Homosexuality
    ✔ Legal
    Gay Marriage
    ✔ Legal
    Censorship
    ✔ No censorship
    Changing Gender
    ✔ Legal, no restrictions
    Gender-Affirming Care
    ✖ Legal, but restricted for minors
    Non-Binary Gender Recognition
    ✖ Not legally recognized
    Discrimination
    ✔ Illegal
    Employment Discrimination
    ✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
    Housing Discrimination
    ✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
    Adoption
    ✔ Legal
    Intersex Infant Surgery
    ✖ Not banned
    Military
    ✔ Legal
    Donating Blood
    ✔ Legal
    Conversion Therapy
    ✖ Not banned
    Age of Consent
    ✔ Equal
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Surveys in Ireland have shown mixed views towards LGBTQ+ rights and issues.

Perception of LGBTQ+ People

Survey results from 14 LGBTQ+ Equaldex users who lived in or visited Ireland.

Overall

Overall

Perceived Safety*

Feel safe being open
Absence of verbal harassment
Absence of threats and violence
*Survey results represent personal perceptions of safety and may not be indicative of current actual conditions.

Equal Treatment

Treatment by peers
Treatment by family
Treatment at work
Treatment at school
Treatment by general public
Treatment by businesses
Treatment by law enforcement
Treatment by religious groups

Visibility & Representation

Inclusion in education
Representation in entertainment
Representation in news
Political support
Out public figures

Culture

Pride/events
Nightlife
Dating life
Interest groups and clubs

Services

Health and wellness
Gender-affirming care
Support and social services
Advocacy and legal

History

Homosexual activity in Ireland

?

Homosexual activity in Ireland is legal.

Current status
Since Jun 24, 1993
Legal
Homosexuality was decriminalized in Ireland with the the passing of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act, 1993.
Jan 1, 1861–Jan 24, 1993
Illegal (up to life in prison as punishment)
The Offences Against the Persons Act, 1861 made “buggery” an offence punishable by penal servitude.
Under the section “Unnatural Offences”, the Act read: “Whosoever shall be convicted of the abominable crime of buggery, committed either with mankind or with any animal shall be liable … to be kept in penal servitude for life.”
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Same-sex marriage in Ireland

?

Same-sex marriage in Ireland is legal.

Current status
Since Nov 16, 2015
Legal
The Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015 (bill no.5 of 2015)
Jan 1, 2011–May 23, 2015
Civil unions (marriage rights)
Granted under the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act, 2010.
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Censorship of LGBT issues in Ireland

?

Censorship of LGBT issues in Ireland is no censorship.

Current status
No censorship
In Ireland, there are no laws restricting the discussion or promotion of LGBTQ+ topics.
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Right to change legal gender in Ireland

?

Right to change legal gender in Ireland is legal, no restrictions.

Current status
Since Jul 15, 2015
Legal, no restrictions
For adults over 18, individuals can change their legal gender without a surgery. However, for individuals between the age of 16-18, there is a "route to recognition"
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Jan 2002–Jul 15, 2015
Illegal
No legislation at present, but government has said it will legislate and there has been a landmark court prompting the government to seek legislation surrounding the issue. This legislation has yet to be carried out.
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Gender-affirming care in Ireland

?

Gender-affirming care in Ireland is legal, but restricted for minors.

Current status
Legal, but restricted for minors
Ages 16 and under are unable to get gender affirming care as they have to wait until they are 18 to start. Transgender people age 17 can get referred but they are unable to get gender affirming care until they are 18. NGS disallows anyone under 18 to start gender affirming care.
Sources:
gendergp.com/trans-healthca…
teni.ie/qr/
transhealthcare.ie/resources *not just for Ireland
nationalgenderserviceirelan… *see "Is your service for adults and children?"
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Legal recognition of non-binary gender in Ireland

?

Legal recognition of non-binary gender in Ireland is not legally recognized.

Current status
Not legally recognized
As per the Gender Recognition Act of 2015, residents of the Republic of Ireland can only change their legal gender marker to male or female. The Gender Recognition Act is written in binary terms of gender and there is no mention of non-binary identity in the act.
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LGBT discrimination in Ireland

?

LGBT discrimination in Ireland is illegal.

Current status
Since Dec 3, 2015
Illegal
Ireland has removed their religious exceptions for anti-gay discrimination, making it completely illegal now.
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Jan 1, 2000–Jan 1, 2004
Illegal in some contexts
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LGBT employment discrimination in Ireland

?

LGBT employment discrimination in Ireland is sexual orientation and gender identity.

Current status
Since Oct 18, 1999
Sexual orientation and gender identity
Since 1999, employment discrimination as been added as an act for Ireland, sexual orientation was proposed and passed in 1999. Gender identity was passed in 2015, making it illegal to fire someone under gender identity and or sexual orientation.
Sources:
irishstatutebook.ie/eli/199… *wasn't enacted until 1999, revisions are still pending as of 21st May 2024*
ihrec.ie/guides-and-tools/h…~:text=The%20Equality%20Employment%20Acts%201998,vocational%20training%20and%20work%20experience.
web.archive.org/web/2015120…//www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1998/act/21/section/21/enacted/en/html#sec21 *2015 revision adding gender identity*
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LGBT housing discrimination in Ireland

?

LGBT housing discrimination in Ireland is sexual orientation and gender identity.

Current status
Since Aug 1, 2018
Sexual orientation and gender identity
Ireland's Employment Equality Act, 1998, and the Equal Status Act, 2000 outlawed discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity
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Same-sex adoption in Ireland

?

Same-sex adoption in Ireland is legal.

Current status
Since Apr 4, 2015
Legal
As Same Sex Marriage is now fully legal, same sex couples can adopt children. One month before it became legal, same sex couples can also adopt children.
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Nov 1, 2010–May 23, 2015
Single only
Law specifies that married couples or single individuals may adopt, but there is no same sex marriage in Ireland at present.
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Intersex infant surgery in Ireland

?

Intersex infant surgery in Ireland is not banned.

Current status
Not banned
There are no laws banning intersex infant surgery in Ireland.
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Serving openly in military in Ireland

?

Serving openly in military in Ireland is legal.

Current status
Since Jan 1, 2007
Legal
Section 1.5 of Ireland's Defence Forces's "Equality, Diversity, and Equal Status Policies" state that "the nine (9) grounds on which discrimination is prohibited are: Gender, marital status, family status, disability, sexual orientation, age, religion, race and membership of the Traveller community."
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Jan 1, 1993–Jan 1, 2007
N/A
From 1993 to 2007, there were no known cases of people getting discharged because they were LGBTQ, it was at a stand still. Until 2007 when a act was passed to make it fully legal for serving openly.
Sources:
web.archive.org/web/2004110…//www.worldlii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/1988/22.html
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Jan 1, 1861–Jan 1, 1993
Illegal
From roughly 1860s to 1993 it was illegal to serve in the military as a open gay male/ lesbian female due to 1861 act criminalizing homosexual relations of any kind, please see homosexual activity.
Sources:
web.archive.org/web/2004110…//www.worldlii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/1988/22.html
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Blood donations by MSMs in Ireland

?

Blood donations by MSMs in Ireland is legal.

Current status
Since Nov 28, 2022
Legal
Men who have sex with men will no longer have to wait four months before giving blood, as changes to who can donate blood come into effect today. Instead, individual assessments will now be made.
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Mar 28, 2022–Nov 28, 2022
Banned (less than 6-month deferral)
On March 28, 2022, the deferral period has been reduced to four months.
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Jan 15, 2017–Mar 28, 2022
Banned (1-year deferral)
Also applies to women who have had sex with a man who has ever had sex with another man.
Nov 7, 2011–Jan 14, 2017
Banned (indefinite deferral)
The Irish Blood Transfusion Service bans blood from men who have sex with men. Their policy states: "In order to assure the continued safety of the blood supply, we currently ask those people who may have a particularly high risk of carrying blood-borne viruses not to give blood. This includes men who have ever had sex with another man / men."
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Conversion therapy in Ireland

?

Conversion therapy in Ireland is not banned.

Current status
Not banned
Conversion therapy is currently not banned in Ireland.
Ireland has vowed to ban conversion therapy by 2024.

Equal age of consent in Ireland

?

Equal age of consent in Ireland is equal.

Current status
Since Jan 1, 1993
Equal
The age of consent in Ireland is 17 for heterosexual and homosexual sex. Section 2 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993 states: "Subject to sections 3 and 5 of this Act, any rule of law by virtue of which buggery between persons is an offence is hereby abolished."
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LGBT Rights by County

View the LGBT laws in each individual county of Ireland.