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1974 in LGBT Rights

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In 1974, there were 21 recorded legal changes made affecting LGBT people. In the previous year, there were 18 changes made and 33 in the following year. A total of 252 legal changes were made in the 1970s.

  • November 1
    Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    Massachusetts legalised homosexual activity through a court ruling in 1974, although dormant sodomy laws still exist in its state laws.
  • Homosexual activity becomes ambiguous.
    Manus falls under Papua New Guinea, making homosexuality illegal under Section 212. But this has not been enforced since 2015.
  • Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    It was determined in 'E.C.O. v. Compton' that a 16 year old is able to consent to sex with an adult over online communication.
  • October 16
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    The Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 51 of 1974 provided the legal foundation for—ostensibly white—South Africans who had “undergone a change of sex” to alter their “sex description” in the country’s birth register.
  • Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    Trans people can change their legal gender based on a clause from the Births, Marriages and Deaths Registration Act 81 of 1963 under an amendment passed in 1974. It was reported in 2015 that applications for change of sex are done on a case-by-case basis and are not problematic, as long as a person can provide medical reports of their sex change, which includes undergoing sex reassignment surgery. Once the application is granted, a transgender person can apply for a new identity document and passport.
  • June 11
    Censorship of LGBT issues becomes no censorship.
    In the state of New York, there are currently no active censorship measures after a ruling 1974 declared that the state's impersonation laws did not include cross-dressing as an offence, legalising the gender expression of transgender people.
  • May 3
    Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    The 1974 Penal Code punished sodomy with 1 to 3 years in prison. In 1992, Nicaragua passed legislation that criminalized “anyone who induces, promotes, propagandises or practices sexual intercourse between persons of the same sex commits the crime of sodomy,” with a punishment of one to three years of imprisonment.
  • May 2
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    On May 2 1974, Marcia Alejandra became the first person in Chile to have her gender legally changed after surgery the previous year, the first such recognition in Latin America. Despite no law regulating gender recognition, in practice Chile recognised such after surgery was performed.
  • April 25
    Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    After the Carnation Revolution on 25 April 1974, Portugal’s dictatorship ended and political policing against LGBT people ceased. However, the Penal Code inherited from the Estado Novo still criminalized homosexuality under “vices against nature” and “security measures.” In practice, prosecutions became rare, but same-sex relations remained legally risky. During this period, the first LGBT activists in Portugal began to organize, issuing the “Manifesto for the Liberation of Sexual Minorities” and demanding equality. On 23 September 1982, Parliament approved a new Penal Code, which removed provisions criminalizing consensual same-sex relations between adults. The reform took effect on 1 January 1983, finally ending Portugal’s legal persecution of homosexuality.
  • Censorship of LGBT issues becomes no censorship.
    In Portugal, there are no laws restricting the discussion or promotion of LGBTQ+ topics since the fall of the Estado Novo.
  • February 4
    Censorship of LGBT issues becomes state-enforced.
    Even before the Taliban return to power in 2021, there was state-enforced censorship of LGBTIQ+ topics in Afghanistan. LGBTIQ+ organisations could not legally register, and the 2006 Law on Mass Media prohibited publication of matters "contrary to principles of Islam" which were interpreted to include anything pro-LGBTIQ+. The 1974 Postal Law has also been used to prohibit the distribution of LGBTIQ+ information under laws against usage of the postal service to exchange material that is considered "repugnant to public decency and morals”.
  • January 2
    Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
    Article 1 of Law No. 1 of the Year 1974 on Marriage states unequivocally that marriage is "a physical and spiritual bond between a man and a woman as husband and wife, having the purpose of establishing a happy and lasting family founded on the Belief in God Almighty", effectively banning same-sex marriage in Indonesia.
  • January 1
    Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    In 1974, homosexuality was legalized in Ohio with an equal age of consent to heterosexuality.
  • (date unknown)
    Serving openly in military becomes illegal.
    In 1974, the ban on homosexuality in the military became official in Australia when the services of the ADF adopted consistent rules persecuting gay and lesbian soldiers, whether real or suspected, having them subjected to witch-hunts, surveillance, secret searches and intimidating interviews.
  • January 1
    Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    In 1974, Ohio repealed its sodomy and solicitation laws. However, the sex offender registration law was not repealed, and a new solicitation law was adopted that said "no person shall solicit a person of the same sex for sexual activity with the offender, when the offender knows such solicitation is offensive to the other person, or is reckless in that regard." The penalty was up to 6 months imprisonment and/or a fine of $1,000. However, the solicitation law required that the solicited person be offended by the solicitor and if they were not, regardless of if it was between two people of the same sex, it was not to be considered a crime. In 2002, in the case of State v. Thompson, the Supreme Court of Ohio found that the solicitation law was unconstitutional. The decision also removed the provision of the sex offender registration law that required registration by people convicted two or more times under the offensive solicitation law.
  • Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    Penal Code (1974) and Penal Code (2018) both criminalize homosexual sex between gay men and lesbians. The maximum punishment in both penal codes is 3 years imprisonment. However, the law has not been enforced in practice since 2009.
  • (date unknown)
    Gender-affirming care becomes restricted.
    In 1974, Fiji legalized sterilization, which de facto meant legalizing sex reassignment surgery, however, medical records regarding transsexualism had to be obtained abroad.
  • Gender-affirming care becomes restricted.
    In 1974, Austria legalized sterilization, which de facto meant legalizing sex reassignment surgery, however, medical records regarding transsexualism had to be obtained abroad.
  • Same-sex adoption becomes married couples only.
    Alaskan State Statute provides any unmarried individual may petition for adoption; married individuals must petition together. Second parent adoption has been permitted by some lower court judges, but it is not confirmed by appellate court case law or state statute.
  • Serving openly in military becomes legal.
    The Netherlands became the first country to allow gay soldiers to serve in the military openly.
  • Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    Kentucky Revised Statutes were revised in 1974 to criminalize non-procreative sexual acts only between people of the same sex. A conviction could have led to up to 12 months in prison and a fine of up to $500.

LGBT Organizations Founded in 1974

  • Seta ry FaviconSeta ry
    Finland
    A sexual equality rights organization in Finland. It's goal is a equal society where human rights and wellbeing are realised regardless of ones sexual orientation, identity or…