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1975 in LGBT Rights

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In 1975, there were 14 recorded legal changes made affecting LGBT people. In the previous year, there were 16 changes made and 16 in the following year. A total of 186 legal changes were made in the 1970s.

  • November 15
    Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    Upto 3 years
  • September 17
    Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    In 1975, South Australia became the first state or territory in Australia to legalize homosexuality.
  • August
    Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
    In 1975, the Virginia Code restricted marriage to different-sex couples, effectively banning same-sex marriage in the state.
  • 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    New Mexico repealed its laws banning homosexual activity in 1975; nearly 30 years before the Supreme Court's ruling in Lawrence v. Texas.
  • June 12
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    In 1975, Denmark’s Law on Castration and Sterilisation took effect in Greenland, allowing for legal gender recognition on the conditions of surgery and sterilisation.
  • April
    Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
    In April 1975, a bill was passed in Arizona restricting marriage to different-sex couples after a marriage license was granted to a same-sex one, revoking the license and banning same-sex marriage. A proposition to ban any recognition was attempted in 2006 but narrowly rejected until another was passed in 2008.
  • 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.
  • 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.
    Homosexuality was decriminalised in Timor-Leste in 1975 and was not recriminalised under the Indonesian occupation the next year.

LGBT Organizations Founded in 1975