The age of consent for sex between people of the same sex and sex between people of the opposite sex is equal.

The new code, commonly known as the "Zanardelli Code" after the then Minister of Justice, contained no mention of "acts against nature" and consequently decriminalized same-sex relations throughout the country. The situation was not even changed 40 years later by fascism with the promulgation of the Rocco Code, which remains the code in force, on October 19, 1930.

legal since 1890

The laws are based on the Zardanelli penal code from 1890 (which was in force at the time of the founding of Vatican City). There are no criminal laws against non-commercial, private, adult and consensual same-sex sexual activity. On October 13, 2014, the Vatican released a report summarising ongoing discussions about family issues among the top Catholic clergy. Totally unexpectedly, the clergy showed a more positive attitude toward LGB people. Although no formal decisions were announced, it signalled a shift in the Vatican's position.

There are no laws against same sex relationships in Italy's Penal Code.

The 1888 Penal Code of Uruguay took effect in 1889 and criminalised sodomy under Article 278.

Before 1971, homosexuality was illegal (because this region is part of Finland). Punishments used were prison sentences.

The 1885 Civil Code of Costa Rica, effective in 1888, defined a marriage as being between a man and a woman, effectively banning same-sex marriage. Moreover, Article 242 of the family law states explicitly that marriage is between a man and a woman who has cohabited for more than 3 years. The recent movement of "accidental passage" of same sex marriage has not taken effect or exercised.

Imprisonment of up to 7 years

The 1887 Argentine Penal Code is interpreted by most to have only criminalized sodomy in cases of rape, with consensual homosexual sex between two adults being legal, though it could be interpreted to be a blanket criminalization of sodomy.

Until 2015, homosexuality was illegal in Mozambique.

Until 2019, homosexuality was illegal in Angola.

Homosexuality was illegal under the 1886 Penal Code.

In 1886, while Mozambique was a colony of Portugal, it inherited a penal code that punished anyone “who habitually engages in vices against nature” with three years of hard labor. Between 1975, when Mozambique became independent, and 2015, when this article was removed, there were no known prosecutions made under this article.

Inherited from Portuguese colonial era (amended in 1954). Articles 70 and 71(4°) provide for the imposition of security measures on people who habitually practice acts against nature. The security measures may include: a bond of good behavior, being put on probation for a certain period, or even internment in a workhouse or agricultural colony (from 6 months to 3 years).

Until 2019, Angola maintained a colonial-era prohibition on non-consensual same-sex activity, which was frequently employed to prosecute consensual same-sex conduct, punishable by up to two years in prison.

In 1886, in the case of Foster et al. v. State, the Court ruled that for "when the act charged is copulation against nature, that at least one of the parties to it must be a male person." Therefore, sex between women became legal. In 1906, this exemption for lesbians became further explicit when a text on Ohio law which discussed how sodomy was viewed in Ohio courts did not include that two women were capable of committing the crime. In 1945, the Ohio legislature amended the sodomy law to establish that the minimum sentence to a conviction of sodomy was one year. The maximum sentence of 20 years was not changed.

Under Portuguese law, sodomy was punishable by one to six years in prison.

Between 1886 and 1933, homosexuality in Portugal was criminalized under laws against “offenses against modesty” and, after 1912, explicitly under the law against “vices against nature.” Punishments included imprisonment or, in some cases, forced labor or re-education in correctional institutions. Enforcement was selective, often targeting lower-class men, while discreet members of the upper classes were rarely prosecuted. Socially, homosexuals faced strong stigma, shaped by conservative Catholic morality. There was no organized state surveillance or systematic persecution during this period, but the legal framework laid the groundwork for the intensified repression that would follow under the Estado Novo dictatorship in 1933.

Male homosexuality was criminalised in Botswana in 1885. Until 1998, lesbianism remained legal.

Homosexuality became illegal in Botswana in 1885 under Britain’s Labouchere Amendment as Botswana was a British colony at the time. In 1964, Botswana later criminalized homosexual sex under article 164 and 167 of its penal code. The maximum punishment for violating these laws was seven years of imprisonment. Until 1998, these laws only criminalised male homosexuality.

In 1885, a new law was adopted that criminalized "carnal copulation against nature" with up to 20 years imprisonment.

Between 1885 and 1995, male homosexuality was illegal. However, female homosexuality was legal and the age of consent was equal to that of heterosexual sex.

Section 11 of The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 built on previous legislation. It was famously used against Oscar Wilde and Alan Turing.

Before 1995, homosexuality was criminalized only between men under Section 365 of the 1883 Penal Code inherited from British colonial rule.

The Roman-Dutch law of the Cape Colony, including the sodomy offence, was applied to Basutoland (as Lesotho was then known) by a proclamation of the British High Commissioner in 1884 (exact date unknown).

Under Italian law, there was no punishment for homosexuality.

Anal sodomy was decriminalized in 1881 when the provision was dropped from Japan's Penal Code. It was eliminated by supervision of Gustave Boissonade, a French legal scholar who served as an advisor to develop the legal system in Japan.

Section 241 of the first Hungarian penal code criminalized sexual relations between men as unnatural sexual intercourse. The law could punish the offender with up to one year in prison (or up to five years in prison if committed by force or threat; Section 242). The law, which came into force on 1 September 1880, made no reference to lesbian relations at all.

The 1880 Penal Code of Honduras criminalised sodomy.

Paraguay's Penal Code of 1880 criminalised sodomy. However, there was no law mentioning lesbianism until 1910.