In 1948, there were 6 recorded legal changes made affecting LGBT people. In the previous year, there were 8 changes made and 23 in the following year. A total of 58 legal changes were made in the 1940s.
- September 14Serving openly in military becomes ambiguous.Some secondary sources claim it is a "Don't Ask Don't Tell" situation. But, based on a North Korean propaganda film from the year 2000, male homosexuality may be against the law in the military, including for prisoners of war. Information is extremely limited, because North Korea heavily censors LGBT content. However there are sources that claim that during the compulsory 10 year military service homosexual acts between men are very common.
- Censorship of LGBT issues becomes state-enforced.Censorship topics are all controlled by the government
- LGBT discrimination becomes no protections.Because sexual orientation as a concept does not appear in North Korea law, there is no legal prohibition of discrimination by state and nonstate actors based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics.
- Homosexual activity becomes legal.There are no specific laws in North Korea that criminalize homosexuality. There are, however, claims that it is de facto illegal, but this has no official backing. (Date shown is the date of North Korean statehood.) While punishment is rare, it was reported by Free North Korea Radio that in September 2011 North Korea executed a lesbian couple for being influenced by capitalism and bringing corruption of public morals. However, this report has never been confirmed to be true. Finally, even though de jure homosexuality is not prohibited, de facto there were some cases of punishment for LGBT people
- August 15Same-sex marriage becomes unrecognized.In South Korea, same-sex marriage is neither prohibited nor legally recognized.
- May 14Equal age of consent becomes equal.The age of consent in Israel is 16 for male-male, female-female, and male-female sex.
LGBT Organizations Founded in 1948
LGBT Danmark
LGBT Danmark is a national association for LGBT people focused on the areas of gender identity and sexual orientation. The organization's efforts are focused on political work…