LGBTQ rights in the United Kingdom | |
|---|---|
 Location of the United Kingdom | |
| Status | Homosexuality always legal for women; decriminalised for men in: 1967 (England and Wales) 1981 (Scotland) 1982 (Northern Ireland) Age of consent equalised in 2001 |
| Gender identity | Ability to apply to change legal gender since 2005 |
| Military | Allowed to serve openly since 2000 |
| Discrimination protections | Sexual orientation and gender identity protections since 2010 |
| Family rights | |
| Recognition of relationships | Same-sex marriage since 2014 (England and Wales; Scotland) Same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland since 2020[1] Civil partnerships since 2005 (nationwide) |
| Adoption | Full adoption rights since 2005 (England and Wales) 2009 (Scotland) 2013 (Northern Ireland) |
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The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have developed significantly over time.[2] Today, lesbian, gay and bisexual rights are considered to be advanced by international standards.[3][4]
Prior to the formal introduction of Christianity in Britain in 597 AD, when Augustine of Canterbury arrived in Britain, the citizens might have been able to practice homosexuality through the Celtic, Roman and Anglo Saxon periods, though evidence is lacking: for example there are no surviving Celtic written records.[5][6][7] Post 597 AD, Christianity and homosexuality began to clash. Same-sex male sexual activity was characterised as "sinful" but not illegal. Under the Buggery Act 1533 male anal sex was outlawed and made punishable by death. LGBT rights first came to prominence following the decriminalisation of sexual activity between men, in 1967 in England and Wales, and later in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sexual activity between women was never subject to the same legal restriction.
Since the turn of the 21st century, LGBTQ rights have increasingly strengthened in support. Some discrimination protections have been in place for LGBT people since 1999, but they were then extended to all areas under the Equality Act 2010. A ban on LGBT individuals serving openly in the armed forces was officially lifted in 2016, though a policy of non-enforcement had been in place since 2000.[8] The age of consent was equalised at 16,[a] regardless of sexual orientation, in 2001. Having been introduced in the 1980s, Section 28, which prohibited the "promotion of homosexuality" by schools and local authorities, was repealed in 2003. Transgender people have had the ability to apply to change their legal gender since 2005. The same year, same-sex couples were granted the right to enter into a civil partnership, a similar legal structure to marriage, and also to adopt in England and Wales. Scotland later followed on adoption rights for same-sex couples in 2009, and Northern Ireland in 2013. Same-sex marriage was legalised in England and Wales, and Scotland in 2014,[9] and in Northern Ireland in 2020.[10][11]
In ILGA-Europe's 2015 review of LGBTI rights, the UK received the highest score in Europe, with 86% progress toward "respect of human rights and full equality" for LGBT people and 92% in Scotland alone.[12] However, by 2020, the UK had dropped to ninth place in the ILGA-Europe rankings with a score of 66% and the executive also expressed concern about a "hostile climate on trans rights fuelled by opposition groups".[13] By 2023, the UK's ranking had fallen further to 17th place, with a score of 53%, falling behind Ireland, Germany and Greece.[14][15] Anti-trans rhetoric has been described as "rife" in the UK media landscape.[16][17][18][19] Meanwhile, 86% of the UK agreed that homosexuality should be accepted by society, according to a 2019 Pew Research Center poll,[20] and a 2017 poll showed that 77% of British people support same-sex marriage.[21]
The 2021 census found that 3.2% of people in England and Wales identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or other, and 262,000 people identified as transgender.[22] However, YouGov and Stonewall have argued that polling and census results are likely influenced by under-reporting, and estimate that the actual figure is between 5 and 7%.[23][24] LGBT rights organisations and very large LGBT communities have been built across the UK, most notably in Brighton, which is widely regarded as the UK's unofficial "gay capital", with other large communities in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle upon Tyne, Edinburgh, Belfast and Southampton which all have gay villages and host annual pride festivals.
- ^ "Law liberalising abortion and same-sex marriage in NI passes final stage". The Irish Times. 23 July 2019.
- ^ Day, Aaron; Mitchell, Hilary (24 March 2024). "The long, fascinating, hard-fought history of the journey to marriage equality in the UK". PinkNews. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
- ^ "LGBT Equality Index: The Most LGBT-Friendly Countries in the World". Equaldex. 2023. Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
- ^ "The 203 Worst (& Safest) Countries for LGBTQ+ Travel in 2023". Asher & Lyric. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
- ^ Macculloch, J. A. (3 June 2014). Religion Of The Ancient Celts. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315828220. ISBN 9781315828220.
- ^ Manwell, Elizabeth (2007), "Gender and Masculinity", A Companion to Catullus, Malden, MA, US: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, pp. 111–128, doi:10.1002/9780470751565.ch7, ISBN 9780470751565, retrieved 12 September 2021
- ^ PETER., ACKROYD (2019). QUEER CITY : gay london from the romans to the present day. HARRY N ABRAMS. ISBN 978-1-4197-3514-1. OCLC 1048940054.
- ^ "Armed Forces Act 2016". Government of the United Kingdom.
- ^ "Government announces date of first same-sex marriages in England and Wales". Pink News. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
- ^ "Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- ^ "The Marriage (Same-sex Couples) and Civil Partnership (Opposite-sex Couples) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2019". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- ^ "Scotland tops league for gay rights". The Guardian. 10 May 2015.
- ^ "ILGA-Europe Rainbow Map Points To Make-or-Break Moment for LGBTI Rights in Europe | ILGA-Europe". www.ilga-europe.org. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
- ^ Manning, Charlotte (11 May 2023). "UK falls 3 places in Europe LGBTQ+ rights rankings". Attitude. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- ^ "United Kingdom - Rainbow Europe". Rainbow Europe. ILGA-Europe. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- ^ Snow, Michelle (15 February 2021). "How did Britain become 'TERF island'? A brief history of government lies, media profit and trans suffering". Pink News. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ John, Tara (9 October 2021). "Anti-trans rhetoric is rife in the British media. Little is being done to extinguish the flames". CNN. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ Madrigal-Borloz, Victor (5 May 2023). "United Nations Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity - Country visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (24 April – 5 May 2023)" (PDF). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
- ^ "Combating rising hate against LGBTI people in Europe" (PDF). Council of Europe Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination. 21 September 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
- ^ "The Global Divide on Homosexuality Persists". Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project. 25 June 2020.
- ^ "Eastern and Western Europeans Differ on Importance of Religion, Views of Minorities, and Key Social Issues" (PDF). Pew Research Center. 29 October 2018. p. 12. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- ^ "Three percent in England and Wales identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual -census". Reuters. 6 January 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
- ^ Chalabi, Mona (3 October 2013). "Gay Britain: what do the statistics say?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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