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Decriminalising Homosexuality: How the Law Changed

In all four of these countries sex between men was long a crime, with one early exception: France dropped the offence in 1791. The path from there was uneven. Britain widened the offence in 1885 and Germany in 1935, before both narrowed it in the late 1960s; the United States left the question to its states until the Supreme Court decided it in 2003. The chart follows three kinds of change: laws that criminalised or restricted, laws that decriminalised, and laws that protected and recognised same-sex couples. It is a record of legal change, and says nothing about how people were treated in practice, which was often harsher or more lenient than the statute.

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1550160016501700175018001850190019502000United Kingdom1533: Buggery Act1861: Death penalty removed1885: Gross indecency1967: Sexual Offences Act1980: Scotland1982: Northern Ireland2000: Ban in the armed forces ends2001: Equal age of consent2005: Civil partnership2010: Equality ActUnited States1961: Illinois1986: Bowers v. Hardwick1993: Don't Ask, Don't Tell1996: Romer v. Evans2003: Lawrence v. Texas2011: Open military service2015: Obergefell v. Hodges2020: Bostock v. Clayton CountyFrance1791: The Revolutionary penal code1942: A higher age of consent1982: Equal age of consent1999: The PACS2004: Homophobic hate speech2013: Marriage for same-sex couplesGermany1871: Paragraph 1751935: Paragraph 175 made harsher1957: Constitutional Court upholds it1968: East Germany1969: West Germany reforms it1994: Paragraph 175 repealed2001: Life partnership2017: Marriage and rehabilitation

1533United Kingdom· Making it a crime, or restricting it

Buggery Act

The Buggery Act 1533 made sodomy a crime punishable by death in England and Wales.

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These charts show the main turning points in the law of several countries, from our own knowledge. Each entry is one law or decision, dated by when it was passed or decided; the date it took effect is sometimes later. A chart is a map of turning points, not a complete history, and it records the law on paper, not how it was applied. Check the statutes and decisions named for the exact wording. It is general information, not legal advice.

The story in each country

United Kingdom

A capital crime from 1533, a wider offence from 1885, decriminalised in England and Wales in 1967, in Scotland in 1980 and in Northern Ireland in 1982, then equal age of consent, civil partnership and the Equality Act.

United States

Left to the states: Illinois decriminalised in 1961, the Supreme Court upheld sodomy laws in 1986 and struck them down in 2003, and the Court later recognised marriage and employment protection.

France

Decriminalised in the Revolution in 1791, given a higher age of consent under Vichy in 1942, equalised in 1982, then recognised by the PACS in 1999 and marriage in 2013.

Germany

Paragraph 175 of the criminal code, from 1871 to 1994, was made harsher by the Nazis in 1935; East Germany and West Germany reformed it separately, and the united country repealed it in 1994.

Every turning point, in order

United Kingdom

  1. 1533 Buggery Act

    Making it a crime, or restricting it

    The Buggery Act 1533 made sodomy a crime punishable by death in England and Wales.

  2. 1861 Death penalty removed

    Making it a crime, or restricting it

    The Offences against the Person Act 1861 replaced the death penalty for buggery with imprisonment, but the offence itself remained.

  3. 1885 Gross indecency

    Making it a crime, or restricting it

    The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 made any 'gross indecency' between men a crime, including private acts, widening the offence.

  4. 1967 Sexual Offences Act

    Decriminalising it

    The Sexual Offences Act 1967 decriminalised private sexual acts between two men over 21 in England and Wales; it did not cover the armed forces or the merchant navy.

  5. 1980 Scotland

    Decriminalising it

    The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 decriminalised acts between men over 21 in private in Scotland.

  6. 1982 Northern Ireland

    Decriminalising it

    An order of 1982 decriminalised private acts between men in Northern Ireland, after the European Court of Human Rights held in Dudgeon v. United Kingdom that the ban violated the right to private life.

  7. 2000 Ban in the armed forces ends

    Protection and recognition

    The ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual people in the armed forces was lifted in January 2000, after the European Court of Human Rights found it in breach of the Convention.

  8. 2001 Equal age of consent

    Decriminalising it

    The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000, in force from January 2001, set the age of consent at 16 for everyone, after it had been 18 for sex between men.

  9. 2005 Civil partnership

    Protection and recognition

    The Civil Partnership Act 2004, in force from December 2005, gave same-sex couples a legal status with rights close to those of marriage.

  10. 2010 Equality Act

    Protection and recognition

    The Equality Act 2010 protected people against discrimination because of sexual orientation in work, services and education.

United States

  1. 1961 Illinois

    Decriminalising it

    Illinois became the first state to repeal its sodomy law, with a new criminal code that took effect on 1 January 1962.

  2. 1986 Bowers v. Hardwick

    Making it a crime, or restricting it

    The Supreme Court held that the Constitution does not protect a right to private homosexual acts, and upheld Georgia's sodomy law.

  3. 1993 Don't Ask, Don't Tell

    Making it a crime, or restricting it

    A federal law and policy let gay, lesbian and bisexual people serve in the military only if they did not disclose their orientation, and barred open service.

  4. 1996 Romer v. Evans

    Protection and recognition

    The Supreme Court struck down a Colorado amendment that barred laws protecting gay people from discrimination.

  5. 2003 Lawrence v. Texas

    Decriminalising it

    The Supreme Court overruled Bowers and struck down state laws banning private sexual conduct between consenting adults, ending the remaining sodomy laws.

  6. 2011 Open military service

    Protection and recognition

    Don't Ask, Don't Tell was repealed by a law signed in December 2010 and took effect in September 2011.

  7. 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges

    Protection and recognition

    The Supreme Court held that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.

  8. 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County

    Protection and recognition

    The Supreme Court held that an employer who fires someone for being gay or transgender discriminates because of sex under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

France

  1. 1791 The Revolutionary penal code

    Decriminalising it

    The penal code of 1791 did not list sodomy as an offence, which in effect decriminalised it; the Napoleonic code of 1810 kept it that way.

  2. 1942 A higher age of consent

    Making it a crime, or restricting it

    A law of 1942 under the Vichy regime set the age of consent for same-sex acts at 21, above the age for other acts; it was kept after the liberation, by an ordinance of 1945.

  3. 1982 Equal age of consent

    Decriminalising it

    The law of 4 August 1982 repealed the provision that set a higher age of consent for same-sex acts.

  4. 1999 The PACS

    Protection and recognition

    The law of 15 November 1999 created the PACS, a civil solidarity pact open to unmarried couples of any sex.

  5. 2004 Homophobic hate speech

    Protection and recognition

    A law of 30 December 2004 made insults and incitement to hatred because of a person's sexual orientation a crime and created an anti-discrimination authority.

  6. 2013 Marriage for same-sex couples

    Protection and recognition

    The law of 17 May 2013 opened marriage and adoption to same-sex couples.

Germany

  1. 1871 Paragraph 175

    Making it a crime, or restricting it

    Paragraph 175 of the criminal code of the new German Empire made 'unnatural fornication' between men a crime.

  2. 1935 Paragraph 175 made harsher

    Making it a crime, or restricting it

    In June 1935 the Nazi government widened the offence to cover almost any sexual contact between men and increased the penalties.

  3. 1957 Constitutional Court upholds it

    Making it a crime, or restricting it

    The Federal Constitutional Court of West Germany upheld Paragraph 175, finding that it did not violate the Basic Law.

  4. 1968 East Germany

    Decriminalising it

    East Germany's new criminal code of 1968 no longer made sex between consenting adult men a crime.

  5. 1969 West Germany reforms it

    Decriminalising it

    West Germany's reform of 1969 made sex between men a crime only if one partner was under 21; the age was lowered to 18 in 1973.

  6. 1994 Paragraph 175 repealed

    Decriminalising it

    The reunified Germany repealed Paragraph 175 in 1994, the same year it set one age of consent for all.

  7. 2001 Life partnership

    Protection and recognition

    The Life Partnership Act of 2001 let same-sex couples register a partnership with rights close to those of marriage.

  8. 2017 Marriage and rehabilitation

    Protection and recognition

    In 2017 Germany opened marriage to same-sex couples and passed a law that quashed the convictions of men convicted under Paragraph 175 after 1945.

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