In 2012, there were 84 recorded legal changes made affecting LGBT people. In the previous year, there were 61 changes made and 138 in the following year. A total of 1293 legal changes were made in the 2010s.
- December 29Same-sex marriage becomes legal.
- December 25Blood donations by MSMs becomes legal.NOM 253 removes targeted restrictions on blood donations from gay and bisexual men. Instead, it prohibits donations from individuals with HIV or hepatitis, their partners, and those who participate in "high-risk sexual practices," irrespective of their sexual orientation.
- December 14Right to change legal gender becomes legal, but requires surgery.Transgender people are allowed to change their gender, however surgery is required.
- December 10Conversion therapy becomes sexual orientation only.The document of the Turkmenistan State Publishing Service in the field of medicine and health from 2012 recognizes Transsexualism as a medical problem under consideration in Turkmenistan, taking into account medical procedures based on the ICD (1981, 1999). Due to the functioning of exclusively state health care, the guidelines must be followed by all doctors.
- December 6Same-sex marriage becomes legal.SB 6239 - 2011-12 amended RCW 26.04.010 to legalize same-sex marriage by replacing gendered terms with gender-neutral language. The law, meant to take effect on June 7, 2012, was delayed by Referendum 74 which put the issue to voters who affirmed the legislation. The law went into effect on December 6, 2012. Same-sex marriage was further protected by the US Supreme Court in OBERGEFELL v. HODGES on June 26, 2015, under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. The 117th US Congress legislated additional protections in H.R.8404, the Respect for Marriage Act, on December 13, 2022, mandating all states recognize any public act, record, or judicial proceeding pertaining to marriage in any other state; enforceable by the Attorney General and subject to injunctive and declaratory relief.
- December 1Legal recognition of non-binary gender becomes recognized.New Zealand allows an "X" marker on birth certificates and passports.
- November 28Same-sex marriage becomes unregistered cohabitation.The Supreme Court adopted a resolution on the interpretation of Art. 691 k.c. in which it ruled: “A person actually cohabiting with the tenant (within the meaning of Article 691 § 1 of the Civil Code) is a person connected with the tenant by emotional, physical and economic bonds; also a person of the same sex."
- November 5
- October 12
- September 29Conversion therapy becomes banned.Note that this only applies to youth (under 18 years olds)
- July 31LGBT employment discrimination becomes sexual orientation and gender identity.Article 1 of Law No. 2001-1066 (2001) amended Article 122-45 of the Labour Code to afford explicit protection from discrimination based on "sexual orientation" in employment. It also amended Article 225-2 of the Penal Code (1994) to criminalise acts of discrimination in employment based on "sexual orientation", specifically when the discriminatory action consisted a refusal to hire, admonishment or dismissal based on "sexual orientation" (at 225-2.3), making an offer of employment, internship request, or training (at 225- 2.5), or refusal to accept a person for an internship (at 225-2.6) on such grounds. In 2008, Article 122-45 was replaced by Article L1132-1 in the Labour Code (2008), which was located under the Chapter establishing the principle of non-discrimination, keeping the explicit protection based on "sexual orientation" in employment. This provision replaced article L122-45. In 2013, Article 1 of the Law Opening Marriage to Same-Sex Couples (Law No. 2013-404) (2013) inserted Art. 1132-3-2 to the Labour Code establishing that no employee may be sanctioned, dismissed or be the subject of a discriminatory measure referred to in Article L1132-1 (cited above) for “having refused, because of their "sexual orientation", a geographical transfer to a State criminalising homosexuality”. Note : prior to the enactment of Law No. 2001-1066 (2001), French law did not include any reference to the term “sexual orientation”. However, it has been argued that there has been some form protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation, first in criminal matters since 1985, under Law No. 85-772 (1985), and then in labour law under Law No. 86-76 (1986) and then under Law No. 92-1446 (1992). These laws did not speak to “sexual orientation”: the term chosen was that of “mœurs” (French equivalent for “manners”. Articles 225-1 and 225-2 of the Penal Code (1994), as amended by Law on Sexual Harassment (Law No. 2012-954) (2012), banned discrimination based on "sexual identity". Moreover, Article L1132-1 in the Labour Code, as amended also by Law No. 2012-954 (2012), explicitly bans discrimination based on "sexual identity" in employment. Since the adoption of the Law on modernisation of the justice of the 21th Century (Law No. 2016-1547) (2016), the terminology has been changed to "gender identity" in both texts.
- July 24
- Serving openly in military becomes legal.
- July 12LGBT housing discrimination becomes sexual orientation and gender identity.The anti-discrimnation law penalizes the arbitrary discrimination and includes protection for discrimination of sexual orientation and gender identity
- LGBT employment discrimination becomes sexual orientation and gender identity.
- July 1
- June 15
- June 12
- May 24Right to change legal gender becomes legal, no restrictions.People have a right to change their legal gender without approval from a doctor or a judge. Sex reassignment surgery and hormonal treatments are not required, but they are provided by the state for free to anyone who requests them. Several people had had their legal gender changed before the Gender Identity Law through court decisions, including popular actress, TV host and trans woman Flor de la V.
- May 8Same-sex marriage becomes banned.
- May 3Same-sex marriage becomes legal.Same-Sex Marriage became legal in Quintana Roo on May 12, 2012 after the Secretary of State announced to legalize Same-Sex Marriage
- April 30
- LGBT discrimination becomes illegal in some contexts.Sexual orientation is protected in various realms in Venezuela, including employment, banking, prohibition of incitement and housing. Comprehensive LGBT protections have been proposed in constitutional reforms or legislation several times but faced opposition on each attempt. Laws for LGBT protections have come and gone in the legislatures for at least two decades and progress has languished. In 2023, the national assembly approved the Draft Organic Law against all Types of Discrimination to the second stage of the legislative process and is undergoing a public consultation process.
- April 27
- April 23LGBT employment discrimination becomes sexual orientation and gender identity.Illegal in all contexte
- April 20LGBT employment discrimination becomes n/a.
- LGBT discrimination becomes illegal in some contexts.According to ILGA is illegal referring to SO GI GE Except for "Prohibition of incitement to violence, hatred or discrimination" Which is only illegal for SO GI
- April 11
- April 9Same-sex adoption becomes ambiguous.There is no specific exclusion for same-sex couples. It is legal, however, to deny adoption based on religious grounds.
- March 26Blood donations by MSMs becomes legal.
- March 9
- March 1LGBT housing discrimination becomes ambiguous.Various by city. Pending state wide.
- LGBT housing discrimination becomes sexual orientation only.Only city discrimination protections. As well as state housing discrimination protection for sexual orientation only.
- LGBT housing discrimination becomes ambiguous.In the city of New Orleans and Shreveport. As well as Full State discrimination protections under the current governor. Pending statewide.
- February 12Blood donations by MSMs becomes legal.According to the Grenadian Blood Bank.
- January 11LGBT employment discrimination becomes sexual orientation only.Since 2003, the Federal Law to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination has defined in Article 9, sections III and IV, the following as acts of negative discrimination: • Prohibiting the free choice of employment or restricting opportunities for access, retention, and promotion within it. • Creating differences in wages, benefits, and working conditions for equal work. This is directly related to sexual orientation, as the former Article 4 of this law (renumbered as Article 1, section III after the 2022 reform) explicitly includes it as a basis for potential discrimination. Subsequently, in 2014, section V was added to the same Article 9, stating that creating differences in wages, benefits, and working conditions for equal work is also considered another act of negative discrimination. In 2012, Article 2 of the Mexican Federal Labour Law was amended to explicitly include sexual orientation in the list of factors for which employers, both public and private, must not discriminate against their workers. This reform aimed to foster dignified working environments that uphold human dignity. Similarly, Article 3 was also revised to state that work is a right and a social responsibility; it is not a commodity. Therefore, no discriminatory practices based on workers' sexual orientation may be allowed. Likewise, since then, Article 56 has stipulated that working conditions may never be less favourable than those established by the Law and must be proportional to the importance of the services provided and equal for equal work, with no differences or exclusions based on sexual orientation.
- January 6Same-sex marriage becomes civil unions (marriage rights).
- January 1Same-sex adoption becomes married couples only.Jersey allowed same sex couples to adopt if they had a civil partnership
- Same-sex marriage becomes civil unions (marriage rights).Delaware legalized civil unions at the start of 2012
- LGBT employment discrimination becomes no protections.No protections against discrimination in employment
- (date unknown)
- Blood donations by MSMs becomes legal.MSMs are allowed to donate blood following the same criteria as any other donor.
- January 1Same-sex marriage becomes civil unions (marriage rights).
- LGBT housing discrimination becomes ambiguous.Cities and under the ruling of Section VII sex discrimination contains sexual orientation and gender identity. sexual orientation under hate crime law.
- (date unknown)Serving openly in military becomes lesbians, gays, bisexuals permitted, transgender people banned.LGB people can serve in the military openly, Transgenders Can’t
- January 1Serving openly in military becomes ambiguous.No laws restricting or allowing MSM to donate blood.
- Right to change legal gender becomes legal, no restrictions.
- Right to change legal gender becomes legal, no restrictions.
- Right to change legal gender becomes legal, no restrictions.
- Right to change legal gender becomes legal, no restrictions.
- Same-sex marriage becomes legal.
- (date unknown)LGBT employment discrimination becomes sexual orientation and gender identity.State law provides for protections against employment discrimination in regards to both sexual orientation and gender identification.
- January 1Blood donations by MSMs becomes varies by region.Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska do not discriminate towards MSMs while Brčko District still does.
- (date unknown)Homosexual activity becomes legal.A new Penal Code was adopted in 2012 removing previous punishments.
- Same-sex adoption becomes ambiguous.Cambodia no longer bans gay foreign couples from adopting. It is unclear if gay and lesbian Cambodian citizens can adopt.
- Same-sex marriage becomes civil unions (marriage rights).The legislation allowed religious organisations to opt in to marry same-sex couples should they wish to do so and protected religious organisations and their representatives from successful legal challenge if they did not wish to marry same-sex couples.
LGBT Organizations Founded in 2012
TransMan Pilipinas
TransMan Piilipinas is a group for transgender men in the Philippines. It is a safe place to express yourself, opinion and experiences regarding your transition/pre…LGBT Jordan
Informal LGBT group advocate for LGBT rights in Jordan.NELFA Network of European LGBTIQ* Families Associations
NELFA is the European platform of LGBTIQ* families associations, bringing together LGBTI parents and parents-to-be from all over Europe. NELFA currently represents 29…Proud To Be Us Laos
Proud To Be Us Laos is the country's first LGBTQ organization. Their main goals are: 1. Support people with sexual and gender diversity (LGBTIQ) to participate in national…Jeunailissime is an LGBTIQ + association of young Congolese and Congolese who works on social inclusion.Milchjugend - falschsexuelle Welten
Swiss youth organization found in 2012 in order to publish a youth magazine "Milchjugend" for young LGBTQIA+ people (16-25 y/o). Since then Milchjugend has grown and organizes…Rainbow Families Greece
Rainbow Families Greece is an NGO focusing on LGBTQI+ parents and their families as well as on parents of LGBTQI+ children.Trans-Kinder-Netz e.V.
The Trans-Kinder-Netz e.V. or TRAKINE e.V. (Trans Children’s Network) is a non-profit organization that provides support and resources for transgender children and their…LGBTI United
Works to strengthen the LGBT+ community, promote awareness of human rights and freedoms, as well as sexual and gender diversity.Queer Montenegro
Building a broad Montenegrin LGBT movement that will actively and permanently fight for the protection of human rights, the suppression of homophobia and transphobia, the…