In 1945, Alabama's Supreme Court decided in the case of Brown v. State that cunnilingus deserved the same penalty as fellatio.

In 1973, The Alabama Supreme Court decided in the case of Horn v. State that the sodomy law was constitutional. The Court also decided that circumstantial evidence was enough for proof of penetration.

In 1841, Alabama adopted a new code. In doing so, the first sodomy law was created in Alabama. Using the common-law definition, the penalty was set to 2-10 years in jail.

In 1830, in the case of State v. Cawood, the same court ruled that Congresses common law applied to Alabama.

In 1833, a new code specifically adopted common-law crimes.

In 1822, Alabama's Supreme Court ruled in the case of Coburn v. Harwood that sodomy was not an indictable offense in Alabama under the common law.

In 1802, the Mississippi Territory, which Alabama was part of at the time, enacted a new code that made sodomy a capital offense.

Until 1802, there were no known laws criminalizing homosexuality in Alabama.

On March 3rd, 2015, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed Judge Granade's decision, thereby banning same-sex marriages in Alabama once again.

On May 21st, 2015, Judge Granade issued an injunction on her ruling, and ordered all probate judges to issue licenses to same-sex couples. However, she stayed the injunction while the U.S. Supreme Court was ruling on Obergefell V. Hodges.

On January 23rd, 2015, U.S. District Court Judge Callie V. Granade struck down Alabama's gay marriage ban in the case of Strawser v. Strange. However, Judge Granade issued a stay on the ruling, which delayed it from taking effect. After the stay was issued, opponents of gay marriage requested an extension on the stay from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

On February 3rd, 2015, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the extension plea. Opponents then appealed the Circuit Court's decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

On February 9th, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the request to extend the stay, thereby legalizing same-sex marriage.

In 1996, the Governor of Alabama at the time, Fob James, signed an executive order that banned gay marriage, and all recognition of same-sex couples.

In 1998, Fob James signed a bill into law that restricted marriage to different-sex couples.

In 2006, Alabama voters approved a constitutional amendment that banned gay marriage.

Until 1996, there was no explicit ban on same-sex marriage in Alabama; however, there was also no legal recognition provided to same-sex couples.

AL HB385 (2021), signed by Governor Kay Ivey in April of 2021, amended Section 16-40A-2, Code of Alabama 1992 to remove a clause in the state's public sex education that "in a factual manner and from a public health perspective, homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under the laws of the state."

In 1992, Alabama passed a law that prohibited schools from teaching that homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle and required that schools teach that it is illegal in the state.

In 2003 the US Supreme Court under LAWRENCE V. TEXAS made unconstitutional state anti-sodomy laws. Regardless, teachers in Alabama still had to emphasize that homosexuality was illegal until it was repealed in 2021.

Until 1992, there was no legal gender recognition provided in Alabama.

Until 2022, there were no known legal restrictions on gender affirming care in Alabama, including for minors.

No protections against discrimination.

President Trump's Department of Justice and the EEOC revoked protections for gender identity in employment discrimination. No statewide protections exist.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has ruled that “[A]llegations of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation necessarily state a claim of discrimination on the basis of sex”, and are barred by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This ruling applies at both the state and federal levels. No statewide protections exist.

In a landmark decision, Democratic President Obama's EEOC ruled that gender identity was included under Title VII protections from the Civil Rights Act (originally written to protect people based on sex discrimination). No protections exist at the state level.

Before the 2012 EEOC ruling, no statewide or federal protections existed for LGBT people from discrimination in employment.

Single Parent Adoption: married individuals wishing to adopt must be in a male-female marriage. An LGBT individual may adoption if they are unmarried. See Alabama State Statute § 26-10A-5.
Joint Adoption: Illegal for same-sex couples.
Second Parent Adoption: No legal under hostile Alabama case law regarding same-sex, second parent adoption. See Ex parte J.M.F., 730 So.2d 1190(Ala. 1998)

From July 6, 2025 onward, Coast Guard Reserve and Regular Coast Guard service members who were eligible for voluntary separation but did not elect or complete it, and who either have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria and do not receive a waiver, or have a history of cross-sex hormone therapy or sex reassignment or genital reconstruction surgery in connection with a sex transition, are placed into the involuntary administrative separation process.

From June 7, 2025 onward, Active Guard Reserve, Marine Corps Active Reserve, Regular Air Force, Regular Army, Regular Marine Corps, and Regular Space Force service members who were eligible for voluntary separation but did not elect or complete it, and who either have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria and do not receive a waiver, or have a history of cross-sex hormone therapy or sex reassignment or genital reconstruction surgery in connection with a sex transition, are placed into the involuntary administrative separation process.

On May 8, 2025, the United States Department of Defense (USDoD) began initiating administrative separation proceedings for service members who had already identified themselves for voluntary separation before March 26, 2025. On the same date, it reinstated the ban on transgender enlistment by directing that applicants who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria and do not receive a waiver, or who have a history of cross-sex hormone therapy or sex reassignment or genital reconstruction surgery in connection with a sex transition, are denied entry into military service.

On May 9, 2025, the USDoD ended all surgical procedures related to sex reassignment for service members with gender dysphoria. All such procedures—whether planned, scheduled, or not yet scheduled—were canceled, and any previously approved SHCP waivers for these surgeries were revoked. New waiver requests are no longer processed, except in cases involving the necessary treatment of surgical complications, which require special review.

Service members aged 19 or older who were already receiving cross-sex hormone therapy prior to this memorandum may continue treatment temporarily if a provider deems it necessary to prevent harm, but only until their separation is completed. Moving forward, USDoD funding cannot be used to initiate any new hormone therapy treatments for gender dysphoria, though military department leaders may request case-by-case exceptions for non-surgical care if needed to protect a service member’s health, subject to review and approval.

Also on May 9, 2025, the USDoD directed military educational institution libraries to use a standardized set of subject-heading searches to identify post-2010 books potentially associated with “gender ideology,” transgender-related topics, and other targeted concepts, sequester those materials from normal access by May 21, 2025, and hold them for expert review and possible later disposition.

On May 15, 2025, the United States Coast Guard resumed implementation of its transgender service policy by immediately pausing new accessions for individuals with a history of gender dysphoria and pausing planned, scheduled, or unscheduled medical procedures related to gender transition.

By May 21, 2025, the US Naval Academy had returned all but about 20 of the 381 books removed on March 31–April 1, 2025, to its shelves, while US Air Force libraries, including the US Air Force Academy, had also pulled a few dozen books for review.

On June 5, 2025, the U.S. Coast Guard formally made members and applicants with gender dysphoria who did not receive a waiver ineligible for service and subject to separation or disqualification, while allowing temporary continuation of some preexisting hormone therapy until separation.

On June 6, 2025, US Coast Guard restored the Civil Rights Awards Program after completing a review and updating the Civil Rights Manual.

On the evening of March 18th, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes blocked the implementation of Trump's executive order banning transgender people from the military. The judge said that not only was the order unconstitutional but “a solution in search of a problem.”.

On January 27th, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order that bans transgender people from serving in the military.
On February 10th, 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth filed in court a memo relating to President Trump’s executive order from the previous month.

From then until March 18th, 2025, The U.S. military prohibited transgender individuals from enlisting and ceased providing or supporting gender transition procedures for service members.

In 2021, former President Joe Biden removed then-former President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military.

The Trump administration enacted a new policy barring individuals with a "condition" known as "gender dysphoria." from serving in the military.

In 2011, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was repealed by the Obama Administration. Former President Obama allowed members who were dishonorably discharged under DADT, to receive an honorable discharge.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell was the historic compromise signed by President Bill Clinton authorizing people who are LGBT to serve in the military provided they didn't disclose sexuality. The law also removed the ability for others in the military from asking for a service member's orientation.

From May 19, 1941 until September 20, 2011, LGB people were banned from enlistment and service in the United States Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, and US Navy, and, beginning September 18, 1947, in the Air Force. From October 1, 1982, to September 19, 2011, when homosexuality was the sole basis for separation and no aggravating circumstances were present, the characterization of service was determined by the member’s overall record and could be Honorable or General (under honorable conditions), with entry-level cases receiving an uncharacterized separation.

By May 17, 1963, in the United States Army; by 1982, in the United States Air Force; from March 31, 1986, on a U.S. Department of Defense-wide accession basis covering the United States Army, United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and, by agreement, the United States Coast Guard; by August 12, 2005, in the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps; and by April 29, 2011, in the United States Coast Guard, transgender people were banned from enlistment and service until open service was authorized on June 30, 2016.

By February 22, 1956, in the United States Coast Guard; by February 10, 1961, in the United States Army; by January 11, 1962, in an Air Force-specific accession standard; from March 31, 1986, on a Department of Defense-wide accession basis covering the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and, by agreement, the Coast Guard; and, from December 20, 2019, in the United States Space Force through inherited Air Force and DoD standards, applicants with intersex-related conditions identified in military rules as “hermaphroditism,” and later as “hermaphroditism, pseudohermaphroditism, or pure gonadal dysgenesis,” were disqualified from accession under military medical standards.

The FDA announced changes to the blood donor eligibility policy in April 2020, reducing the MSM deferral period from 12 months to 3 months. The change came amid the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, where blood was needed urgently.

After a series of recommendations, the FDA has moved to a 12 months deferral.

Starting in 1983, the United States implemented a full ban on blood donations from gay men. The primary justification for the ban was the perceived high risk of HIV transmission, with health regulators identifying men who have sex with men (MSM) as a significant risk to the safety of the blood supply.