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1975 in LGBT Rights

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In 1975, there were 22 recorded legal changes made affecting LGBT people. In the previous year, there were 18 changes made and 17 in the following year. A total of 203 legal changes were made in the 1970s.

  • December 7
    Equal age of consent becomes unequal.
    During the Indonesian occupation of Timor-Leste from 1975 to 2002, homosexuality was not recriminalised but Indonesia had an unequal age of consent at 16 for heterosexuals and 18 for homosexuals.
  • Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    When Timor-Leste was invaded by Indonesia in 1975, it was annexed with the same laws as Indonesia which allowed legal gender recognition after surgery. However, it is unlikely this was achievable in practice due to the brutal occupation of the region.
  • Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
    Since the Indonesian occupation of Timor-Leste in 1975, the same laws in Indonesia applied there including a ban on same-sex marriage in Indonesia's penal code. The ban would not carry over into independence from 2002 but a new ban would be implemented in 2011.
  • November 28
    Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    Homosexuality was decriminalised in Timor-Leste upon independence from Portugal in 1975 with no discrepancies in the age of consent until Indonesia’s invasion a week later.
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    Homosexuality was decriminalised in Timor-Leste in 1975 upon independence and was not recriminalised under the Indonesian occupation the next year.
  • November 15
    Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    Upto 3 years
  • October 2
    Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    Homosexuality was decriminalised in South Australia in 1975 with an equal age of consent.
  • Equal age of consent becomes varies by region.
    The age of consent for same-sex and opposite sex acts was not equal for all Australian states
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    In 1975, South Australia became the first state or territory in Australia to legalize homosexuality.
  • Homosexual activity becomes varies by region.
    In October 1975, South Australia became the first state to decriminalise homosexuality. Homosexual activity was federally decriminalised by the Human Rights (Sexual Conduct) Act 1994, although some local state laws remained inconsistent until 1997.
  • August
    Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
    In 1975, the Virginia Code restricted marriage to different-sex couples, effectively banning same-sex marriage in the state.
  • June 20
    Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    New Mexico repealed its laws banning homosexual activity in 1975; nearly 30 years before the Supreme Court's ruling in Lawrence v. Texas.
  • June 12
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    In 1975, Denmark’s Law on Castration and Sterilisation took effect in Greenland, allowing for legal gender recognition on the conditions of surgery and sterilisation.
  • May 28
    Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
    In 1975, NRS § 122.020 was amended to define marriage as between one man and one woman. In 2002, Nevada voters approved a constitutional amendment that defined marriage as between one man and one woman.
  • April
    Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
    In April 1975, a bill was passed in Arizona restricting marriage to different-sex couples after a marriage license was granted to a same-sex one, revoking the license and banning same-sex marriage. A proposition to ban any recognition was attempted in 2006 but narrowly rejected until another was passed in 2008.
  • April 1
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires medical diagnosis.
    Article 22 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act (1973) states that "In the event of a child, after being registered, either by operation or otherwise, changing from a female to a male or from a male to a female and such change is certified by a registered medical practitioner, the district registrar of the district in which the birth is registered shall, with the approval of the registrar and on the application of the parent or guardian of that child, alter the particulars of such child which appear in the births register." People may also possibly change their legal gender under the National Identity Cards Act 9 of 2011. However, despite the two laws, there is usually no legal recognition granted in practice.
  • February 14
    Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
    The Cuban Constitution does not ban same sex marriage, but other statutory laws do prohibit it. Article 2 of the Family Code defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman - an amendment drafted in 2018 would have changed this but was rejected. Further consultation on changes to the Family Code are ongoing in 2022.
  • January 11
    Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
    The Marriage Law of 1975 states that marriage is defined as a contract between a man and a woman having equal rights and duties with the object of creating a family.
  • January 1
    Gender-affirming care becomes legal.
    France allows transition care for adults and minors. Minors can access puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, and in some cases, mastectomies. Genital surgeries are however reserved for adults.
  • (date unknown)
    Gender-affirming care becomes restricted.
    In 1991, Belgium legalized sterilization, which de facto meant legalizing sex reassignment surgery, however, medical records regarding transsexualism had to be obtained abroad.
  • Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    In 1975, the first sex reassignment surgery in Czechoslovakia and the associated change of legal gender took place in the clinic in Brno.
  • January 1
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    A legal change of gender is obtained through the local registry office. This process includes obtaining a new birth certificate or a personal identification number (called a Birth Number) and has been possible since 1975.

LGBT Organizations Founded in 1975