[7][8][9] In the same year, then-Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase defended his nation's criminal laws against homosexuality as being based on the Bible.

[10][11] In contrast, then-Vice President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi stated that he felt that gay people should have their right to privacy protected.

[1] Since 1 February 2010, private, adult, consensual and non-commercial male and female homosexual conduct has been legal under the Crimes Decree 2009.

Answering a question raised by a caller on a radio talk-back programme, he stated that same-sex marriage "will not be allowed because it is against religious beliefs".

[23] Fijian-New Zealand based activist, Shaneel Lal has called for the Fijian government to allow same-sex marriage.

[25] In 2022, former Director of Human Rights and University of Fiji's Dean of Justice Professor Shaista Shameem stated that the Marriage Act which limits the union of two people to only between a male and a female can be contested in courts.

[26] In response, Director of the Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission Ashwin Raj said that "the issues are far more complex and the Fijian Constitution provides fertile ground for developing jurisprudence".

[31][32] In April 2013, the Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, stated that a new constitution, which was supposed to be finalized sometime in 2013, would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.

[33] The Constitution was promulgated in September 2013 and includes a provision banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

Conversion therapy has a negative effect on the lives of LGBT people, and can lead to low self-esteem, depression and suicide ideation.

[37] Activist Kalisito Biaukula has been outspoken about how for many LGBTQ+ people in Fiji, physical violence and domestic abuse are a form of familial conversion therapy.

Ashwin Raj, the Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission Director, later said that he would investigate the policy, arguing that it is unconstitutional and discriminatory.

[40] A majority of citizens affiliate with Methodist or Catholic denominations, which traditionally view same-sex sexuality and transgender identities negatively.

On 1 July 2001, Red Cross leader John Maurice Scott and his partner, Gregory Scrivener, were brutally murdered in Suva, in an apparent homophobic attack with a possible political motive.

[43] Lack of trust in the police due to possible harassment likely discourages LGBT people and couples from reporting anti-gay violence or hateful discrimination.