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1940 in LGBT Rights

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In 1940, there were 11 recorded legal changes made affecting LGBT people. In the previous year, there were 1 change made and 2 in the following year. A total of 50 legal changes were made in the 1940s.

  • December 7
    Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    According with the Brazilian Penal Code of 1940, the age of consent about sexual intercourse between two or more people is the same for heterosexual and homosexual couples, 14 years old for the participants.
  • August 10
    Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    The Icelandic parliament decriminalizes homosexuality; removing the provision of the law that made homosexuality illegal.
  • May 28
    Homosexual activity becomes illegal (death penalty as punishment).
    Belgium was under German occupation during World War II and thus Paragraph 175 was in effect.
  • May 15
    Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    During the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II homosexuality was criminalized by Paragraph 175.
  • January 30
    Censorship of LGBT issues becomes state-enforced.
    While no law specifically prohibits consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults, individuals engaging in public displays of consensual same-sex sexual conduct, such as kissing, were sometimes subject to prosecution under public indecency provisions in the 1940 Penal Code, which were rarely applied to opposite-sex couples. A local NGO reported authorities rarely took steps to investigate, prosecute, or punish officials who committed abuses against LGBTQI+ persons, whether in the security forces or elsewhere in the government. Identifying as LGBTQI+ remained a cultural taboo. LGBTQI+ individuals were subjected to harassment, stigmatization, and violence, including "corrective" rape. Some religious leaders, radio broadcasts, and political organizations played a key role in supporting discrimination against LGBTQI+ individuals.
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    Homosexuality is legal in the DRC.
  • (date unknown)
    Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female legal.
    Lithuania was absorbed by the USSR in 1940. Criminalization of sodomy already existed under number 154-a by imprisonment of 3 to 5 years in the Soviet Criminal Code.
  • January 1
    Homosexual activity becomes male illegal, female legal.
    Same-sex sexual activity between males in Soviet Estonia was illegal and punishable under paragraph 118 of the penal code
  • (date unknown)
    Gender-affirming care becomes restricted.
    In 1926, the Soviet Union's Ministry of Internal Affairs legalized sex reassignment surgery. Estonia would be incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940.
  • Gender-affirming care becomes restricted.
    In 1926, the Soviet Union's Ministry of Internal Affairs legalized sex reassignment surgery. Latvia would be incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940.
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    Homosexuality has been legal in the Republic of the Congo since 1940.