Current Version
| Region | Portugal |
| Issue | Homosexual activity |
| Status | Illegal (imprisonment as punishment) |
| Start Date | Mar 1, 1933 |
| End Date | Apr 25, 1974 |
| Description | Under Portugal’s Estado Novo dictatorship (1933–1974), LGBT people faced systematic legal and social repression. While some laws predated the regime, the dictatorship expanded and enforced them strictly. In 1852, the Penal Code criminalized “offense against modesty,” indirectly targeting homosexual acts with prison terms or fines. In 1912, homosexuality was explicitly penalized under laws against “vices against nature,” punishable with up to one year in prison and sometimes enforced “re-education” in labor colonies or correctional houses. With the Estado Novo’s rise, repression intensified. In 1936, Decree-Law No. 26 643 created the “state of delinquency,” which allowed the authorities to punish homosexual behavior even without a proven criminal act. Special detention centers and labor colonies were established, with sentences ranging from one to six years. During the 1940s and 1950s, police surveillance intensified, targeting cruising areas in public spaces, and arrests were socially selective, focusing on lower-class individuals while elites often escaped scrutiny. The 1954 Penal Code (Decree-Law No. 39 688) explicitly criminalized homosexuality, applying “security measures” such as confinement in asylums or labor houses and probation. Over 12,000 people were admitted to such institutions between 1933 and 1951. Political repression also leveraged these laws; for example, in 1962, the politician Júlio Fogaça was convicted for homosexual conduct. Despite some softening of social surveillance in the late 1960s, repression continued until the dictatorship’s fall. The Estado Novo ended with the Carnation Revolution on 25 April 1974, which brought an immediate decline in political policing of LGBT people. However, the legal framework criminalizing homosexuality remained until 1982. The Penal Code reform, effective in January 1983, finally decriminalized consensual same-sex relations between adults in private, marking the official end of Estado Novo-era legal repression. |
| Sources | https://setentaequatro.pt/investigacao-74/quando-ser-gay-era-doenca-em-portugal-de-lobotomias-choques-eletricos https://www.publico.pt/2009/07/17/sociedade/noticia/o-estado-novo-dizia-que-nao-havia-homossexuais-mas-perseguiaos-1392257 https://gerador.eu/40-anos-da-descriminalizacao-da-homossexualidade-em-portugal-em-perspetiva/ https://olliecarrington.medium.com/22-dates-in-portugals-lgbtq-history-5ddefce35b37 |
Revision History (1)
created by Johnny_bjs
Helpful?
0 | Original entry | |
|---|---|
| Status | Illegal (imprisonment as punishment) |
| Start Date | Mar 1, 1933 |
| End Date | Apr 25, 1974 |
| Description | Under Portugal’s Estado Novo dictatorship (1933–1974), LGBT people faced systematic legal and social repression. While some laws predated the regime, the dictatorship expanded and enforced them strictly. In 1852, the Penal Code criminalized “offense against modesty,” indirectly targeting homosexual acts with prison terms or fines. In 1912, homosexuality was explicitly penalized under laws against “vices against nature,” punishable with up to one year in prison and sometimes enforced “re-education” in labor colonies or correctional houses. With the Estado Novo’s rise, repression intensified. In 1936, Decree-Law No. 26 643 created the “state of delinquency,” which allowed the authorities to punish homosexual behavior even without a proven criminal act. Special detention centers and labor colonies were established, with sentences ranging from one to six years. During the 1940s and 1950s, police surveillance intensified, targeting cruising areas in public spaces, and arrests were socially selective, focusing on lower-class individuals while elites often escaped scrutiny. The 1954 Penal Code (Decree-Law No. 39 688) explicitly criminalized homosexuality, applying “security measures” such as confinement in asylums or labor houses and probation. Over 12,000 people were admitted to such institutions between 1933 and 1951. Political repression also leveraged these laws; for example, in 1962, the politician Júlio Fogaça was convicted for homosexual conduct. Despite some softening of social surveillance in the late 1960s, repression continued until the dictatorship’s fall. The Estado Novo ended with the Carnation Revolution on 25 April 1974, which brought an immediate decline in political policing of LGBT people. However, the legal framework criminalizing homosexuality remained until 1982. The Penal Code reform, effective in January 1983, finally decriminalized consensual same-sex relations between adults in private, marking the official end of Estado Novo-era legal repression. |
| Sources | https://setentaequatro.pt/investigacao-74/quando-ser-gay-era-doenca-em-portugal-de-lobotomias-choques-eletricos https://www.publico.pt/2009/07/17/sociedade/noticia/o-estado-novo-dizia-que-nao-havia-homossexuais-mas-perseguiaos-1392257 https://gerador.eu/40-anos-da-descriminalizacao-da-homossexualidade-em-portugal-em-perspetiva/ https://olliecarrington.medium.com/22-dates-in-portugals-lgbtq-history-5ddefce35b37 |