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1975 in LGBT Rights

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In 1975, there were 15 recorded legal changes made affecting LGBT people. In the previous year, there were 17 changes made and 15 in the following year. A total of 216 legal changes were made in the 1970s.

  • November 25
    LGBT discrimination becomes no protections.
    No protections.
  • November 15
    Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    Upto 3 years
  • June 20
    Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    New Mexico repealed its laws banning homosexual activity in 1975; nearly 30 years before the Supreme Court's ruling in Lawrence v. Texas.
  • February 14
    Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
    The Cuban Constitution does not ban same sex marriage, but other statutory laws do prohibit it. Article 2 of the Family Code defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman - an amendment drafted in 2018 would have changed this but was rejected. Further consultation on changes to the Family Code are ongoing in 2022.
  • January 11
    Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
    The Marriage Law of 1975 states that marriage is defined as a contract between a man and a woman having equal rights and duties with the object of creating a family.
  • (date unknown)
    Gender-affirming care becomes restricted.
    In 1975, Iceland legalized sterilization, which de facto meant legalizing sex reassignment surgery, however, medical records regarding transsexualism had to be obtained abroad.
  • January 1
    Gender-affirming care becomes legal.
    France allows transition care for adults and minors. Minors can access puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, and in some cases, mastectomies. Genital surgeries are however reserved for adults.
  • (date unknown)
    Gender-affirming care becomes restricted.
    In 1991, Belgium legalized sterilization, which de facto meant legalizing sex reassignment surgery, however, medical records regarding transsexualism had to be obtained abroad.
  • Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    In 1975, the first sex reassignment surgery in Czechoslovakia and the associated change of legal gender took place in the clinic in Brno.
  • Censorship of LGBT issues becomes state-enforced.
    AL HB385 (2021), signed by Governor Kay Ivey in April of 2021, amended Section 16-40A-2, Code of Alabama 1975 to strike an emphasis in the state's public sex education that "in a factual manner and from a public health perspective, homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under the laws of the state." In 2003 the US Supreme Court under LAWRENCE V. TEXAS made unconstitutional state anti-sodomy laws. Regardless, teachers in Alabama still had to emphasize that homosexuality was illegal.
  • January 1
    Equal age of consent becomes equal.
  • (date unknown)
    Homosexual activity becomes ambiguous.
    Mozambique's penal code included a clause against against individuals "who habitually engage in vices against nature," however, there had been no known prosecutions under the clause.
  • January 1
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    A legal change of gender is obtained through the local registry office. This process includes obtaining a new birth certificate or a personal identification number (called a Birth Number) and has been possible since 1975.
  • (date unknown)
    Homosexual activity becomes legal.
  • January 1
    Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    The Age of consent in Kentucky is 16 years old.

LGBT Organizations Founded in 1975