Venezuela is one of only two South American countries to never punish homosexuality since their formation as a sovereign state. (The other being Bolivia) The only cases of homosexuals being prosecuted was under the law reagrading Vagrants and Thugs, although the legislation did not specify homosexuals, authorities would occasionally apply the law on homosexual individuals who practiced prostitution with reports of re-education camps as punishment. In 1997, the Supreme Court of Justice declared this law unconstitutional.

Article 77 of the constitution states that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. It also limits de facto unions to opposite-sex couples only. Article 77 of the Constitution reads as follows:
«Marriage between a man a woman, which is based on free consent and absolute equality of rights and obligations of the spouses, is protected. A stable de facto union between a man and a woman which meets the requirements established by law shall have the same effects as marriage.»
Efforts to legalize marriage equality or civil unions in the legislatures have come and gone, with symbolic marriages being recognized in one city. These marriages were criticized as being expensive by LGBT activists, providing nothing. Some indigenous two spirit individuals are recognized by the Warao people, known as tida wena. They participated in two-spirit marriages. The relative comfort these individuals enjoyed for centuries were shattered at the beginning of Spanish settlement and prevailing norms have changed.

In Venezuela, there are no laws restricting the discussion or promotion of LGBTQ+ topics since the Supreme Court declared the Law of Vagrants and Criminals, which was frequently used to harass LGBTIQ+ people, unconstitutional in 1997.

In Venezuela, the law currently does not allow gender marker change in identification documents. Article 146 of the Civil Registry Law nominally allows the change of name based on gender but requests by transgender people are denied by the Civil Registry. In 2017, the Supreme Tribunal declared the right to gender change following medical, psychiatric and psychological examinations. With this, the judicial sector of Venezuela has been able to recognize some cases of gender change, but no proper mechanism is in place for the greater population of Venezuela.

Until 1998, Venezuela was among the first countries to legally recognise trans people but all means of recognition ended under the new constitution under Hugo Chavez.

Trans Venezuelans have limited access to gender affirming healthcare such as hormone therapy.

Venezuela does not recognize genders other than male and female.

Sexual orientation is protected in various realms in Venezuela, including employment, banking, prohibition of incitement and housing. Comprehensive LGBT protections have been proposed in constitutional reforms or legislation several times but faced opposition on each attempt. Laws for LGBT protections have come and gone in the legislatures for at least two decades and progress has languished. In 2023, the national assembly approved the Draft Organic Law against all Types of Discrimination to the second stage of the legislative process and is undergoing a public consultation process.

Labour law protects sexual minority individuals from discrimination and protections were granted based on sexual option in 1996. Gender identity is not explicitly stated however.

Article 5 of the Law for the Regulation and Control of Housing Leasing, enacted in 2011, bans discrimination and provides protection to those who are especially vulnerable, or vulnerable to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, among others.

Only single parent adoption is legal.

There is no ban on intersex infant surgery in Venezuela. However, there were no reports of it being practiced.

The Supreme Court of Justice annulled section 565 of the Military Justice Code, which previously banned same-sex sexual activity in armed forces. The court found that the law was incompatible with the Constitution and international agreements on human rights. However, transgender people were not explicitly mentioned in the ruling but there is no known law banning them.

MSM not allowed to donate blood.

There is no legal prohibition at the national level. However, the Simon Rodriguez Municipality (Anzoátegui) bans “conversion therapies” at the local level, through the Decree on the Protection of Human Rights of the LGBTI Community (2022).

Venezuela´s official age of consent is 16 regardless of sexual orientation.