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1978 in LGBT Rights

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In 1978, there were 20 recorded legal changes made affecting LGBT people. In the previous year, there were 44 changes made and 28 in the following year. A total of 252 legal changes were made in the 1970s.

  • December 15
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    In 1978, Ontario provided for legal gender recognition but required proof of surgery.
  • September 30
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    Michigan Compiled Law 333.2831(c) allowed citizens to change the sex designation on birth certificates with an affidavit of a physician certifying that sex-reassignment surgery had been performed.
  • July 7
    Equal age of consent becomes n/a.
    Homosexual activity is illegal in the Solomon Islands.
  • July 1
    Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    In 1978, homosexuality was legalized in Nebraska with an equal age of consent to heterosexuality.
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    In 1978, Nebraska repealed its laws against sodomy. US Supreme Court ruling issued in Lawrence v. Texas struck down all sodomy laws on the basis of privacy and liberty. The decision overturned any laws remaining in all US states which prohibited acts of sodomy.
  • April 3
    Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    Sections 14.74 and 14.79 of Liberia's Penal Code (1978) define consensual same-sex sexual activity as "voluntary sodomy," categorizing it as a first-degree misdemeanor. This offense is punishable by a prison sentence of up to one year, a fine of up to L$1000, or both. The law is used to persecute lesbians and gay men.
  • April 1
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    Starting on April 1st, 1978, trans people were allowed to legally change their gender in Quebec if they fit the following criteria: -The person must be of age -a Canadian citizen -not married -have been residing in Quebec for at least a year -must have undergone medical and surgical treatment that would modify the sexual organs and general sex characteristics In 2005, the criteria requiring the person to not be married is removed.
  • Right to change legal gender becomes varies by region.
    Until 2012, Canada federally required surgery for gender recognition on passports. However, until 2017, gender recognition elsewhere generally varied by province and territory. Gender recognition was first provided on a state-by-state basis in 1978 with Quebec and Ontario.
  • February 25
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    The Supreme Court resolution III CZP 100/77 sanctioned the practice of rectifying birth certificates via a non-contentious administrative mode, theoretically allowing for gender recognition without surgery if the phenotype was dominant and irreversible, though the Court explicitly recognized the legality of surgical "adaptation" procedures. This period saw the solidification of the rectification practice in judicial decisions, although legal doctrine questioned the applicability of rectification to a condition that manifests later in life rather than being a clerical error at birth.
  • January 1
    Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    In 1978, homosexuality was legalized in Guam with an equal age of consent to heterosexuality.
  • Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    In 1978, homosexuality was legalized in Iowa with an equal age of consent to heterosexuality.
  • (date unknown)
    Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    Equal since 1978 as part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
  • Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    The age of consent has been equal since 1978.
  • January 1
    Legal recognition of non-binary gender becomes not legally recognized.
    There is no recognition of non-binary people in Catalunya.
  • (date unknown)
    Censorship of LGBT issues becomes imprisonment as punishment.
    In 1978, Tonga amended its criminal code to criminalising “a male person impersonating a female person whilst soliciting an immoral purpose”. The vague definitions on an immoral purpose in effect criminalises the gender expression of transgender women despite historical acceptance.
  • January 1
    Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    Homosexual acts were legalized in 1978 prior to the federal ruling which legalized homosexuality for all federal jurisdictions in 2003.
  • Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    Age of consent are 15 regardless of sexual orientation.
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    In 1976, Iowa’s legislature repealed parts of its criminal code, including the section criminalizing consensual sodomy between two people of the same sex. The updated criminal code took effect on January 1st, 1978.
  • (date unknown)
    Serving openly in military becomes legal.
    LGB people have been able to serve since 1978, transgender people were largely unknown but have been permitted from at least 2014.
  • Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    Since 1978, the age of consent has been equal for both homosexual and heterosexual relations.

LGBT Organizations Founded in 1978