Discrimination protections No | Adoption Since 2015 | |
 | ||
Same-sex sexual activity legal? Legal for both men and women since 1983 Gender identity/expression Transgender persons allowed to change gender following surgery Recognition of
relationships Same-sex marriage since 2015 | ||
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the Northern Mariana Islands face legal challenges and discrimination not faced by other people. Same-sex marriage and adoption became legal with the Supreme Court's ruling in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges in June 2015, however, the territory does not ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
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Legality of same-sex sexual activity
Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in the Northern Marianas since 1983.
Recognition of same-sex relationships
Same-sex marriage became legal in the Commonwealth on June 26, 2015, when the United States Supreme Court ruled that no state or territory may ban same-sex marriages. Prior to this, there was no prohibition on same-sex marriage in the law of the territory, nor do the statutes specify the sex of the parties to a marriage between citizens of the Northern Mariana Islands. Other provisions assume the parties to a marriage are not of the same sex. With respect to a marriage involving one or more non-citizens, the statutes say: "The male at the time of contracting the marriage be at least 18 years of age and the female at least 16 years of age..." Statutes concerning divorce assume that the partners to a marriage are man and wife.
The first marriage between a same-sex couple occurred on the island of Saipan on July 22, 2015.
Discrimination protections and hate crime laws
The Northern Mariana Islands does not protect people from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Additionally, the territory does not ban hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity. However, such hate crimes are banned federally under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Lesbian, gay and bisexual persons have been allowed to serve openly in the American Armed Forces since 2011.
Gender identity and expression
Transgender persons in the Northern Mariana Islands may change their legal gender following sex reassignment surgery and a name change. The Vital Statistics Act of 2006, which took effect in March 2007, states that: "Upon receipt of a certified copy of an order of the CNMI Superior Court indicating the sex of an individual born in the CNMI has been changed by surgical procedure and whether such individual’s name has been changed, the certificate of birth of such individual shall be amended as prescribed by regulation."