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1976 in LGBT Rights

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In 1976, there were 17 recorded legal changes made affecting LGBT people. In the previous year, there were 23 changes made and 36 in the following year. A total of 203 legal changes were made in the 1970s.

  • November 8
    Equal age of consent becomes unequal.
    When the Australian Capital Territory decriminalised homosexuality in 1976, the age of consent was 18 compared to 16 for heterosexuality.
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) legalised homosexual activity in 1976, and was the second state or territory of Australia to do so.
  • October 7
    Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female legal.
    In 1976, Afghanistan’s 1976 Penal Code went into effect. Article 427 criminalized pederasty. Pederasty was an undefined offense, understood by some observers to include not only sexual activity with minors but also consensual sex between adult men. Zina, which means sex outside of marriage, was technically punishable by the death penalty under Sharia law. However, between 1976 and 1996, there were no reports of this punishment being carried out against individuals convicted of same-sex sexual acts.
  • July 1
    Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    WASHINGTON LAWS, 1975 1st ex.s. c 260 § 9A.92.010 Item 209 repealed Washington's Sodomy Laws: (a) Section 2. chapter 139, Laws of 1893 (b) Section 204, chapter 249, Laws of 1909 (c) Section 3, chapter 74, Laws of 1937 (d) RCW 9.79.100 Sodomy - Penalties. Item 226 repealed Washington's Vagrancy Laws: (a) Section 1, page 85, Laws of 1875, (b) Section 1271, Code of 1881 (c) Section 436, chapter 249, Laws of 1909 (d) Section 1, chapter 11, Laws of 1965 (e) Section 29, chapter 122 Laws of 1972 ex. sess. (f) RCW 9.87.010 Vagrancy. The U.S. Supreme Court further secured these protections when it ruled in LAWRENCE ET Al. v. TEXAS on June 26, 2003, that any law "making it a crime for two persons of the same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct violates the Due Process Clause" of the Fourteenth Amendment.
  • June 11
    Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    The age of consent for all individuals, regardless of orientation or gender, is 16.
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    In 1976, a vast revision of the state’s sexual assault laws repealed the law against sodomy.
  • May 15
    Same-sex adoption becomes illegal.
    The Law on Adoption, adopted on May 7, 1976, for the first time introduces two categories of adoption: "incomplete adoption" and "full adoption". In the first case, adoptive parents could be both individuals and married partners. In the second case, adoptive parents are exclusively married partners.
  • May 1
    Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    Legislative repeal, effective 1976.
  • March 20
    Censorship of LGBT issues becomes imprisonment as punishment.
    Article 355 of Bahrain's Penal Code (1976) brings about a penalty of up to two years in prison and a fine is enforced on individuals who print, import, export, own, possess, carry, or exhibit publications, drawings, pictures, films, symbols, or similar items with the intention of exploiting, distributing, or displaying them if they are deemed to contravene public morals.
  • Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    A Penal Code was enacted in 1976 which decriminalized same-sex activities. It also stated that the age of consent for same-sex activities would be the same as heterosexuals at 21 years old.
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    Bahrain may consider homosexuality as "immoral", although homosexual activity is not explicitly illegal. However there has been documented cases of arrests being made towards homosexual people on virtue of them being homosexuals
  • March 1
    Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    Age of consent in Maine does not differentiate consent for sex based on sexual orientation.
  • January 1
    Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
    In 1976, a statute took effect that defined marriage as “a personal relationship between a man and a woman.” In 1997, another statute took effect that explicitly prohibited same-sex marriages. In 2004, Montana’s voters approved Initiative 96, which was a constitutional amendment stating that only marriages between one man and one woman should be valid or recognized.
  • (date unknown)
    Gender-affirming care becomes restricted.
    In 1976, Philippines legalized sterilization, which de facto meant legalizing sex reassignment surgery, however, medical records regarding transsexualism had to be obtained abroad.
  • January 1
    Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    The age of consent is 18 for both same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples.
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    The 1975 Consenting Adult Sex Bill (CA Assembly Bill 489) legalised same-sex sexual activity.
  • (date unknown)
    Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    Age of consent is 15 regardless of sexual orientation; 18 for special cases between two individuals where one is in custody of the other, or who gives consent in the presence of the other's "abusing superior age or experience."

LGBT Organizations Founded in 1976

  • The Center on Colfax FaviconThe Center on Colfax
    Colorado, United States
    The Center on Colfax opened in 1976 has grown to become the largest LGBTQ community center in the Rocky Mountain region, giving voice to Colorado's lesbian, gay, bisexual…