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1995 in LGBT Rights

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In 1995, there were 23 recorded legal changes made affecting LGBT people. In the previous year, there were 35 changes made and 120 in the following year. A total of 499 legal changes were made in the 1990s.

  • November 23
    LGBT employment discrimination becomes sexual orientation only.
    Ley Orgánica núm. 10/1995, de 23 de noviembre, del Código Penal.
  • LGBT discrimination becomes illegal in some contexts.
    Art. 22.4 criminal code. In the current penal code is considered an aggravating.
  • Equal age of consent becomes equal.
    Actually the criminal code in Spain is under review in order to increase the age of consent.
  • November 14
    Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    There are no law specifically preventing homosexual
  • November 2
    Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment).
    The Sexual Offences Act of 1995 criminalises "buggery" with fifteen years imprisonment in Antigua and Barbuda. Lesbianism is also criminalised under "serious indecency".
  • September 22
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires medical diagnosis.
    Gender marker change requires initiating a court procedure in which the applicant must file an “assessment suit”, manufacturing proceedings between the applicant and their family. This procedure is very subjective and can result in summary dismissal of the applicant’s suit. Conditions can include a “real-life test”, requiring the applicant to have expressed their gender identity publicly for two years (often without any medical intervention) and medical testing, both psychological and physical. This procedure is based on the Supreme Court decision of 22 March 1991 which interprets the sense of belonging to a gender as “a personal good”, per Article 23 of the Civil Code (1964), meaning that a suit can be brought on this basis under Article 189 of the Code. Another Supreme Court judgment of 22 September 1995 established that parents or guardians of the applicant are the defendants in the lawsuit taken. Reports produced by Transfuzja showed that a diagnosis of “transsexualism” can be obtained through a series of tests and examinations, both psychological and physical, including head x-rays, genitalia examination and karyotype check. As there are no unified standards to diagnose a person of “transsexualism” in Poland, healthcare providers “recommend” a two-year “real life” test, during which the applicant is required to live full-time as their preferred gender, but they are not prescribed any hormonal treatment and they are still unable to change their legal status. While it is possible to receive hormonal treatment without a diagnosis, this practice can complicate legal gender recognition court procedures. In the resolution of the Court Supreme Court (ref. no. III CZP 100/77), the court found admissible gender change without surgery. In the same judgment, the court decided that it was possible to rectify the birth certificate.
  • July 29
    Censorship of LGBT issues becomes state-enforced.
    In 1995, North Carolina passed a health education law that explicitly promoted a "mutually faithful monogamous heterosexual relationship" as the best way to prevent transmission of HIV/AIDS. The homophobic language was repealed in 2006.
  • June 1
    Equal age of consent becomes unequal.
    The age of consent was 18 years for homosexual intercourse and 13 years for heterosexual intercourse (for girls).
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    The Penal Code passed on January 27, 1995 decriminalized consensual homosexual intercourse. Article 116 - the crime of "homosexuality" which punished homosexual intercourse when conducted forcefully, with minor people, or with persons unable to protect themselves has been completely repealed by amending the law from 2001.
  • May 24
    Same-sex adoption becomes legal.
    In May of 1995, an Ontario court ruled that restricting same-sex couples from adopting was discriminatory and therefore against the law.
  • May 19
    Gender-affirming care becomes legal.
    In Portugal, there are no major or excessive restrictions on the ability of transgender people to transition medically.
  • March 31
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    The Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Registration Act of 1995 provided for legal gender recognition but until 2008, it required surgery.
  • January 5
    Censorship of LGBT issues becomes state-enforced.
    There are no restrictions on LGBT content, but the authorities of Djibouti prosecute the public display of same-sex sexual conduct under laws prohibiting attacks on “good morals" under Sections 353 and 354 of Djibouti's Penal Code in 1995.
  • (date unknown)
    Serving openly in military becomes n/a.
    Owing to a history of military influence in politics and several coups, Haiti abolished its military in 1995. However, it would be restored in 2017.
  • January 1
    Same-sex marriage becomes civil unions (marriage rights).
    Sweden became the second country of the world after Denmark to recognize gay couples with registered partnerships, these partnerships were equal to marriage. However registered partners were not allowed to adopt before 2003.
  • LGBT employment discrimination becomes no protections.
    Article 141 of Slovenian Penal Code adopted on September 29, 1994, prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. However, employment is not strictly mentioned.
  • (date unknown)
    Same-sex adoption becomes legal.
    Single and joint adoption are permitted per N.J. Stat. §9:3-43. Second-parent adoption is permitted via case law in H.N.R, 666 A.2d 535 (N.J.Super, 1995)
  • Same-sex adoption becomes illegal.
    The 1995 Administrative Memorandum of the Nebraska Division of Children and Family Services introduced a ban on fostering and adoption by individuals identifying as "homosexual" as well as unmarried individuals.
  • January 1
    LGBT housing discrimination becomes no protections.
    Article 141 of Slovenian Penal Code adopted on September 29, 1994, prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. Housing is not strictly mentioned.
  • (date unknown)
    LGBT discrimination becomes illegal.
    Equal Opportunity Act commenced in 1995, recent amendment 21 December 2010; religious exemptions apply
  • Homosexual activity becomes legal.
    Homosexuality is not illegal in Moldova.
  • January 1
    LGBT discrimination becomes illegal in some contexts.
    Article 141 of Slovenian Penal Code adopted on September 29, 1994, strictly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. This protection applies to any of the human rights or fundamental freedoms recognized by the international community or determined by the constitution or laws of Slovenia.
  • (date unknown)
    Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.
    Arkansas will amend after receipt of a court order verifying that they have undergone sex-reassignment surgery and that their names have been changed.

LGBT Organizations Founded in 1995