1930s in LGBT Rights

Number of LGBT-related laws changed over time
  • (date unknown)
    Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female legal.
    Lithuania was absorbed by the USSR in 1940. Criminalization of sodomy already existed under number 154-a by imprisonment of 3 to 5 years in the Soviet Criminal Code.
  • January 1
    Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female legal.
    Same-sex sexual activity between males in Soviet Estonia was illegal and punishable under paragraph 118 of the penal code
  • (date unknown)
    Gender-affirming care becomes restricted.
    In 1926, the Soviet Union's Ministry of Internal Affairs legalized sex reassignment surgery. Estonia would be incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940.
  • Gender-affirming care becomes restricted.
    In 1926, the Soviet Union's Ministry of Internal Affairs legalized sex reassignment surgery. Latvia would be incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940.
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    Homosexuality has been legal in the Republic of the Congo since 1940.
  • September 1
    Homosexual activity becomes illegal (death penalty as punishment).
    LGBT people were persecuted by Nazi forces during the German occupation of the Second World War.
  • March 12
    Homosexual activity becomes illegal (death penalty as punishment).
    Austria joined to Nazi Germany, which is homosexualty is illegal and has death penalty. During Nazi rule to create harsher penalties for homosexual behavior between men. Imprisonment was to range from three months to ten years in prison. Many homosexual men died in the Nazi concentration camps they were sent to.
  • February 2
    Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
    Until 2017, Chiapas defined a marriage as between a man and a woman, effectively banning same-sex marriage.
  • (date unknown)
    Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    Until 1997, homosexuality was illegal with punishments ranging from 4 to 8 years’ imprisonment. Lesbianism was criminalised in the 1938 Criminal Code after the word “sodomy” was replaced with “homosexualism”.
  • July 31
    Censorship of LGBT issues becomes imprisonment as punishment.
    Egypt's media regulator prohibits positive discussion of homosexuality and enforces a widespread crackdown on LGBT rights activism. There are also reports of forced anal examinations to determine if the accused engaged in same-sex sexual activity despite the practice being wholly denounced by human rights group as not only torturous and inhumane but inconclusive. The Penal Code of 1937 contains Article 178 of Law No. 58 which punishes anyone who trades or distributes material that are deemed "in violation of public morals" with imprisonment. This has been consistently used against LGBTIQ+ people especially since 2013.
  • (date unknown)
    Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    Under the authoritarian regime of Carol II homosexuality was banned and a punishment of imprisonment from 6 months to 3 years.
  • Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    Egyptian law does not explicitly criminalize same-sex sexual acts. However, the state uses several morality provisions for the de facto criminalization of homosexual conduct. These public morality and public order laws have been used to target the LGBT community and reports of prison sentences for homosexual activity range from 3 months to 10 years. There were also reports of police officers assaulting LGBTQIA people and "forcibly soliciting bribes to avoid arrest, and forcing them to provide information concerning other LGBTQI+ individuals.". Furthermore, there are several reports of police using dating apps like Grindr or Tinder to lure LGB people into arrest on charges of debauchery or prostitution.
  • (date unknown)
    Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female legal.
    The criminalisation of homosexual activity in Gaza dates back to the British mandate. Section 152(2) of the British Mandate Criminal Code Ordinance 1936, which is still enforced in Gaza, criminalises ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature’ with imprisonment of up to ten years. imprisonment.
  • Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female legal.
    The criminalisation of homosexual activity in Gaza dates back to the British mandate. Section 152(2) of the British Mandate Criminal Code Ordinance 1936, which is still enforced in Gaza, criminalises ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature’ with imprisonment of up to ten years. imprisonment.
  • Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female legal.
    The criminalisation of homosexual activity in Gaza dates back to the British mandate. Section 152(2) of the British Mandate Criminal Code Ordinance 1936, which is still enforced in Gaza, criminalises ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature’ with imprisonment of up to ten years. imprisonment.
  • Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female legal.
    The criminalisation of homosexual activity in Gaza dates back to the British mandate. Section 152(2) of the British Mandate Criminal Code Ordinance 1936, which is still enforced in Gaza, criminalises ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature’ with imprisonment of up to ten years. imprisonment.
  • Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female legal.
    The criminalisation of homosexual activity in Gaza dates back to the British mandate. Section 152(2) of the British Mandate Criminal Code Ordinance 1936, which is still enforced in Gaza, criminalises ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature’ with imprisonment of up to ten years. imprisonment.
  • Homosexual activity becomes ambiguous.
    The shaping of Cuban law is one of U.S and Spanish influence. Products of it's time as a colony and subsequent military intervention, the Civil Defense Code in 1936 ommitted previous provisions that criminalized homosexuality remanants from Cuba's colonized ruins. This did not mean LGBT Cubans did not face persecution though. Despite no laws that expressely criminalized private same-sex sexual relations, LGBT Cubans were still targeted, leaving the status of same-sex relations in a state of limbo until it's re-clarification in 1979.
  • September 1
    Homosexual activity becomes illegal (death penalty as punishment).
    Section 175 of the Criminal Code was amended during Nazi rule to create harsher penalties for homosexual behavior between men. Imprisonment was to range from three months to ten years in prison. Many homosexual men died in the Nazi concentration camps they were sent to.
  • January 1
    Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female legal.
    In 1935, article 121, which prohibited male sodomy, entered the criminal code of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic. in the Tajik SSR, the term “sodomy” was replaced by “bachebazstvo”
  • March 7
    Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female uncertain.
    An article under which sodomy was punishable by imprisonment from 5 to 8 years appeared in the Soviet Criminal Code on March 7, 1934 - number 154-a: “Sexual intercourse between a man and a man (sodomy) - imprisonment for a term of three to five years. Sodomy committed with the use of violence or taking advantage of the dependent position of the victim - imprisonment for a term of five to eight years."
  • Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female legal.
    In 1933, an article was added to the criminal code of Soviet Georgia, which prohibited sexual relations between men. The mentioned article provided for up to 5 years of imprisonment.
  • Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female legal.
    An article under which sodomy was punishable by imprisonment from 5 to 8 years appeared in the Soviet Criminal Code on March 7, 1934. During the Soviet Union, Belarus used laws common to all Soviet republics. According to Article 119-1 of the Soviet Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, it was established that homosexual men who have voluntary sexual contact should be sentenced to imprisonment for up to five years
  • Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female legal.
    An article under which sodomy was punishable by imprisonment from 5 to 8 years appeared in the Soviet Criminal Code on March 7, 1934 - number 154-a: “Sexual intercourse between a man and a man (sodomy) - imprisonment for a term of three to five years. Sodomy committed with the use of violence or taking advantage of the dependent position of the victim - imprisonment for a term of five to eight years."
  • Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female legal.
    An article under which sodomy was punishable by imprisonment from 5 to 8 years appeared in the Soviet Criminal Code on March 7, 1934 - number 154-a: “Sexual intercourse between a man and a man (sodomy) - imprisonment for a term of three to five years. Sodomy committed with the use of violence or taking advantage of the dependent position of the victim - imprisonment for a term of five to eight years."
  • Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female legal.
    An article under which sodomy was punishable by imprisonment from 5 to 8 years appeared in the Soviet Criminal Code on March 7, 1934 - number 154-a: “Sexual intercourse between a man and a man (sodomy) - imprisonment for a term of three to five years. Sodomy committed with the use of violence or taking advantage of the dependent position of the victim - imprisonment for a term of five to eight years."
  • Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female legal.
    In 1933, the Soviet government under Stalin recriminalised sex between men. On 7 March 1934, Article 121 was added to the criminal code for the entire Soviet Union that expressly prohibited only male homosexuality, with up to five years of hard labour in prison. There were no criminal statutes regarding sex between women
  • December 4
    Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    The age of consent in Uruguay is 15 years old regardless of the type of intercourse.
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    Homosexual activity is legal according to the Uruguay Penal Code.
  • May 6
    Right to change legal gender becomes illegal.
    During the Nazi regime, transgender people were targeted repeatedly and were de facto criminalised under Paragraphs 175 and 183, which were used to prosecute people for homosexuality or cross-dressing. Previously respected "transvestite passes" which exempted trans people from Paragraph 183 were promptly ignored and revoked. Trans people would also be targeted in the Holocaust although they were often grouped as gay men, leaving the death toll of trans victims unknown. However some trans people could avoid the worst of Nazi persecution provided they were not Jewish and weren't considered homosexual (which was based on the assumption of an attraction to the birth sex they were assigned as). An example includes a transgender lesbian known as R. who was considered to be Aryan, non-homosexual and a good worker by the Nazis and got arrested in 1938 but released two years later under the assumption she would detransition. However she did not and was then forced to undergo conversion therapy until her death in 1943. After the fall of the Nazis, Germany did not grant legal gender recognition until 1980.
  • Gender-affirming care becomes banned.
    With the rise of the Nazi regime, transgender healthcare is banned, and the Berlin Institute for Sexual Science is closed; the Nazi regime implements laws §§ 175 183, targeting LGBTQ+ individuals,
  • January 1
    Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    The Faroe Islands ended criminalisation of homosexuality in 1933.
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    Changes to the Danish penal code in 1930, coming into effect in January 1st 1933 permitted same-sex sexual activity.
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    Changes to the Danish penal code in 1930, coming into effect January 1st 1933 permitted same-sex sexual activity in Greenland.
  • September 23
    Equal age of consent becomes n/a.
    Homosexuality and extramarital sexual relations are illegal in Saudi Arabia.
  • September 15
    Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
    Until 2022, Veracruz defined a marriage as between a man and a woman, effectively banning same-sex marriage. In 2017, the Mexican Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional but authorities announced they would keep denying recognition anyway. Civil unions would be recognised in 2020.
  • July 11
    Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    Homosexuality is legal.
  • Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    When Poland legalised same-sex sexual activity, the age of consent was set to 15 for heterosexual and homosexual sex.
  • (date unknown)
    Censorship of LGBT issues becomes state-enforced.
    Since 1932, persecution of LGBTIQ+ people started to become state policy as police edicts were issued that imprisoned homosexuals if they were travelling with a minor. This was often justified not as a persecution of homosexuality but as "protecting" minors across the country. This would further strengthen in the 1940s under Juan Peron into even more widespread discrimination by the government. In 1973, Buenos Aires would later criminalise transgender people and crossdressers.
  • Censorship of LGBT issues becomes state-enforced.
    Tucuman used to have laws criminalising "dressing as the opposite sex" in public until 1995. It is unknown when these laws were first implemented.
  • Censorship of LGBT issues becomes state-enforced.
    Since 1932, persecution of LGBTIQ+ people started to become state policy as police edicts were issued that imprisoned homosexuals if they were travelling with a minor. This was often justified not as a persecution of homosexuality but as "protecting" minors across the country. This would further strengthen in the 1940s under Juan Peron into even more widespread discrimination by the government. Since 1953, differing province laws on criminalising expression of homosexual and transgender people would come into effect.
  • Censorship of LGBT issues becomes state-enforced.
    In 1932, Colonel Luis J. Garcia introduced a new clause in Article 2 of the Police Edicts of Buenos Aires City, which criminalised "exhibiting oneself on public roads or in public places dressed or disguised with clothes of the opposite sex". That same year, persecution of LGBTIQ+ people started to become state policy as police edicts were issued that imprisoned homosexuals if they were travelling with a minor. This was often justified not as a persecution of homosexuality but as "protecting" minors across the country. This would further strengthen in the 1940s under Juan Peron into even more widespread discrimination by the government.
  • November 1
    Equal age of consent becomes female equal, male n/a.
    Until 2005, the 1931 Penal Code of Zambia only criminalised male homosexuality. There was no variance in the age of consent between lesbians and heterosexuals.
  • Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female legal.
    Until 2005, the 1931 Penal Code of Zambia only criminalised homosexuality between males.
  • (date unknown)
    Equal age of consent becomes equal.
  • August 1
    Serving openly in military becomes don't ask, don't tell.
    No laws restricting or criminalizing lgbt serving.
  • Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    Article 162, 163 and 165 prohibits homosexuality and offender is punishable by up to 21 years in prison with hard labor and fines
  • January 1
    Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    The Criminal Code for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia as of October 3, 1929) adopted on January 27, 1929 criminalized "unnatural fornication" without specifying the definition of the mentioned term. Paragraph 285: for unnatural fornication between persons, the perpetrator shall be punished with strict imprisonment, unless the act turns into a more serious crime.
  • Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    The Criminal Code for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia as of October 3, 1929) adopted on January 27, 1929 criminalized "unnatural fornication" without specifying the definition of the mentioned term. Paragraph 285: for unnatural fornication between persons, the perpetrator shall be punished with strict imprisonment, unless the act turns into a more serious crime.
  • Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    The Criminal Code for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia as of October 3, 1929) adopted on January 27, 1929 criminalized "unnatural fornication" without specifying the definition of the mentioned term. Paragraph 285: for unnatural fornication between persons, the perpetrator shall be punished with strict imprisonment, unless the act turns into a more serious crime.
  • Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    The Criminal Code for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia as of October 3, 1929) adopted on January 27, 1929 criminalized "unnatural fornication" without specifying the definition of the mentioned term. Paragraph 285: for unnatural fornication between persons, the perpetrator shall be punished with strict imprisonment, unless the act turns into a more serious crime.
  • Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    The Criminal Code for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia as of October 3, 1929) adopted on January 27, 1929 criminalized "unnatural fornication" without specifying the definition of the mentioned term. Paragraph 285: for unnatural fornication between persons, the perpetrator shall be punished with strict imprisonment, unless the act turns into a more serious crime.
  • Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    The Criminal Code for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia as of October 3, 1929) adopted on January 27, 1929 criminalized "unnatural fornication" without specifying the definition of the mentioned term. Paragraph 285: for unnatural fornication between persons, the perpetrator shall be punished with strict imprisonment, unless the act turns into a more serious crime.
  • Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    The Criminal Code for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia as of October 3, 1929) adopted on January 27, 1929 criminalized "unnatural fornication" without specifying the definition of the mentioned term. Paragraph 285: for unnatural fornication between persons, the perpetrator shall be punished with strict imprisonment, unless the act turns into a more serious crime.
  • Censorship of LGBT issues becomes imprisonment as punishment.
    Section 178(g) of the Zambian Penal Code (1930) criminalizes any act of "solicitation for immoral purposes in a public place". This provision was used as a legal basis to arrest and prosecute Paul Kasonkomona who, in 2013, appeared on a television show arguing that the rights of sexual minorities should be recognized so that the HIV epidemic could be dealt with effectively. He was arrested by the authorities after his statement and was acquitted two years later. Furthermore, in 2019, the Minister of Religious Affairs ordered the cancellation of a television program for allegedly "promoting homosexuality".
  • Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    Section 154 of the Penal Code of Tanzania (1930) punished “carnal knowledge against the order of nature” with imprisonment for up to 14 years. Section 155 made attempting to commit such acts punishable by 7 years in prison.