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
    ✔ Full ban
    Military
    ✔ Legal
    Donating Blood
    ✔ Legal
    Conversion Therapy
    ✔ Banned
    Age of Consent
    ✔ Equal
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Surveys in Portugal have shown mixed views towards LGBTQ+ rights and issues.

Perception of LGBTQ+ People

Survey results from 7 LGBTQ+ Equaldex users who lived in or visited Portugal.

Overall

Overall

Perceived Safety*

Feel safe being open
Absence of verbal harassment
Absence of threats and violence
*Survey results represent personal perceptions of safety and may not be indicative of current actual conditions.

Equal Treatment

Treatment by peers
Treatment by family
Treatment at work
Treatment at school
Treatment by general public
Treatment by businesses
Treatment by law enforcement
Treatment by religious groups

Visibility & Representation

Inclusion in education
Representation in entertainment
Representation in news
Political support
Out public figures

Culture

Pride/events
Nightlife
Dating life
Interest groups and clubs

Services

Health and wellness
Gender-affirming care
Support and social services
Advocacy and legal

History

Homosexual activity in Portugal

?

Homosexual activity in Portugal is legal.

Current status
Since Sep 23, 1982
Legal
Homosexuality was decriminalised within Portugal in 1982.
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Same-sex marriage in Portugal

?

Same-sex marriage in Portugal is legal.

Current status
Since May 31, 2010
Legal
In 2010, the XVIII Constitutional Government of Portugal approved a marriage equality bill, making it the eighth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.

Censorship of LGBT issues in Portugal

?

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.
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Right to change legal gender in Portugal

?

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.
Mar 15, 2011–Jul 1, 2018
Legal, but requires surgery
Individuals in Portugal can legally change their gender and name on their birth certificate.

Gender-affirming care in Portugal

?

Gender-affirming care in Portugal is legal.

Current status
Since 2002
Legal
In 2002, Portugal adopted the ICD-10 classification, which contains codes for diagnosing transsexualism in adulthood and childhood, which authorize the initiation of medical transition.
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Legal recognition of non-binary gender in Portugal

?

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.

LGBT discrimination in Portugal

?

LGBT discrimination in Portugal is illegal.

Current status
Since Aug 30, 2008
Illegal
From 2008 onwards, gender identity began to be included in anti-discrimination laws in different cases in Portugal.
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Jul 24, 2004–Aug 29, 2008
Illegal in some contexts
Article 13 explicitly prohibits discriminations on the basis of sexual orientations
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LGBT employment discrimination in Portugal

?

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.
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2003–Jan 16, 2015
Sexual orientation only
Sexual orientation was protected.
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LGBT housing discrimination in Portugal

?

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

Current status
Sexual orientation and gender identity
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Same-sex adoption in Portugal

?

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.
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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.
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Intersex infant surgery in Portugal

?

Intersex infant surgery in Portugal is full ban.

Current status
Since Aug 7, 2018
Full ban
Non-consensual gender reassignment treatment and surgical intervention on intersex children have been prohibited by law since August 2018 under Article 5 of Law No. 38.
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Serving openly in military in Portugal

?

Serving openly in military in Portugal is legal.

Current status
Since Jan 8, 2024
Legal
Transgender and non-binary people are now allowed to serve after executive order 318/202. Executive order 318/202, stipulates that “other endocrine dysfunctions, namely dysfunctions of the gonadal hormonal system, congenital or acquired and requiring permanent chronic hormone replacement therapy” are no longer grounds for excluding candidates.
Jan 1, 1999–Jan 8, 2024
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.
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Blood donations by MSMs in Portugal

?

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.
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Conversion therapy in Portugal

?

Conversion therapy in Portugal is banned.

Current status
Since Mar 1, 2024
Banned
A bill that bans conversion therapy was passed by the parliament on December 21st, 2023. It was signed by the President a few weeks later, and took effect on March 1st, 2024.
Until Mar 1, 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.

Equal age of consent in Portugal

?

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.
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LGBT Rights by District

View the LGBT laws in each individual district of Portugal.