LGBT rights in Oceania

Oceania is, like other regions, quite diverse in its laws regarding LGBT rights. This ranges from significant rights, including same-sex marriage – granted to the LGBT+ community in New Zealand, Australia, Guam, Hawaii, Easter Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Wallis and Futuna, New Caledonia, French Polynesia and the Pitcairn Islands – to remaining criminal penalties for homosexual activity in six countries and one territory. Although acceptance is growing across the Pacific, violence and social stigma remain issues for LGBT+ communities. This also leads to problems with healthcare, including access to HIV treatment in countries such as Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands where homosexuality is criminalised.

The United Kingdom introduced conservative social attitudes and anti-LGBT laws throughout the British Empire, including its colonies throughout the Pacific Ocean. This legacy persists in anti-LGBT laws found in a majority of countries in the subsequent Commonwealth of Nations. Opponents of LGBT rights in Oceania have justified their stance by arguing it is supported by tradition and that homosexuality is a "Western vice", although anti-LGBT laws themselves are a colonial British legacy. Several Pacific countries have ancient traditions predating colonisation that reflect a unique local perspective of sexuality and gender, such as the fa'afafine in Samoa and fakaleiti in Tonga.