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Same-sex sexual activity legal? Legal in all 56 states
Legal in all 6 dependencies and other territories. Gender identity/expression Legal in 43 out of 56 states
Legal in 3 out of 6 dependencies and other territories Military service Allowed to serve openly in 39 out of 52 states having an army
Legal in all 6 dependencies and other territories Discrimination protections Legal in 42 out of 56 states
Legal in all 6 dependencies and other territories Recognition of
relationships Legal in 25 out of 56 states
Legal in 5 out of 6 dependencies and other territories Restrictions: Same-sex marriage constitutionally banned in 11 out of 56 states | ||
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights are widely diverse in Europe per country. Thirteen out of the twenty one countries that have legalised same-sex marriage worldwide are situated in Europe; a further thirteen European countries have legalised civil unions or other forms of recognition for same-sex couples. Austria, Germany, Italy, Hungary and Switzerland are considering legislation to introduce same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage was enacted in Finland by March 2017. Slovenia has carried out a referendum to legalise same-sex marriage in December 2015 which failed to succeed. Malta and Estonia are the only two countries within Europe that recognises legally performed same-sex marriages overseas but does not perform them, and are both the only countries where a civil union is equal to marriage but name. Constitutions of Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine recognizes marriage only as a union of one man and one woman.
Contents
The top five EU countries in terms of LGBT rights are Malta, Belgium, UK, Portugal and Norway.
History
Although same-sex relationships were quite common in ancient Greece, Rome and pagan Celtic societies, after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, severe laws against homosexual behaviour appeared. An edict by the Emperor Theodosius I in 390 condemned all "passive" homosexual men to death by public burning. This was followed by the Corpus Juris Civilis of Justinian I in 529, which prescribed public castration and execution for all who committed homosexual acts, both active and passive partners. Homosexual behaviour, called sodomy, was considered a capital crime in most European countries, and thousands of homosexual men were executed across Europe during waves of persecution in these centuries. Lesbians were less often singled out for punishment, but they also suffered persecution and execution from time to time.
Since the foundation of Poland in 966, Polish law has never defined homosexuality as a crime. Forty years after Poland lost its independence in 1795, the sodomy laws of Russia, Prussia, and Austria came into force in the partitioned Polish territory. Poland regained its independence in 1918 and abandoned the laws of the occupying powers. In 1932, Poland codified the equal age of consent for homosexuals and heterosexuals at 15.
In Turkey, homosexuality has been legal since 1858.
During the French Revolution, the French National Assembly rewrote the criminal code in 1791, omitting all reference to homosexuality. During the Napoleonic wars, homosexuality was decriminalised in territories coming under French control, such as the Netherlands and many of the pre-unification German states, however in Germany this ended with the unification of the country under the Prussian Kaiser, as Prussia had long punished homosexuality harshly. On 6 August 1942, the Vichy government made homosexual relations with anyone under twenty-one illegal as part of its conservative agenda. Most Vichy legislation was repealed after the war– but the anti-gay Vichy law remained on the books for four decades until it was finally repealed in August 1982 when the age of consent (15) was again made the same for heterosexual as well as homosexual partners.
Nevertheless, gay men and lesbians continued to live closeted lives, since moral and social disapproval by heterosexual society remained strong across Europe for another two decades, until the modern gay rights movement began in 1969.
Various countries under dictatorships in the 20th century were very anti-homosexual, such as in the Soviet Union, in Nazi Germany and in Spain under Francisco Franco's regime. In contrast, after Poland regained independence after World War I, it went on in 1932 to become the first country in 20th-century Europe to decriminalise homosexual activity (other than the Soviet Union, which had decriminalized it in 1917 under the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, but re-criminalized it in 1933 under Stalin), followed by Denmark in 1933, Iceland in 1940, Switzerland in 1942 and Sweden in 1944.
In 1962, homosexual behaviour was decriminalised in Czechoslovakia, following a scientific research of Kurt Freund that included phallometry of homosexually oriented men who appeared to have given up sexual relations with other men and established heterosexual marriages. Freund came to the conclusion that homosexual orientation may not be changed.
In 1972, Sweden became the first country in the world to allow people who were transsexual by legislation to surgically change their sex and provide free hormone replacement therapy.
In 1979, a number of people in Sweden called in sick with a case of being homosexual, in protest of homosexuality being classified as an illness. This was followed by an activist occupation of the main office of the National Board of Health and Welfare. Within a few months, Sweden became the first country in Europe from those that had previously defined homosexuality as an illness to remove it as such.
In 1989, Denmark was the first country in Europe, and the world, to introduce registered partnerships for same-sex couples.
In 1991, Bulgaria was the first country in Europe to ban same-sex marriage. Since then, eleven countries have followed (Lithuania in 1992, Belarus and Moldova in 1994, Ukraine in 1996, Poland in 1997, Latvia and Serbia in 2006, Montenegro in 2007, Hungary in 2012, Croatia in 2013 and Slovakia in 2014).
In 2001 a next step was made, when the Netherlands opened civil marriage for same-sex couples, which made it the first country in the world to do so. Since then, eleven other European states have followed (Belgium in 2003, Spain in 2005, Norway and Sweden in 2009, Portugal and Iceland in 2010, Denmark in 2012, France in 2013, the United Kingdom in 2014 and Luxembourg and Ireland in 2015).
On 22 October 2009, the assembly of the Church of Sweden, voted strongly in favour of giving its blessing to homosexual couples, including the use of the term marriage, ("matrimony"). The new law was introduced on 1 November 2009.
Recent developments
Civil partnerships have been legal in Ireland since 2011. In 2013, the government held a constitutional convention which voted overwhelmingly in favour of amending the constitution in order to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. On 22 May 2015, Irish citizens voted on whether to add the following amendment to the constitution: "Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex.". 62.1% of the electorate voted in favour of the amendment, making Ireland the first country worldwide to introduce same-sex marriage through a national referendum. Ireland's first same-sex marriage ceremonies took place in November 2015.
The Isle of Man has allowed civil partnerships since 2011, as well as Jersey in 2012. Liechtenstein also legalised registered partnership by 68 percent of voters via a referendum in 2011.
On 1 January 2012, a new constitution of Hungary enacted by the government of Viktor Orbán, leader of the ruling Fidesz party, came into effect, restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples and containing no guarantees of protection from discrimination on account of sexual orientation.
In 2012, the United Kingdom government launched a public same-sex marriage consultation, intending to change the laws applying to England and Wales. Its Marriage Bill was signed into law on 17 July 2013. The Scottish government launched a similar consultation, aiming to legalise same-sex marriage by 2015. On 4 February 2014, the Scottish Parliament passed a bill to legalise same sex marriages in Scotland as well as ending the "spousal veto" that would allow spouses to deny transgender partners the ability to change their legal gender. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom which does not allow same sex marriage.
In May 2013, France legalised same-sex marriage, with French president François Hollande signing a law authorising marriage and adoption by gay couples.
On 30 June 2013, Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, signed the Russian LGBT propaganda law into force, which was approved by the State Duma. The law makes distributing propaganda among minors in support of "non-traditional" sexual relationships a criminal offence.
On 1 December 2013, a referendum was held in Croatia to constitutionally define marriage as a union between a woman and a man. The vote passed, with 65.87% supporting the measure, and a turnout of 37.9%.
On 27 January 2014 in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Turkish Cypriot deputies passed an amendment repealing a colonial-era law that punished homosexual acts with up to five years in prison by a new Criminal Code.
On 14 April 2014, the Parliament of Malta voted in favour of the Civil Union Act which recognises same-sex couples and permits them to adopt children. On the same day the Maltese parliament also voted in favour of a constitutional amendment to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
On 4 June 2014, the Slovak parliament overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, with 102 deputies for and 18 deputies against the legislation.
On 18 June 2014, the Parliament of Luxembourg approved a bill to legalise same-sex marriage and adoption. The law was published in the official gazette on 17 July and took effect 1 January 2015.
On 15 July 2014, Croatian Parliament passed the Life Partnership Act giving same-sex couples all rights that married couples have, except for adoption. However, the Act allows a parent's life partner to become the child's partner-guardian. Partner-guardianship as an institution is equal to step-child adoption in rights and responsibilities, but it does not give parental status to the parent's life partner. Criteria for partner-guardianship and step-parent adoption for opposite-sex couples are the same. Also, regardless of partner-guardianship, a parent's life partner may attain partial parental responsibility over the child either via court or consensus among the parents and life partner, even full in some cases when the court decides that it is in the child's best interest.
In September 2014, a law went into effect in Denmark effectively dropping the former practice of requiring transgender persons to undergo arduous psychiatric evaluation and castration before being allowed legal gender change. By requiring nothing more than a statement of gender identity and subsequent confirmation of the request for gender change after a waiting period of 6 months, this means that anyone wishing their legal gender marker changed can do so with no expert-evaluation and few other formal restrictions. Meanwhile, Norwegian Health Minister Bent Høie has made promises that a similar law for Norway will be drafted soon.
On 9 October 2014, the parliament of Estonia passed the Cohabitation bill by a 40-38 vote. It was signed by President Toomas Hendrik Ilves that same day and took effect on 1 January 2016.
On 27 November 2014 the Parliament of Andorra passed a Civil Union bill, legalising also joint adoption for same-sex partners. On 24 December 2014, the bill was published in the official journal, following promulgation by co-prince François Hollande as signature of one of the two co-princes was needed. It took effect on 25 December 2014.
On 12 December 2014 the Parliament of Finland passed a same-sex marriage bill by a 101-90 vote. The law was signed by President Sauli Niinistö on 20 February 2015. In order that the provisions of the framework law would be fully implementable further legislation has to be passed. The law took effect on 1 March 2017.
On 21 January 2015, the Parliament of Macedonia overwhelmingly approved Amendment XXXIII to the Constitution of Macedonia, banning same-sex marriage, with 72 MPs voting for and 4 MPs voting against.
On 7 February 2015, Slovaks voted in a referendum to ban same-sex marriage and same-sex parental adoption. The result of the referendum was for the proposals, with 95% and 92% votes for, respectively. However, the referendum was deemed invalid because of a low turnout.
On 3 March 2015 the Parliament of Slovenia passed a same-sex marriage bill by a 51-28 vote. On 20 December 2015, Slovenians reject the new same-sex marriage bill by a margin of 63% to 37%.
In November 2015, the Parliament of Cyprus approved a bill which legalised civil unions for same-sex couples in a 39-12 vote. It took effect on 9 December 2015.
A bill to legalise civil unions for same-sex couples in Greece was approved in December 2015 by its Parliament in a 194-55 vote. The law was signed by the President and took effect on 24 December 2015.
On 29 April 2016, the Parliament of the Faroe Islands, a Danish dependency, voted to extend Danish same-sex marriage legislation to the territory, excluding the possibility to be legally wed in a religious ceremony. The change was scheduled to come into force on 1 July 2016, but the Danish Parliament still must approve the exclusion of religious marriages for the Faroe Islands. The Danish government has signalled that it will indeed have such legislation voted. The legislation is expected to enter into force in December 2016.
A bill to legalise civil unions for same-sex couples in Italy was approved on 13 May 2016 by the Parliament of Italy. The law was signed by the President on 20 May 2016. It was published in the Official Gazette on 21 May and therefore entered into force on 5 June 2016.
On 21 September 2016, the States of Guernsey approved the bill to legalize same-sex marriage, in a 33-5 vote. It received Royal Assent on 14 December 2016. The law is yet to go into effect until mid-2017.
On 26 October 2016, the Gibraltar Parliament unanimously approved a bill to allow same-sex marriage by a vote of 15-0. It received Royal Assent 1 November 2016. The law went into effect on 15 December, 2016.
On 31 January 2017, the Supreme Court of Cassation (Italy) recognized a marriage between two French women (one of these had the right to claim Italian citizenship iure sanguinis), officiated in the region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais. This is the first time a homosexual marriage is admitted in Italy.
Public opinion around Europe
In a 2002 Pew Global Attitudes Project surveyed by the Pew Research Center, showed majorities in every Western European nation said homosexuality should be accepted by society, while most Russians, Poles and Ukrainians disagreed. A Eurobarometer in 2006 surveying up to 30,000 people from each European Union country, showed split opinion around the then 27 member states on the issue of same sex marriage. The majority of support came from the Netherlands (82%), Sweden (71%), Denmark (69%), Belgium (62%), Luxembourg (58%), Spain (56%), Finland (54%), Germany (52%) and the Czech Republic (52%). All other countries within the EU had below 50% support; with Romania (11%), Latvia (12%), Cyprus (14%), Bulgaria (15%), Greece (15%), Lithuania (17%), Poland (17%), Hungary (18%) and Malta (18%) at the other end of the list. Same sex adoption had majority support from only two countries: Netherlands at 69% and Sweden at 51% and the least support from Poland and Malta on 7% respectively.
A more recent survey carried out in October 2008 by The Observer affirmed that the majority of Britons – 55% – support gay marriage. A 2013 poll shows that the majority of the Irish public support gay marriage and gay adoption, 73% and 60% respectively. France has support for same sex marriage at 62%, and Russian at 14%. Italy has support for the 'Civil Partnership Law' between gays at 45% with 47% opposed. In 2009 58.9% of Italians supported civil unions, while 40.4 supported same-sex marriage. In 2010, 63.9% of Greeks supported same-sex partnerships, while 38.5% supported same-sex marriage. In 2012 a poll by MaltaToday showed that 41% of Maltese supported same sex marriage, with support increasing to 60% amongst the 18-35 age group. In a 2013 opinion poll conducted by CBOS, 65% of Poles were against same-sex civil unions, 72% of Poles were against same-sex marriage, 88% were against adoption by same-sex couples, and 68% were against gays and lesbians publicly showing their way of life. In Croatia, a poll from November 2013 revealed that 59% of Croats think that marriage should be constitutionally defined as a union between a man and a woman, while 31% do not agree with the idea. A CBOS opinion poll from February 2014 found that 70% of Poles believe same-sex sexual activity is morally unacceptable, while only 22% believed it is morally acceptable. A 2015 NDI public opinion poll shows that only 10% of the population in the Balkans (Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro and Macedonia) believe LGBTI marriages are acceptable, in contrast to 88% who think they're unacceptable.
According to pollster Gallup Europe, women, younger generations, and the highly educated are more likely to support same-sex marriage and adoption rights for gay people than other demographics.