Geographical map of Melanesia (cropped)

Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. Melanesia borders Southeast Asia to the west, Polynesia to the east, Micronesia to the north and Australia to the south.

The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. It also includes the Indonesian part of New Guinea, the French overseas collectivity of New Caledonia, and the Torres Strait Islands. Almost all of the region is in the Southern Hemisphere; only a few small islands that are not politically considered part of Oceania—specifically the northwestern islands of Western New Guinea—lie in the Northern Hemisphere. (Full article...)

Like other regions, Oceania is quite diverse in its laws regarding LGBTQ rights. This ranges from significant rights, including same-sex marriage – granted to the LGBTQ community in New Zealand, Australia, Guam, Hawaiʻi, 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. Although acceptance is growing across the Pacific, violence and social stigma remain issues for LGBTQ 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-LGBTQ laws throughout the British Empire, including its colonies throughout the Pacific Ocean. This legacy persists in anti-LGBTQ laws found in a majority of countries in the subsequent Commonwealth of Nations. Opponents of LGBTQ rights in Oceania have justified their stance by arguing it is supported by tradition and that homosexuality is a "Western vice", although anti-LGBTQ laws themselves are a colonial British legacy. Several Pacific countries have ancient traditions predating colonization that reflect a unique local perspective of sexuality and gender, such as the faʻafafine in Samoa, fakaleitī in Tonga, or māhū in Hawaiʻi. (Full article...)

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