The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 repealed all criminal provisions regarding homosexuality; setting an equal age of consent for sexual activity between men.

Same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland came into force on 13 January 2020.

Previous law repealed by section 122 of the Local Government Act 2003.

Legal gender recognition is possible in all four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) as per the Gender Recognition Act (2004, in effect 2005). Section 1 of the law states that "any person of either gender" who is aged at least 18 can make an application for "a gender recognition certificate" on the basis of— (a) living in the other gender, or (b) having changed gender under the law of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom. These certificates are issued by a Gender Recognition Panel.
The law includes the following requirements for obtaining such certificate: (1) a "gender dysphoria" diagnosis, proved through two reports (one by a registered medical practitioner or psychologist specialised in gender dysphoria, and another one made by a registered medical practitioner); (2) having lived in the “acquired gender” for two years before filing the application, proved through different means (such as a statutory declaration or documents where their gender identity is stated -i.e. pay slips, benefit documentation, bank statements, utility bills); (3) a statutory declaration showing intention "to continue to live in the acquired gender until death"; (4) spousal consent, if the applicant is married or in a civil partnership (partner must consent to the marriage or partnership continuing after the issue of the full gender recognition certificate).

In 2021 the UK government said (in response to a petition) that legal recognition of non-binary gender identity would have "complex practical consequences for other areas of the law, service provision and public life", and said that they felt existing legislation allowing people to change their legal gender went far enough. Courts have, however, ruled that people with non-binary identities are protected from discrimination by the Equality Act. On 4 October 2023, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asserted his stance on gender identity in a speech Wednesday, stating it was “common sense” that “a man is a man and a woman is a woman”.

LGBT discrimination in Great Britain is illegal, but Northern Ireland only offers limited anti-discrimination laws.

Employment discrimination protections in the UK stem from several peices of legislation, which were combined into the wide-ranging Equality Act 2010. There are, however, exemptions for certain occupations (such as religious organisations).

For Local Authorities they would be bound by Equality Act 2010 and have a duty under Public Sector Equality Duty. For private landlords would be bound by Equality Act 2010

IVF treatment is available for lesbian couples too.

The Ministry of Defence were forced to change their stance on when the European Court of Human Rights ruled in September 1999 that the then current ban on gays in the military was unlawful.

There is currently no ban on intersex infant surgery in the UK.

The 3-month deferral for MSM has been dropped in England, Wales and Scotland. Instead, donors of any gender will be asked about their recent sexual activity, and those who have only had one sexual partner within the last 3-months will be eligible to donate.
Northern Ireland is due to follow suit with these changes in September 2021.

According to ILGA, laws in force in United Kingdom do not regulate or restrict sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression change efforts (SOGIECE), regularly known as “conversion therapies”.

Conversion therapy ban has been discussed for many years. Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to ban conversion therapy in July 2020 and this was reiterated in the 2021 Queen's Speech. In March 2022, the plans were dropped, only for a partial U-turn just hours later when the government announced that the ban would go ahead but not cover trans people.

On January 17 2023, the government announced they'd pass a new law to include transgender people in the conversion therapy ban.

Since 2023, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has failed to comment on actually banning practices of Conversion therapy. He is known to be Anti-LGBTQ, and preaches "Save the kids"

On November 30, 2000 a bill was signed to make the ages of consent equitable, regardless of gender. The law came into effect on August 1, 2001. The age of consent for men who have sex with men was reduced from 18 to 16, on par with different sex individuals.