LGBT rights in the Marshall Islands LGBT rights in the Marshall Islands Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in the Marshall Islands may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Homosexuality has been legal in the Marshall Islands since 2005. Despite this, households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples, as same-sex marriage and civil unions are not allowed. The country possesses no laws protecting LGBT people from discrimination. The Human Truth Foundation has listed the Marshall Islands at rank 88 for LGBT rights. This was similar to other Pacific nations, such as Palau
Government of the Marshall Islands Government of the Marshall Islands The government of the Marshall Islands operates under a mixed parliamentary-presidential system as set forth in its Constitution. Elections are held every four years in universal suffrage (for all citizens above 18), with each of the twenty-four constituencies (see below) electing one or more representatives (senators) to the lower house of RMI’s unicameral legislature, the Nitijela. (Majuro, the capital atoll, elects five senators.) The President, who is head of state as well as head of government, is elected by the 33 senators of the Nitijela. Four of the five Marshallese presidents who have been elected