Official Name: Dominican Republic
Population: 9,905,000
Capital: Santo Domingo - Pop. 2,100,000
Area: 48,730 sq. km. / 30,279 sq. miles.
Language: Spanish
Religion: Roman Catholic
Status of Homosexuality: Legal
Telephone Country Code: 1809
Homosexuality in the Dominican Republic is legal, by national law. The age of consent is equalized regardless of sexual orientation to 18. Even though it is legal, there is still major discrimination against LGBT members of the society. This is mainly due to the strict Catholic status of the country. Although homosexuality is not generally accepted, hate crimes are rare as they are prosecutable under Dominican law. In the summer of 2006, several gay clubs and bars in the capital Santo Domingo were shut down. However, the case came in front of a local judge who ruled the closing as unlawful due to the policies of no-discrimination. Homosexuality is not illegal in the Dominican Republic, and terms referring to the disintegration of the moral good have been removed from legal documents, but protection for those in the GLBT community is still basically non-existent. The lack of rights and legal protection can lead one to believe that they are a separate, but not equal part of society. Requests for permission to march and assemble as a group have been denied, and the public outcry over homosexuality, and its believed corruption and endangerment of the youth, is still a hot button issue.
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