LGBT Rights in Grand-Est Metropolitan Regions

Grand-Est is governed by federal France law. Learn more
    Homosexuality
    ✔ Legal
    Gay Marriage
    ✔ Legal
    Censorship
    ✔ No censorship
    Changing Gender
    ✔ Legal, no restrictions
    Gender-Affirming Care
    ✔ Legal
    Non-Binary Gender Recognition
    ✖ Not legally recognized
    Discrimination
    ✔ Illegal
    Employment Discrimination
    ✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
    Housing Discrimination
    ✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
    Adoption
    ✔ Legal
    Intersex Infant Surgery
    ✖ Parental approval required
    Military
    ✔ Legal
    Donating Blood
    ✔ Legal
    Conversion Therapy
    ✔ Banned
    Age of Consent
    ✔ Equal
💬 Join Equaldex's LGBTQ+ Discord to discuss LGBT rights and chat!

Public Opinion

Grand-Est is lacking public opinion data.

Help expand our understanding of the public's view on LGBTQ+ issues in Grand-Est by sharing a link to a survey from a reputable organization.

Suggest Public Opinion Data

Have you lived in or visited Grand-Est?

Share your experience of being LGBTQ+ in Grand-Est.

Take Survey

History

Homosexual activity in Grand-Est

?

Homosexual activity in Grand-Est is legal.

Current status
Since Sep 25, 1791
Legal
The law of 1791 decriminalized homosexual activity, however, it does not recognize homosexuality itself.
Report error  ·  Log

Same-sex marriage in Grand-Est

?

Same-sex marriage in Grand-Est is legal.

Current status
Since May 18, 2013
Legal
France passed comprehensive same-sex marriage legislation in 2013; entitling gay and lesbian people to equal marriage rights in Metropolitan France and all its overseas departments. France was the ninth European country and the thirteenth country in the world to legalise gay marriage.
Sources:
legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do;jsessionid=?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000027414540&dateTexte=&oldAction=rechJO&categorieLien=id
Report error  ·  Log
Nov 15, 1999–May 17, 2013
Civil unions (limited rights)
Under French law, both same sex and different sex couples can get a PACS, a civil union with limited rights. PACS are still available today.
Sources:
web.archive.org/web/2007050…//www.legislation.cnav.fr/textes/loi/TLR-LOI_99944_15111999.htm
Report error  ·  Log

Censorship of LGBT issues in Grand-Est

?

Censorship of LGBT issues in Grand-Est is no censorship.

Current status
No censorship
In France, there are no laws restricting to discussion or promotion of LGBTQ+ topics.
Report error  ·  Log

Right to change legal gender in Grand-Est

?

Right to change legal gender in Grand-Est is legal, no restrictions.

Current status
Since Sep 1, 2018
Legal, no restrictions
Individuals can legally change their gender in France. Sex reassignment surgery is state-funded. Requires court approval to change gender marker and first-name.

According to media reports, in 2010, France became the first country to remove "transsexualism" from their official list of mental illnesses.
Jan 1, 1992–Sep 1, 2018
Legal, no restrictions
No surgery required since 2018. Missing non binary options on documents.
Report error  ·  Log
Until Jan 1, 1992
Illegal
Legal gender change is impossible
Report error  ·  Log

Gender-affirming care in Grand-Est

?

Gender-affirming care in Grand-Est is legal.

Current status
Since Jan 1, 1975
Legal
France allows transition care for adults and minors.
Minors can access puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, and in some cases, mastectomies. Genital surgeries are however reserved for adults.
Jan 1, 1920–Jan 1, 1975
Restricted
France banned gender reassignment surgeries on people who were not intersex until 1975. However, hormones were accessible without a prescription.

Trans people would often go to Germany or Morocco to get reassignment surgeries.
Sources:
memoire-sexualites.org/chro…
web.archive.org/web/2006042…//www.symposion.com/ijt/cauldwell/cauldwell_01.htm
Report error  ·  Log
Until Jan 1, 1920
Banned
Medical transition was not possible at the time.
Sources:
ourworldindata.org/grapher/…
web.archive.org/web/2006042…//www.symposion.com/ijt/cauldwell/cauldwell_01.htm
Report error  ·  Log

Legal recognition of non-binary gender in Grand-Est

?

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

Current status
Since Mar 2016
Not legally recognized
Non-binary gender is not available. In 2023, the European Court of Human Rights decided in the judgment "Y. v. France" (2023) on the legal recognition of the gender of an intersex person. Specifically, on the case of a person who had been refused by French authorities the possibility to modify their gender marker to reflect the term "neutral" or "intersex". The ECHR rejected that such a decision was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights, stating that, given the relevance of such a change to the otherwise binary French legal system, it was for the French state itself to reform its legislation beforehand. However, it acknowledged that future developments in Council of Europe member states could change its interpretation.

A court ruled in August 2015 that an intersex plaintiff who was designated male at birth, could use the term “neutral gender” on personal official documents. This decision was overturned by a French appeals court.
Aug 20, 2015–Mar 2016
Intersex only
A court in Tours ruled in favour of an intersex plaintiff who sought to have a third gender option recognised on official identification documents.
Report error  ·  Log
Until Aug 20, 2015
Not legally recognized
France does not recognize non-binary people.
Report error  ·  Log

LGBT discrimination in Grand-Est

?

LGBT discrimination in Grand-Est is illegal.

Current status
Since Dec 30, 2004
Illegal
Discrimination aimed toward an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity is banned in France.
Sources:
legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTe…
web.archive.org/web/2014020…//www.ilga-europe.org/home/news/latest/france_adds_sexual_identity_to_the_protected_grounds_of_discrimination
Report error  ·  Log

LGBT employment discrimination in Grand-Est

?

LGBT employment discrimination in Grand-Est is sexual orientation and gender identity.

Current status
Since Jul 31, 2012
Sexual orientation and gender identity under federal France law
Article 1 of Law No. 2001-1066 (2001) amended Article 122-45 of the Labour Code to afford explicit protection from discrimination based on "sexual orientation" in employment. It also amended Article 225-2 of the Penal Code (1994) to criminalise acts of discrimination in employment based on "sexual orientation", specifically when the discriminatory action consisted a refusal to hire, admonishment or dismissal based on "sexual orientation" (at 225-2.3), making an offer of employment, internship request, or training (at 225- 2.5), or refusal to accept a person for an internship (at 225-2.6) on such grounds.
In 2008, Article 122-45 was replaced by Article L1132-1 in the Labour Code (2008), which was located under the Chapter establishing the principle of non-discrimination, keeping the explicit protection based on "sexual orientation" in employment. This provision replaced article L122-45.
In 2013, Article 1 of the Law Opening Marriage to Same-Sex Couples (Law No. 2013-404) (2013) inserted Art. 1132-3-2 to the Labour Code establishing that no employee may be sanctioned, dismissed or be the subject of a discriminatory measure referred to in Article L1132-1 (cited above) for “having refused, because of their "sexual orientation", a geographical transfer to a State criminalising homosexuality”.
Note : prior to the enactment of Law No. 2001-1066 (2001), French law did not include any reference to the term “sexual orientation”. However, it has been argued that there has been some form protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation, first in criminal matters since 1985, under Law No. 85-772 (1985), and then in labour law under Law No. 86-76 (1986) and then under Law No. 92-1446 (1992). These laws did not speak to “sexual orientation”: the term chosen was that of “mœurs” (French equivalent for “manners”. Articles 225-1 and 225-2 of the Penal Code (1994), as amended by Law on Sexual Harassment (Law No. 2012-954) (2012), banned discrimination based on "sexual identity". Moreover, Article L1132-1 in the Labour Code, as amended also by Law No. 2012-954 (2012), explicitly bans discrimination based on "sexual identity" in employment.
Since the adoption of the Law on modernisation of the justice of the 21th Century (Law No. 2016-1547) (2016), the terminology has been changed to "gender identity" in both texts.
Report error  ·  Log
Nov 27, 2000–Jul 31, 2012
Sexual orientation only
Report error  ·  Log

LGBT housing discrimination in Grand-Est

?

LGBT housing discrimination in Grand-Est is sexual orientation and gender identity.

Current status
Since 2014
Sexual orientation and gender identity under federal France law
Article 158 of Law No. 2002-73 (2002) amended Article 1 of Law No. 89-462 (1989) to prohibit a landowner from discriminating against tenants on the basis of "sexual orientation".
In 2014, Law No. 2014-366 (2014) modified the provision, but kept the prohibition of discrimination based on "sexual orientation.
In 2014, Law No. 2014-366 (2014) amended Article 1 of Law No. 89-462 (1989) to prohibit a landowner from discriminating against tenants on the grounds established by Article 225-1 of the Penal Code, which includes "gender identity"
Report error  ·  Log

Same-sex adoption in Grand-Est

?

Same-sex adoption in Grand-Est is legal.

Current status
Since May 17, 2013
Legal
Same-sex couples have been legally able to adopt children since May 2013, when the same-sex marriage law took effect. The first joint adoption by a same-sex couple was announced on 18 October 2013.
Sources:
legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do;jsessionid=?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000027414540&dateTexte=&oldAction=rechJO&categorieLien=id
Report error  ·  Log

Intersex infant surgery in Grand-Est

?

Intersex infant surgery in Grand-Est is parental approval required.

Current status
Parental approval required
Intersex people, especially minors on the decision of their parents or doctors, may undergo medical interventions not felt to make their body more typically male or female. The associations denounce these interventions as mutilations suffered by intersex childs115, as the UN Committee against Torture which recommended to France “to take legislative, administrative or other measures necessary to ensure the physical integrity of intersex persons”
Report error  ·  Log

Serving openly in military in Grand-Est

?

Serving openly in military in Grand-Est is legal.

Current status
Legal
LGBT people have never been legally banned from serving in the French army.
Report error  ·  Log

Blood donations by MSMs in Grand-Est

?

Blood donations by MSMs in Grand-Est is legal.

Current status
Since Mar 16, 2022
Legal
In 2022, France removed the deferral period for gay and bi men donating blood, replacing it with a new policy that applies to all donors, regardless of sexual orientation.
Report error  ·  Log
Apr 2, 2020–Mar 15, 2022
Banned (less than 6-month deferral)
In July 2019, Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn announced that the deferral period would be reduced to four months of abstinence from 2 April 2020.
Report error  ·  Log
Jul 10, 2016–Apr 2, 2020
Banned (1-year deferral)
Proposed in 2015, the indefinite deferral was replaced by a 1 year deferral in 2016.
Report error  ·  Log
Jan 1, 1983–Jul 9, 2016
Banned (indefinite deferral)
In 1983, in response to the HIV epidemic, the Directorate General of Health banned MSMs from donating blood indefinitely. This ban was reiterated in 2009.
Report error  ·  Log
Until Jan 1, 1983
Legal
Blood donations in France were legal before 1983.
Report error  ·  Log

Conversion therapy in Grand-Est

?

Conversion therapy in Grand-Est is banned.

Current status
Since Jan 26, 2022
Banned
The National Assembly approved the new law unanimously, voting 142-0 on Tuesday evening.
Until Jan 26, 2022
Not banned
Not banned, although a legislation to criminalise conversion therapy is currently progressing.
Report error  ·  Log

Equal age of consent in Grand-Est

?

Equal age of consent in Grand-Est is equal.

Current status
Since Aug 4, 1982
Equal
The age of consent in France is 15 for both male-male, female-female, and male-female sex.
Report error  ·  Log