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1992 in LGBT Rights

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In 1992, there were 54 recorded legal changes made affecting LGBT people. In the previous year, there were 37 changes made and 154 in the following year. A total of 818 legal changes were made in the 1990s.

  • December 11
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    In 1992, France began providing legal gender recognition provided that surgery be performed after two court cases. This also applied to Guadeloupe.
  • Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    In 1992, France began providing legal gender recognition provided that surgery be performed after two court cases. This also applied to French Guiana.
  • Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    In 1992, France began providing legal gender recognition provided that surgery be performed after two court cases. This also applied to Mayotte.
  • Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    In 1992, France began providing legal gender recognition provided that surgery be performed after two court cases. This also applied to Reunion.
  • Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    In 1992, France began providing legal gender recognition provided that surgery be performed after two court cases. This also applied to Martinique.
  • Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    In 1992, France began providing legal gender recognition provided that surgery be performed after two court cases. This also applied to New Caledonia.
  • December 10
    Equal age of consent becomes unequal.
    Homosexuality was decriminalised in Christmas Island when it came under Western Australian jurisdiction in 1992. However, when Western Australia finally decriminalised same-sex sexual activity, it set the age of consent for homosexual couples to 21, simultaneously lowering the age of consent for heterosexual couples to 16. This also applied in Christmas Island.
  • Censorship of LGBT issues becomes state-enforced.
    When Christmas Island came under Western Australian jurisdiction in 1992, it also came under the jurisdiction of provisions banning promotion of it and education of homosexuality in secondary schools.
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    In 1992, Christmas Island came under the jurisdiction of Western Australia under the Indian Ocean Territories Act. This effectively decriminalised homosexuality on the island as Western Australia decriminalised it in 1990.
  • November 24
    Serving openly in military becomes lesbians, gays, bisexuals permitted, transgender people banned.
    Since 1992, lesbian, gay and bisexual people are allowed to join the military but transgender people were still prohibited until 2010.
  • November 20
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    Between 1992 and 2006, despite the lack of regulation, there were cases of legal gender recognition in South Korea after surgery was performed.
  • November 1
    LGBT employment discrimination becomes sexual orientation only.
    The 1992 Labour Act in Namibia prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation. However, a repeal in 2004 led to the removal of it as a protected characteristic in 2007.
  • LGBT discrimination becomes illegal in some contexts.
    The 1992 Labour Act in Namibia prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation. However, a repeal in 2004 led to the removal of it as a protected characteristic in 2007.
  • October 25
    Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
    Constitutionally banned since 1992. A bill that would have allowed civil unions with limited rights for same-sex couples would have been discussed soon in the Parliament but that was taken off the schedule. A court in 2023 stated that a same-sex couple who married abroad cannot register their marriage.
  • October 10
    Serving openly in military becomes legal.
    LGBT soldiers are permitted to serve in the Canadian military and have been since Douglas v Canada.
  • October 1
    Right to change legal gender becomes illegal.
    In 1992, South Africa passed an amended Births and Deaths Registration Act which removed all mentions of the ability to change one’s legal gender. However, those who began transitioning before 1992 could still change their legal gender.
  • September 24
    Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    The Age of consent in Kentucky is 16 years old.
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    Sodomy law remains in the Kentucky statutes but is not enforceable due to the United States Supreme Court's ruling in Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
  • September 9
    Censorship of LGBT issues becomes state-enforced.
    In 1992, the government banned: "anyone who induces, promotes, propagandises or practices sexual intercourse between persons of the same sex".
  • September
    Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    Homosexuality was decriminalised by the Sexual Offences Act 1992.
  • August 10
    Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    Age of consent is equal and is set at 16.
  • July 1
    Equal age of consent becomes unequal.
    When Western Australia finally decriminalised same-sex sexual activity, it set the age of consent for homosexual couples to 21, simultaneously lowering the age of consent for heterosexual couples to 16. This would apply in the Cocos Islands in 1992 when it came under the jurisdiction of Western Australia.
  • Censorship of LGBT issues becomes state-enforced.
    Although the Decriminalisation of Sodomy Act of 1989 decriminalised homosexuality in Western Australia, it also contained provisions banning promotion of it and education of homosexuality in secondary schools. This would apply to the Cocos Islands in 1992 when it came under the jurisdiction of Western Australia.
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    In 1992, the autonomy of the Cocos Islands was abolished bringing it under the jurisdiction of Western Australia which decriminalised homosexuality in 1990.
  • June 20
    Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
    The Paraguayan civil code adopted in 1991 defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
  • June 11
    Same-sex marriage becomes other type of partnership.
    In 1992, the District of Columbia passed a law providing for a domestic partnership with limited protections for same-sex couples, although Congress would withhold funds until 2002. Over time, the law would expand until marriage was granted in 2010.
  • June 5
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    The first sex change operation in Serbia was performed in 1989 by prof. Dr. Sava Perović, the founder of this branch of medicine in Serbia. The first case of legal gender change was recorded on June 5, 1992, when the Municipal Secretariat for the General Administration of the Municipality of Savski Venac in Belgrade issued a decision approving the correction of the registered gender "from female to male" for a female person in the birth register.
  • May 18
    Censorship of LGBT issues becomes state-enforced.
    In 1992, Alabama passed a law that prohibited schools from teaching that homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle and required that schools teach that it is illegal in the state. In 2003 the US Supreme Court under LAWRENCE V. TEXAS made unconstitutional state anti-sodomy laws. Regardless, teachers in Alabama still had to emphasize that homosexuality was illegal until it was repealed in 2021.
  • May 17
    Serving openly in military becomes legal.
    LGBT people have been able to serve in the Swiss military since 1992.
  • May 7
    Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    Homosexual activity has been legal in Estonia since its independence from the USSR.
  • April 6
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, no restrictions.
    The first transgender person to change their legal gender in independent Estonia did so on 6 April 1992. This followed a decision by a medical expert committee convened to assess her case. Her birth certificate was corrected on this date, this was viewed as a pre-requisite to any surgery, which would have otherwise been considered mutilation under the law. While gender-affirming surgery was later carried out, it was not a pre-requisite for legal gender recognition. The state of affairs was not regulated by law, but others were known to have been given authorization by the same medical expert committee to change their legal data. This was ended in around 1994, since the Ministry of Social Affairs and Ministry of the Interior could not agree on whether surgery should be a pre-requisite for legal gender recognition. During that time, legal gender recognition was not possible. This stand-off eventually resulted in the 1997 decree not requiring surgery for legal gender recognition, in exchange for the relevant minister signing off on every transgender person requesting such recognition.
  • April 1
    Blood donations by MSMs becomes banned (indefinite deferral).
    In 1992, Singapore introduced an indefinite ban on blood donations from men who have sex with men in its Infectious Diseases Act of 1976. Women who have sex with women have a 1-year deferral period.
  • March 30
    LGBT discrimination becomes illegal in some contexts.
    Since 1992, sexual orientation has been recognized for data collection about hate crimes in Michigan. In August 2021, a court in Michigan declared that gender identity is implicitly included within the 1992 hate crime laws of Michigan - under the “gender” interpretation.
  • February 13
    Homosexual activity becomes illegal (up to life in prison as punishment).
    Sections 9 and 12 of Chapter 154 of the Sexual Offences Act criminalized homosexuality. Section 9 of the Act made buggery a criminal offence, punishable upon conviction by imprisonment for life. Section 12 of the Act made it an offence for a person to commit an act of serious indecency on or towards another person, or to incite another person to commit such an act with them or with someone else, punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
  • Equal age of consent becomes n/a.
    From 1992 to 2022, homosexuality was illegal, so there was no age of consent.
  • January 20
    LGBT discrimination becomes illegal.
    The Discrimination Act of 1991 took effect in 1992 in the Australian Capital Territory, prohibiting discrimination in all areas on the basis of sexuality or "transexuality", later amended to gender identity in 2010.
  • LGBT housing discrimination becomes sexual orientation and gender identity.
    The Discrimination Act of 1991 took effect in 1992 in the Australian Capital Territory, prohibiting discrimination in housing on the basis of sexuality or "transexuality", later amended to gender identity in 2010.
  • LGBT employment discrimination becomes sexual orientation and gender identity.
    The Discrimination Act of 1991 took effect in 1992 in the Australian Capital Territory, prohibiting discrimination in employment on the basis of sexuality or "transexuality", later amended to gender identity in 2010.
  • (date unknown)
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    Trans people can change their legal gender in Alabama but must first undergo surgery. Additionally, they are given amended birth certificates noting changes in name and sex instead of a new one.
  • Gender-affirming care becomes legal.
    No laws ban or restrict GAC but practical limitations such as a lack of available doctors and services prove to be real challenges for transgender Filipinos.
  • Equal age of consent becomes unequal.
    The Sexual Offences Act 1992 decriminalised homosexual activity but set the age of consent for same sex male couples to 21, which was reduced to 18 in 2001 by the Criminal Justice Act 2001, compared to 16 for heterosexual couples.
  • January 1
    Censorship of LGBT issues becomes imprisonment as punishment.
    In 1992, Melaka’s Sharia Criminal Enactment of 1991, which criminalises “men posing as women” with 1 year in prison, took effect.
  • Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    No surgery required since 2018. Missing non binary options on documents.
  • Serving openly in military becomes don't ask, don't tell.
    No other laws in place.
  • (date unknown)
    Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
    There is no definition of marriage in the 1991 Constitution. Article 40: "Legal relations in marriage, family and cohabitation are regulated by law." Family Law from 1992, article 6: "Marriage is a legally regulated union of life between a man and a woman in which the interests of the spouses, the family and society are realized.."
  • LGBT employment discrimination becomes sexual orientation only.
    Gender identity is not spelled out in the BC Human Rights Code
  • LGBT employment discrimination becomes sexual orientation only.
    In 1992, employment discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation was outlawed.
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    Article 124.1 that prohibits male-male sex was repealed in 1992
  • Equal age of consent becomes equal.
  • Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
    Constitutional ban since 1992.
  • January 1
    LGBT discrimination becomes illegal in some contexts.
    There are legal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation in: employment (1992), the provision of goods and services (2000), health (2004) and education (2014). The Student Rights Law (2014) include "gender identity" among the protected grounds of discrimination.
  • (date unknown)
    Serving openly in military becomes legal.
    Homosexuals can serve openly in all branches of the military.
  • January 1
    Serving openly in military becomes legal.
    Technically, homosexuals can serve openly in the military. There are no laws protecting them against discriminations though.
  • (date unknown)
    Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    Consensual age is Switzerland is 16 years old, unless the difference in age between the persons involved is not more than 3 years.

LGBT Organizations Founded in 1992