The experiences of denying constitutional protection to sodomy laws in the United States, Australia, and Malaysia: you've come a long way baby and you still have a long way to go!

While sodomy laws have been repealed in many nations, such as the United States and Australia, as of May 2008, such laws still exist in 86 states which are members of the United Nations. The repeal of such laws in many countries is reflective of advances in the human rights movement globally and the increasing recognition that certain key principles of human rights, such as privacy, personal dignity, autonomy and equality, necessarily subsume within their reach the recognition of freedom with regard to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex ('LGBTI') orientation. This article will explore the factors contributing to the ultimate repeal of these laws in the United States ('US') and Australia - as well as the factors militating against the repeal of such laws in Malaysia. This piece argues that the sodomy laws in Malaysia should be repealed for the same reasons they have ultimately been repealed in the US and Australia. The historical experiences with the sodomy laws in all three contexts provide an insight into the evolution of the human rights movement globally