In 1850, there were 1 recorded legal change made affecting LGBT people. In the previous year, there were 1 change made and 1 in the following year. A total of 12 legal changes were made in the 1850s.
- AprilHomosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).A few months before statehood, California enacted a penal code criminalising sodomy. Although it would likely be invalidated because the law refers to California as "the state of", prosecutions still occurred under the law, and it was enacted into the law again in 1872.
