LGBTQ rights in Queensland | |
---|---|
Status | Always legal for women; legal since 1991 for men
|
Gender identity | Change of sex marker on birth certificate does not require sex reassignment surgery since 2024[1] |
Discrimination protections | Yes (state law since 2002; under federal law since 2013) |
Family rights | |
Recognition of relationships | State law: De facto relationships since 2002; Civil partnerships since 2012[N 1]
|
Adoption | Full LGBT adoption rights since 2016 |
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Queensland have advanced significantly from the late 20th century onwards, in line with progress on LGBT rights in Australia nationally. 2019 polling on gay rights consistently showed that even in regional areas, Queensland is no more conservative about the subject than any other states.[2]
Private consensual sex between men has been legal in the state since 1991, with lesbian sexual acts never criminalised.[3] The age of consent was equalised to 16 years for all sexual acts in 2016.[4] Sexuality and gender identity are protected attributes under both state and federal anti-discrimination laws. Same-sex couples may marry under Australian law, enter into a civil partnership under state law or live together in an unregistered de facto relationship. Same-sex couples may become parents through adoption, foster care, altruistic surrogacy and, for lesbian couples, IVF. In 2020, Queensland became the first jurisdiction within Australia to pass a law banning conversion therapy, with a maximum penalty of 18 months imprisonment and fines.[5][6][7] State anti-discrimination protections for sexuality and gender identity were introduced in 2002 and in 2017 the gay panic defence was abolished from the criminal law.[8] Transgender and intersex Queenslanders are able to update their government records and birth certificate,[9] with the formal repeal of both the "divorce requirements" in 2018 and then the "surgery requirements" in 2024.[10]
LGBT rights have been politically polarised: the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party supported the decriminalisation of homosexual sex and anti-discrimination protections as early as 1981 and have introduced various legal reforms when in power, while the socially conservative Liberal National Party of Queensland and its predecessor the National Party has traditionally been more hostile.[11] Queensland has historically been Australia's most conservative state, concentrated in the decentralised regional/rural areas to the north and west of the metropolitan south-east corner,[12] but the impact of social conservatism on Queensland politics and laws has declined significantly in the 21st century.[13][2] The highest proportion of Queensland same-sex couples are concentrated in Brisbane's inner-city suburbs, with the top three being New Farm, Fortitude Valley and Teneriffe.[14]
Same-sex marriage has been legal in the state since December 2017, after passage of the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017 in the Australian Parliament. The 2017 Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, designed to gauge public support for same-sex marriage in Australia, returned a 60.7% "Yes" response in Queensland. The Brisbane and Griffith electorates returned the sixth and eighth highest percentages of ‘Yes’ votes in Australia out of 150 electorates.[15]
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