It is believed that homosexual acts have never been illegal in Vietnam and those punished for it have been due to falling foul of other laws, such as those of adultery, with no regard to the sexuality of the offenders.

Article 36(1) of Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (2013) states "Males and females have the right to marry and divorce. Marriage shall conform to the principles of free consent, progressive orientation, monogamy and equality between husband and wife and mutual respect."

Law on Marriage and Family (2015) states that marriage and cohabitation are between a man and a woman.

Article 8(2) states "The State shall not recognize marriage between persons of the same sex."

In Vietnam, LGBTIQ+ organisations have faced some restrictions in freedoms of assembly, expression and association, however none of these were explicitly related to LGBTIQ+ issues.

On November 24, 2015, the Vietnamese National Assembly voted overwhelmingly (282 from the 366 members of the National Assembly) in favour of legalizing the right to change an individual's legal gender. This law went into effect in 2017.

Gender Redetermination Decree No. 88/2008/ND-CP specifies the rules of care for transgender people, including:

3. Gender reassignment treatment:

a) At the request of the person re-establishing gender, the research and treatment facility will select the gender that will have appropriate treatment methods, maintaining the principle that in the case of a given gender, the person being determined will be the gender that best integrates life mentally, physiologically and socially;

b) The research and treatment facility determines the age of the person applying for gender reassignment surgery, making sure that it is the earliest age;

c) Medical and therapeutic research centers recommend surgical treatment and postoperative hormonal treatment.

Vietnam does not legally recognize non-binary gender. In Vietnam, individuals are legally classified as either male or female.

There are no protections from discrimination provided to LGBTIQ+ people in Vietnam.

There are no protections from discrimination in employment provided to LGBTIQ+ people in Vietnam.

There are no protections from discrimination in housing provided to LGBTIQ+ people in Vietnam.

LGBTIQ+ couples are not able to adopt children, however singles can.

Not banned in Vietnam.

Technically, homosexuals can serve openly in the military. There are no laws protecting them against discriminations though.

There are no laws regarding donating blood in Vietnam that restrict men who have sex with men from donating.

On August 3, 2022, Vietnamese Health Ministry published a document saying that homosexuality is not disease and that conversion therapy to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity was illegal.

It is currently not clear what the consequences of partaking in the practice will be, if any.

The age of consent is 16 years old. However, this is due to the LGBT population not being officially mentioned or recognized in the law