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LGBT Rights in Portugal

    Homosexuality
    ✔ Legal
    Gay Marriage
    ✔ Legal
    Censorship
    ✔ No censorship
    Changing Gender
    ✔ Legal, no restrictions
    Non-binary gender recognition
    ✖ Not legally recognized
    Discrimination
    ✖ Illegal in some contexts
    Employment Discrimination
    ✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
    Housing Discrimination
    ✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
    Adoption
    ✔ Legal
    Military
    ✖ Lesbians, gays, bisexuals permitted, transgender people banned
    Donating Blood
    ✔ Legal
    Conversion Therapy
    ✔ Banned
    Age of Consent
    ✔ Equal

Surveys in Portugal have shown mixed views towards LGBTQ+ rights and issues.

History

Homosexual activity in Portugal

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Homosexual activity in Portugal is legal.

Current status
Since Sep 23, 1982
Legal
Added by vviet93  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Same-sex marriage in Portugal

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Same-sex marriage in Portugal is legal.

Current status
Since May 31, 2010
Legal
Added by vviet93  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Censorship of LGBT Issues in Portugal

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Censorship of LGBT Issues in Portugal is no censorship.

Current status
No censorship
In Portugal, there are no laws restricting the discussion or promotion of LGBTQ+ topics.
Added by equaldex  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Right to change legal gender in Portugal

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Right to change legal gender in Portugal is legal, no restrictions.

Current status
Since Aug 8, 2018
Legal, no restrictions
The law allows adults to change their legal gender based on self-detirmination without any requirements. Minors aged 16 and 17 must have parental consent and a professional psychological opinion.
Added by Ausyk  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Mar 15, 2011–Jul 1, 2018
Legal, but requires surgery
Individuals in Portugal can legally change their gender and name on their birth certificate.
Added by dezanove  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Legal recognition of non-binary gender in Portugal

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Legal recognition of non-binary gender in Portugal is not legally recognized.

Current status
Not legally recognized
Even though gender self-identification is possible in Portugal, non-binary identities are not yet legally recognized here.
Added by JordanB3047  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

LGBT discrimination in Portugal

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LGBT discrimination in Portugal is illegal in some contexts.

Current status
Since Jul 24, 2004
Illegal in some contexts
Article 13 explicitly prohibits discriminations on the basis of sexual orientations
Added by vviet93  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

LGBT employment discrimination in Portugal

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LGBT employment discrimination in Portugal is sexual orientation and gender identity.

Current status
Since Jan 16, 2015
Sexual orientation and gender identity
Gender identity is now an explicit protected ground in the labour code.
Added by vviet93  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

2003–Jan 16, 2015
Sexual orientation only
Sexual orientation was protected.
Added by plumelo  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

LGBT housing discrimination in Portugal

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LGBT housing discrimination in Portugal is sexual orientation and gender identity.

Current status
Sexual orientation and gender identity
Added by Ausyk  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Same-sex adoption in Portugal

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Same-sex adoption in Portugal is legal.

Current status
Since Mar 1, 2016
Legal
Now same sex adoption is possible for not only individuals but same sex couples.
Added by vviet93  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Until Feb 29, 2016
Illegal
Same sex couples in Portugal were previously not allowed to adopt or foster children. Between 2013 and 2016 various bills were put forward and rejected by parliament.
Added by dezanove  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Serving openly in military in Portugal

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Serving openly in military in Portugal is lesbians, gays, bisexuals permitted, transgender people banned.

Current status
Since 1999
Lesbians, gays, bisexuals permitted, transgender people banned
Portugal is not one of the 22 countries that allows trans military service.

Trans people aren't explicitly banned from joining the army, but due to discrimination and regulations that also apply to cis people, but more commonly affect trans people, they are unable to join.
Added by plumelo  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Blood donations by MSMs in Portugal

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Blood donations by MSMs in Portugal is legal.

Current status
Since Apr 7, 2010
Legal
In Portugal, blood donations have rules regarding sexual behaviour but they are the same for homosexual and heterosexual people. While discrimination is illegal according to the Portuguese Constitution, discrimination is widely reported amongst the LGBTQ+ community and new legislation was discussed in 2021 to address this.
Added by plumelo  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Conversion therapy in Portugal

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Conversion therapy in Portugal is banned.

Current status
Since Jan 20, 2024
Banned
The conversion therapy ban passed by Parliament last year was officially signed into law by the President over the weekend.
Added by lucasvalentim  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Until Jan 19, 2024
Not banned
There is no legislation prohibiting conversion therapy in Portugal.

In 2023, Portugal's parliament passed a bill that includes a ban on conversion therapy, amongst other measures, but this needs to be passed by the President of the Republic before it becomes law.

In 2019, after an open letter by 250 psychologists to the the regulatory Ordem dos Psicólogos, the body affirmed that conversion therapy is malpractice and has no basis in science and is not justifiable.
Added by Ausyk  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Equal age of consent in Portugal

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Equal age of consent in Portugal is equal.

Current status
Since 2007
Equal
The age of consent in Portugal is 14 years of age for both homosexual and heterosexual sex.
Added by James  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log


LGBT Rights by district

View the LGBT laws in each individual district of Portugal.