In one way or another, you’re likely to feel that this year has been a rollercoaster. Whether it was scary, suspense-filled, thrilling, or short-lived, 2025 has undoubtedly been a whirlwind. As a queer individual, I have especially come to understand this year as pulling the LGBTQ+ community in many different directions. From high triumphs and, what have at times felt like even lower, pitfalls, I’ve been spending much time looking toward the future— in part, with hopes that things will only improve. Many in LGBTQ+ advocacy see these last few weeks leading up to the new year as a time to be forward-thinking and planning ahead for what can be achieved in 2026. However, what is equally as vital as this preparation is the act of reflecting on and taking stock of where the past several months have guided us. So, in order of date, here are three important, but not all-encompassing, moments in global LGBTQ+ rights and legislation from 2025 that might be helpful in getting started on such reflections:
- Hungary bans Pride celebrations and delegitimizes transgender identities in new laws
In March. 17, 2025, a new law was passed under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government which furthered the country’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights. The law specifically prohibits events which violate another anti-LGBTQ+ law passed in 2021, hinging on the idea that children under 18 should be “protected” from homosexuality and gender non-conformity. Despite notable public pushback and protesting, the law passed with a 136-27 vote. Following this, on Apr. 18, a constitutional amendment of the same exact nature was passed, outlawing public LGBTQ+ events with a fine of up to 200,000 Hungarian forints, or about $500. The amendment additionally states the government recognizes two sexes, male and female, and gives a constitutional basis to the denial of transgender, nonbinary, and intersex identities. In the face of these restrictions, over 100,000 people still showed up to march for Budapest’s Pride celebration in June, demonstrating the strength and resilience of Hungary’s LGBTQ+ community and allies.Â
- St. Lucia joins other countries in the Caribbean to decriminalize same-sex acts
In late July of this year, the Supreme Court of St. Lucia joined Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, and St. Kitts and Nevis in striking out their two sections of criminal code that made same-sex relations illegal. These sections, outlawing “buggery” and “gross indecency,” were instituted during British colonial rule and could be punished with up to 10 years in prison. Although these laws have largely not been enforced in recent years, they were still retained even through a 2004 revisitation to the code; this set a legal precedent of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment.
The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court’s actions stand to support the nation’s LGBTQ+ community, acknowledging the laws as discriminatory and in violation of basic human rights.Â
- U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of anti-transgender passport marker policy
In the wake of President Trump’s executive order decreeing that the U.S. government will only recognize two genders, male and female, on Nov. 5 the Supreme Court sided with the president by ruling in favor of his policy to issue passports and other documents to transgender and nonbinary individuals with only male or female gender markers. All three liberal justices, Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Sonia Sotomayor, dissented from the ruling. This decision was made by the court after Trump’s executive order was blocked by a federal judge from Massachusetts back in June, and reverses the Biden-instituted option of allowing those who prefer not to identify as male or female to choose an “X” marker. The executive order also includes that these markers are fixed and must reflect those assigned at birth, effectively forcing transgender, nonbinary, and intersex individuals who need new or renewed passports to receive official documents that misgender them— further opening these groups up to facing psychological and physical scrutiny and harassment.Â