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(The Guardian) In a new series, Stephen Fry has been travelling the world to find out what it means to be gay. We collect the data on which countries protect, and which countries persecute their homosexual citizens The debates that have raged around gay marriage in Western Europe and North America might have overshadowed the lack of basic rights afforded to gay and lesbian citizens in other countries. We look at where imprisonment is still a penalty for homosexual acts and where anti-discrimination laws serve to protect individuals. Death penalty Only in Africa and Asia do individuals risk paying for their sexual orientation with their lives. In five countries, legislation remains in place that punishes homosexuality with the death penalty - Mauritania, Sudan, Iran, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. In parts of Nigeria and Somalia too, the murder of gay and lesbian individuals is practised and not prohibited in state legislation. But national legislation doesn't quite capture the full picture - in many places homosexuals are murdered by vigilantes while the state turns a blind eye. In Jamaica, where homophobia is deep-seated, Dwayne Jones, a "cross-dressing" 17-year-old was "chopped and stabbed to death" by a mob according to local media reports. Incitement to hatred based on sexual orientation is only prohibited in 26 countries. Life sentences The statistics on imprisonment further demonstrate the extremes in the protection of gay rights. In ten countries, the punishment for 'homosexual illegal acts' is a sentence anywhere between 14 years and life. In a further 55 countries. homosexuals can face imprisonment for up to 14 years - 27 of those countries are in Africa. With a few notable exceptions such as South Africa, most African countries from Algeria to Zimbabwe had some form of legal persecution against homosexuals. Reading the text of the laws themselves, most sentences are accompanied by considerable fines to be paid to the state. Different sexual orientations, different rules In 15 countries, the age of consent was different for sexual intercourse between same-sex partners than it was for heterosexual ones. Even in countries where same-sex unions are recognised by the state (31 countries) a far smaller number (11 countries) offer those couples most or all of the rights afforded by marriage. These numbers come from the ILGA, (the International Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans and Intersex Association) which is a network of local and national organisations around the world. It regularly speaks at the United Nations on LGBT issues. Here are some of the examples provided in the report of discriminatory laws: MAURITANIA: Penal Code of 1984 "Article 308. - Any adult Muslim man who commits an indecent act or an act against nature with an individual of his sex will face the penalty of death by public stoning.". TOGO: Penal Code of 13 August 1980 Article 88 – "Impudent acts or crimes against the nature with an individual of the same sex are punished with imprisonment from one to three years and 100,000-500,000 franc in fine" GAMBIA: Criminal Code 1965, as amended in 2005 "Article 144: Unnatural offences (1) Any person who— (a) has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature; or (b) has carnal knowledge of an animal; or (c) permits any person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature; is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for a term of 14 years." For the full article or to download the results, click here.