclassifying it from a misdemeanor to a felony, significantly expanding the legal regulation of sexual diversity. 

The Decent Work Act of 2015 provides protections for LGBTIQ persons in the work environment, stating that ‘all persons who work or who seek to work in Liberia are entitled to enjoy and to exercise the rights and protections conferred by the Act irrespective of…sex, gender identity or sexual orientation.”

Freedom of association is limited for LGBTIQ organizations, as they are not allowed to register freely. A 2020 country report on sexual orientation, gender identity, and rights, produced by OHCHR and UNDP, highlights cases of discrimination, arrests, and violence toward LGBTIQ individuals.

*Outright research indicates that the bodily autonomy of intersex people is not respected and protected in this country.