Fresh out of Barnard College with a degree in political science, Riley is a writer and reporter for GZERO. When she isn’t writing about global politics, you can find her making GZERO’s crossword puzzles, conducting research on American politics, or persisting in her lifelong quest to learn French. Riley spends her time outside of work grilling, dancing, and wearing many hats (both literally and figuratively).
LGBTQ+ rights remain far from equal around the world. As of 2025, only 38 of the 195 countries globally recognize same-sex marriage. While some nations are changing course — Liechtenstein and Thailand both legalized same-sex marriage this year — others are moving in the opposite direction, enacting discriminatory laws that target LGBTQ+ communities. In the United States, state-level lawmakers in Oklahoma are pushing to restrict transgender rights and challenge the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage. Meanwhile in Uganda, the Constitutional Court last year upheld an anti-gay law – initially signed in 2023 – that includes the death penalty for certain homosexual activity, underscoring the legal challenges that LGBTQ+ individuals face in certain countries across the globe.
