Portugal LGBT Laws

In 1997, consensual sex between same-sex couples was made lawful at the age of 16 years [R1.1].

On 13 May 2016, the parliament voted to change the law to allow gay women access to artificial insemination, which previously was restricted to heterosexuals who were married or living together for more than two years [R1.2].

On 20 November 2015, the Parliament approved laws allowing same-sex couples to legally adopt children and permitting lesbians to obtain medically assisted fertilization [R1.1].

Some immigration benefits are extended to the same-sex partners of citizens and permanent residents [R1.1].

In March 2001, Portugal’s National Assembly granted legal rights and tax benefits to gay and lesbian couples who have lived together for more than two years, giving them the same rights as heterosexual couples in common-law marriages [R1.1].

On 19 January 2015, the Parliament voted for the inclusion of gender identity as a protected ground of discrimination in the field of employment in the Portuguese Labour Code. The law will now be discussed in committee and will need to be signed by the President before coming into effect [R1.3].

On 11 January 2013, the Parliament was reported to have unanimously approved an amendment to the criminal code making discrimination on the ground of gender identity unlawful [R1.2].

In 2004, the Constitutional was amended prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation [R1.1].

In 2003, discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation was made unlawful [R1.1].

On 10 May 2018, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was reported to have vetoed a law approved by parliament to facilitate sex reassignment surgery for everyone over 16 without a medical report. The President sent back the law asking for a ”reasonable” revision requiring a mandatory medical opinion for minors aged 16 to 18 [R1.5].

On 13 April 2018, a new gender change law was reportedly approved meaning transgender people in the country will no longer need to be diagnosed as mentally ill to legally change their gender and unnecessary surgery on intersex infants is banned. Portugal becomes the sixth European nation to allow a change of gender without medical or state intervention, following Malta, Norway, Denmark, Ireland and Belgium and only the second nation in the world, after Malta, to ban medically unnecessary surgery on the genitals of intersex infants [R1.4].

On 19 May 2017, it was reported that Portugal had announced it will ban surgeries on intersex babies. There is evidence that these surgeries can cause long-term side effects, including scarring, torn tissue, loss of natural hormones, a lack of sexual sensitivity and even sterilization [R1.3].

On 19 January 2015, the Parliament voted for the inclusion of gender identity as a protected ground of discrimination in the field of employment in the Portuguese Labour Code. The law will now be discussed in committee and will need to be signed by the President before coming into effect [R1.2].

On 25 November 2010, a new law went into effect authorizing issuance of government documentation of gender identity without the necessity for surgical alteration, making Portugal one of only three countries in Europe (the others are Spain and the U.K.) where [divorce, sterilisation, hormonal treatment or] surgical alteration is not a prerequisite to official recognition of gender transition, according to an 29 November release from ILGA/Europe [R1.1].

On 11 January 2013, the Parliament was reported to have unanimously approved an amendment to the criminal code to include gender identity as a category of hate crime law [R1.2].

In 2007, hate crimes based on sexual orientation became considered an aggravating circumstance [R1.1].

On 10 May 2018, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was reported to have vetoed a law approved by parliament to facilitate sex reassignment surgery for everyone over 16 without a medical report. The President sent back the law asking for a ”reasonable” revision requiring a mandatory medical opinion for minors aged 16 to 18 [R1.3].

On 13 April 2018, a new gender change law was reportedly approved meaning transgender people in the country will no longer need to be diagnosed as mentally ill to legally change their gender and unnecessary surgery on intersex infants is banned. Portugal becomes the sixth European nation to allow a change of gender without medical or state intervention, following Malta, Norway, Denmark, Ireland and Belgium and only the second nation in the world, after Malta, to ban medically unnecessary surgery on the genitals of intersex infants [R1.2].

On 19 May 2017, it was reported that Portugal had announced it will ban surgeries on intersex babies. There is evidence that these surgeries can cause long-term side effects, including scarring, torn tissue, loss of natural hormones, a lack of sexual sensitivity and even sterilization [R1.1].

In 1983, consensual sex between same-sex couples was decriminalised [R1.1].

On 14 January 2017, it was reported that Portugese authorities had granted Polish couple Jakub Kwiecinski and David Mycek permission to marry in Portugal despite their not being able to provide necessary documentation, same-sex marriage being unlawful in Poland. Portugal usually requires all foreigners (except UK nationals) seeking to marry in Portugal provide documentation affirming there is no obstacle to their marriage in their home country [R1.7].

On 17 May 2010, President Anibal Cavaco Silva announced he is reluctantly ratifying a law allowing gay marriage [R1.6].

Previously:

On 11 February 2010, Parliament finalised and passed a law legalising same-sex marriage, and on 05 March the law was sent to President Aníbal Cavaco Silva. On 13 March, Cavaco Silva sent it to the Constitutional Court for review, and the court must act on the review by 8 April [R1.2], [R2.1]. The bill then will return to the president, who will have 20 more days to mull it over [R1.5].

On 08 January 2010, the parliament passed a law (125 to 99) to legalise same-sex marriage, but rejected proposals to allow homosexual couples to adopt. The bill will now be reviewed in committee before coming back for a final vote in parliament [R1.4].

In December 2009, a marriage equality law to be debated early next year reportedly appeared likely to reach the desk of President Anibal Cavaco Silva, whose potential veto could be overturned by parliament [R1.2].

In November 2009, the BBC reported that the new Socialist government may pass gay marriage or civil partnerships into law as soon as January [R1.2].

In October 2008, both Portugal’s Socialist and Social Democratic parties rejected proposals to allow same-sex marriage [R1.1].

On 08 April 2010, the Constitutional Court ruled that the country’s proposed same-sex marriage law should be enacted, which leaves only the president’s signature as the last step before the bill becomes a law [R2.2].

Previously:

On 31 July 2009, the Constitutional Court upheld the country’s ban on same-sex marriage in a 3–2 ruling against a lesbian couple’s appeal [R2.1].

On 21 February 2016, President Aníbal Cavaco Silva was reported to have signed the Bills legalising adoption by same-sex couples into law [R1.8].

On 10 February 2016, the Portugese parliament overturned the President’s veto by 137 votes in the 230-seat parliament. Under the constitution, the President has eight days to sign the bill legalising adoption by same-sex couples into law [R1.7].

On 25 January 2016, outgoing President Anibal Cavaco Silva vetoed legislation allowing same-sex couples to adopt children. The Socialist Party majority in Parliament will try to override the veto [R1.6].

On 20 November 2015, the Parliament approved laws allowing same-sex couples to legally adopt children and permitting lesbians to obtain medically assisted fertilization [R1.5].

On 22 January 2015, the Parliament defeated by 30 votes out of the 220 members present a bill that would have allowed gay couples to adopt children [R1.4].

On 17 January 2014, it was reported that the centre-right Social Democratic Party won a motion by 11 votes in the 230-seat Parliament to put a law allowing gay married couples to adopt their partners’ children to a referendum. The final word on whether to call a referendum lies with the constitutional Court and Portugal’s president, expected within two months [R1.3].

On 17 May 2013, Parliament approved 99-94 with 9 absetentions, a measure that allows one spouse the right to adopt the other’s biological or adopted children. However, another proposal, which would have let same-sex couples adopt jointly, was defeated [R1.2].

On 24 February 2012, the parliament defeated two bills that would have allowed gay couples to adopt children [R1.1].

In December 1999, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that being a homosexual is no reason to ban a father from caring for his children [R2.1].

In 1994, Joao Manuel Salgueiro de Silva Mouta, 38, was awarded parental responsibility for his daughter by a Lisbon court after his ex-wife barred him from seeing the girl. But a year later the woman abducted her daughter and went on to win parental responsibility for her at Lisbon’s appeals court [R2.1].