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
History of the Marshall Islands "Todos los Santos" also visited the islands in different years. The islanders had no immunity to European diseases and many died as a result of contact with the Spanish. Captain John Charles Marshall and Thomas Gilbert visited the islands in 1788. The islands were named for Marshall on Western charts, although the natives have historically named their home "jolet jen Anij" (Gifts from God). Around 1820, Russian explorer Adam Johann von Krusenstern and the French explorer Louis Isidore Duperrey named the islands after John Marshall, and drew maps of the islands. The designation was repeated later on British maps. In