Chronography of Homosexuality
Page last
modified 24 November 2023
General
17 May 2019,
Taiwan became the first country in Asia
to legalise same-sex marriage. At
this time Israel
recognised gay marriages conducted elsewhere but they could not be performed in
Israel. Homosexuality could be punished by death in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The taboos against homosexuality were slowly vanishing in Vietnam and Nepal. In
Africa,� South Africa
was the only African country where same
sex marriage was legal. In Suda, Somalia and Mauretania, gay people faced
the death penalty. A small number of African countries, including Congo (DR),
Cote d�Ivoire, Gabon, Mali and Mozambique, did not have laws against homosexuality.
7 March 2012,
The UN presented its report on violations of the human rights of gay people
worldwide. Representatives of several African and Arab States walked out.
Angola
1/2019, Angola removed a ban on
same-sex relationships.
Australia
7 December 2017,
The Australian Parliament legalised same-sex marriage, a month after a
referendum showed strong support for the move.
11/2016, A planned referendum on
whether same sex marriage should be allowed in Australia was blocked by the
upper house of Parliament.
2 March 2002,
The 24th Sydney Gay and
Lesbian Mardi Gras was held in Australia.
3 March 2001,
The 23rd Sydney Gay and
Lesbian Mardi Gras was held in Australia.
1 May 1997. Tasmania became
the last Australian
State to decriminalise homosexuality.
8 June 1984, The State
of New South
Wales, Australia, decriminalised homosexuality after six years of
public protest.
Bahamas
1991, The Bahamas legalised gay sex.
Belgium
31 January 2003, Belgium
legally recognised same-sex marriages,
under legislation to come into force 1 June 2003.
Belize
2016, Belize removed a ban on
same-sex relationships.
Botswana
6/2019, Judges in Botswana ruled
that laws criminalisng same-sex relationsbips were unconstitutional and should
be struck down.
British
Virgin Islands
2001, The British Virgin Islands legalised
gay sex.
Canada
20 July 2005,
Canada�s Civil Marriage Act, legalising same-sex marriages, received Royal
Assent.
China
1997, China abolished criminal penalties for
homosexual acts.
15/8/1 BC, Death of Emperor Ai
of China.
Famously, he cut off the sleeve of his robe rather than awaken his male lover;
hence the Chinese expression �cut-sleeve-love�.
Cuba
1979, Cuba legalised gay sex.
Denmark
26 May 1989,
Denmark
became the first country to legalise same-sex marriages.
Estonia
10/2014, Estonia
became the first former Soviet republic to legalise Civil
partnerships.
Germany
6/1935, In Nazi Germany, penalties for
homosexuality were toughened. All such acts became punishable by imprisonment
with a possible extra ten years for any aggravating circumstances, for example
corruption of the young, or prostitution.
1897, The first organisation to promote
homosexual rights was set up, in Germany. It lasted until the rise of Nazism in
the 1930s.
Greece
590 BC, The female Greek poet Sappho
was writing about love on the Greek island of Lesbos.
Haiti
1804, Haiti became an independent
state; it has never had laws against gay sex.
Hong
Kong
24/8/2005,� A Hong Kong Judge, Michael Hartmann, ruled that
sodomy laws were unconstitutional.
India
9/2018, India
legalised gay sex.
Ireland
23 May 2015, Ireland
voted by a margin of 2:1 to legalise gay
marriage. The result, 1,201,607 YES votes against 734,300 NO, was
remarkable in a strongly Catholic country. The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr
Diarmuid Martin, said the Church may have become disconnected with young
people, and ruled out gay marriages in Catholic churches.
24 June 1993, Ireland legalised gay sex with an equal
age of consent as for homosexuals, 17.
Japan
28/8/1994, Tokyo
hosted Japan�s first gay pride parade.
Kenya
5/2019, Judges in Kenya refused to outlaw rules against same
sex marriages.
Lesotho
2012, Lesotho removed a ban on
same-sex relationships.
Mexico
2009, Mexico
legalised same-sex marriages. Civil unions between same-sex couples had been
legalised there in 2007.
Mozambique
2014, Mozambique removed a ban
on same-sex relationships.
Nauru
2016, Nauru removed a ban on
same-sex relationships.
Netherlands
1 April 2001,
In The Netherlands, same-sex marriages were made legal.�
This was the first time such marriages had been legal there since the
time of Nero.
New Zealand
17 April 2013,
Same sex marriage was legalised in New Zealand.
Palau
2014, Palau removed a ban on
same-sex relationships.
Russia (USSR)
14 July
2023, The Russian Duma (lower House of
Parliament() unanimously voted to ban gender reassignment surgery. The move
will become law once oit is signbed by President Putin and approved by the
Senate (Upper House)
17 August 2012, Moscow
banned any Gay Pride events for the next 100 years.
March 1934, A decree was issued in the USSR
requiring all the Republics to enact laws criminalising homosexual acts between
males. The original 1926 penal code of post-Revolutionary Russia had made no
mention of homosexuality. As a �social crime� along with banditry, espionage,
sabotage, and counter-Revolutionary activity, homosexuality was now punishable
by 3 � 5 years imprisonment.
Sao Tome & Principe
2012, Sao Tome & Principe
removed a ban on same-sex relationships.
Seychelles
2016, The Seychelles removed a ban on same-sex
relationships.
Singapore
28 February
2022, Singapore maintained an ambiguous position on gay rights when, this
day, its Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by three gay rights activists against
the constitutionality pf section 377a of the penal code, a colonial-era law
that criminalises sex between men, punishable by up to 2 years prison. The
Judges avoided the issue of constitutionality by stating that the Court had to
take into account the stance of the Government. In 2007 the Singaporean
Parliament had debated section 377a and the Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong,
said that this law �would not be proactoively enforced�. This leaves open the
possibility that it could again be enforced, if Government chose to. Meanwhile
the Courtt srgued� that 377a did not
violate anybody�s constitutional rights if it was not being enforced. In 2018
the Singapore Attorney-General said it was not in the public interest to
prosecute private homosexual acts.
South Africa
1 December 2005,
South Africa became the fifth country in the world to recognise same-sex marriages.
Spain
30 June 2005,
Spain joined Belgium and The Netherlands in permitting same-sex marriages.
Sweden
19 December
1994, Civil unions
between homosexuals were made legal in Sweden.
Taiwan
17 May 2019,
Taiwan became the first country in Asia
to legalise same-sex marriage. At
this time Israel
recognised gay marriages conducted elsewhere but they could not be performed in
Israel. Homosexuality could be punished by death in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The taboos against homosexuality were slowly vanishing in Vietnam and Nepal. In
Africa,� South Africa
was the only African country where same
sex marriage was legal. In Suda, Somalia and Mauretania, gay people faced
the death penalty. A small number of African countries, including Congo (DR),
Cote d�Ivoire, Gabon, Mali and Mozambique, did not have laws against homosexuality.
2/8/1958, Chi Chia-wei,
Taiwanese gay rights activist, was born in Taiwan
Trinidad and Tobago
4/2018, Trinidad and Tobago
removed a ban on same-sex relationships.
Uganda
20 December
2013, Uganda passed the
Anti-Homosexuality Act, criminalising homosexual activities, some of which were
now punishable by life imprisonment. The Act was supported by some evangelical
Christian groups.
UK
29 March 2014,
Same-sex marriages became legal in England and
Wales.
2013, 2% of British Catholics believed homosexuality was
wrong, compared to 68% in 1983. However in 2013 52% of British Muslims said
homosexuality was wrong.
24 December
2013, Alan Turing, the mathematician who broke the
Nazi codes during World War Two but who was convicted of gross
indecency for a homosexual act with a man in 1952,� was posthumously
pardoned by Queen
Elizabeth II. He was given chemical castration but his criminal
record meant he could no longer work for GCHQ and he committed suicide by
cyanide poisoning in 1954, aged 41. Prominent figures including Stephen Hawking
and Peter
Tatchell had been campaigning for a pardon for several years.
1/2007, In the UK, the House of
Lords upheld legislation banning discrimination against homosexuals.
5 December 2005,
In the UK, the Civil Partnership Act
came into force; this gave same sex partnerships the same legal status as
heterosexual marriages.
18 November
2004, In the UK, the Civil Partnership Bill, allowing registered unions for same-sex couples,
received Royal Assent.
11 July
2002, The European Court of Human Rights
in Strasbourg ruled that Christine Goody could legally marry a man,
despite being born a man herself. The ruling would� create further recognition and rights for the
UK�s estimated 5,000 transsexuals.
8 January 2001,
In the UK the House of Commons overruled the House of Lords, which had blocked
an equalisation of the Age of Consent for homosexuals with heterosexuals.
Homosexual sex had been illegal in the UK until 1967 when the Sexual Offences
Act made it legal for people aged 21 and above. This age was lowered to 18 in
1994, and to 16 in 2001, under a policy commitment by Tony Blair�s New Labour
Government.
2000, It was no
longer illegal to be homosexual in the British Army.
21 February
1994, In Britain, Parliament voted to lower the age of
consent for homosexuals from 21 to 18.
19 January 1994, Jane Brown,
headmistress of a school in Hackney, London, barred pupils from seeing Romeo and Juliet
because it was �too heterosexual�.
24 May 1988, In the
UK, the controversial Section 28 of
the Local Government Act 1988 was
passed. This made the promotion of
homosexuality by local authorities, for example by teaching its acceptability
in schools, illegal.
11 July 1977. British
magazine Gay News was fined �1,000
for publishing a poem about a homosexual Jesus.
1972, Gay News, the largest-circulation
homosexual newspaper in Britain, began publication. It ceased publication in
1983, biut was incorporated in Gay Times in 1984.
27 November
1970. The Gay
Liberation Front marched in London for the first time.
27/71967,
In the UK, the Sexual Offences Act
partially decriminalised homosexuality. Two men could have sex together if they
were above the age of 21.
18 November
1962. Bishop Ambrose Reeves encouraged Oxford
students to write to their MPs urging them to repeal the laws on homosexuality.
4 September
1957. In the UK, the Wolfenden
Report recommended decriminalising homosexual acts between consenting
adults. This would remove a significant cause of blackmail. �Adult� meant aged
21 or over; some feared this would be a licence for child abuse. On 14 November
1957 the Church
of England backed the Wolfenden reforms. However the UK government
shied away from this controversial change to the law. It was only in June 1967 when the Sexual Offences Bill
legalised such homosexual acts as Wolfenden recommended.
1952, In the UK, Alan Turing was convicted of
gross indecency and chemically castrated.
Oscar Wilde, imprisonment 1895-7
19 May 1897, Oscar Wilde was
released from Reading gaol.
25 May 1895, Oscar Wilde�s
second trial ended, and he was sentenced to two year�s hard labour.
26 April 1895. At the Old
Bailey, the trial of Oscar Wilde for
homosexuality, then a crime, began.
6 April 1895, Oscar Wilde
was now arrested for the crime of homosexuality (see 5 April 1895). He was
sentenced to 2 years hard labour.
5 April 1895, Oscar Wilde
sued the Marquess
of Queensberry for libel at the Old Bailey. The Marquess was alleged to have
left a note at Mr
Wilde�s club accusing him of sodomy. The Marquess, keen on boxing, was
annoyed that his son, Alfred, had an intimate relationship with Mr Wilde.
Oscar Wilde
lost his case.
1885, In the UK, the Labouchere Amendment, promoted by Henry Labouchere, Liberal MP for
Northempton and strong opponent of homosexuality, made �gross indecnecy� a
crime under section 11 of the 1885
Criminal Law Ameddment Act. Known as the �blackmailer�s Charter, this
Amendment was often used to prosecute homosexuals where no actual intercourse
could be proved.
1861, In the UK, the Offences Against the Person Act
repealed the death penalty for sodomy and bestiality. The maximum sentence
was reduced to life imprisonment; there was a minimum sentence of ten years.
This was part of Robert Peel�s reforms.
1700, Until now homosexuality in England had been tolerated (despite the
draconoian punishments for buggery). However a Puritan crusade now sparked an
era of intolerance, and in 1727 the Society for the Reformation of Manners
succeeded in getting the pillory and even the death penalty instituted for
homosexuality.
1533, In England, the Buggery Act was passed by
Parliament under Henry VIII, making sodomy and bestiality criminal offences
punishable by death. See 1861.
Uruguay
2 April 2013,
Uruguay
legalised same-sex marriages.
USA
2017, Support for same-sex marriage in the USA was
64%, a rapid rise from just 27% in 1996,
6/2015, With same sex marriages
still illegal in 14 States of the US, a Supreme Court decision legalised same sex marriages in all parts of the USA.
7 November 2012,
Voters in Maryland, Maine and Washington approved same sex
marriages.
6 July 2006, New York Court of Appeals ruled that gay marriage was not allowed under
State law.
6 September
2005, The Californa Legislature legalised same-sex marriage. Three weeks
later the State Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, vetoed the Bill.
17 May 2004,
Massachusetts
legalised same-sex marriages, in
compliance with a ruling from the state�s Supreme Court.(Goodridge vs.
Department of Public Health).
25 April 2000, The State of Vermont passed the HB847 law legalising
civil unions for same-sex couples
10 February 1998, Voters in Maine repealed a gay rights law made in 1997,
becoming the first US
State to abandon such a law.
21
September 1996, The USA prohibited same-sex
marriages under the Defence of Marriage Act.
14 October 1979, The first
National March in Washington DC, USA, for Lesbian and Gay Rights, had over
100,000 marchers.
3 May 1989, Christine
Jorgensen, first openly trans-sexual (male to female) person in the
USA, died.
27 November
1978, Harvey Milk, first openly gay ,man to hold
public office in the USA, on the California Board of Governors, was
assassinated.
1973, The American Psychiatric Association
now removed �homosexuality� from its list of mental illnesses.
1970, The first Gay Pride march was
held in New York,
28 June 1969,
A riot began when police raided the Stonewall
Inn, a venue frequented by homosexuals, in Greenwich Village, New York
City.
1966, Illinois became the first
US State to legalise sodomy.
31 October 1940, Craig Rodwell,
gay rights activist, was born in Chicago, Illinois (died 1993).
30 May 1926, Christine
Jorgensen, US campaigner for trans-gender rights, was born,
Derogatory terms being coined against homosexuals, and their outlawal.
8 December 2004, The
French National Assembly passed a law making sexist or homophobic insults
punishable by a 15,000 Euro fine.
1977, The term woofter/wooftah
appeared, a relatively late pejorative phrase for homosexual men (see 1910,
poofter).
1933, The term �gay�
came to mean �homosexual�. It had
meant �sexually dissolute� since the 1600s; the shift to homosexuality may have
begun with male prostitutes catering to homosexual men.
1931, The term �dike�
for a female homosexual was first used. An earlier version, �bulldike�, was in use from 1921. It may
derive from �morphadike�, a US
version of �hermaphrodite�.
1929, Another derogatory term for male homosexuals, �pansy� appeared. The najme of a
delicate flower, it had connotations of being effeminate.
1925, The term �Lesbian�
began to replace the term �Sapphism�
for female hoimosexuality (both terms in use from the 1890s). Both words derive
from the Classical
Greek female poet Sappho of the island of Lesbos.
1924, The term �queen�
for the effeminate party in a male homosexual relationship came into use.
1914, First use of the derogatory term �faggot� for a male homosexual, in the
USA. Derives from its earlier use to denote an unpleasant old woman. Shortened
to �fag� in the 1920s.
1922, The noun �queer�
for a homosexual� came into use in the
USA. It became an insult in the mid-20th century, and was a taboo
word from the 1960s onwards.
1911, First use of the term �transvestismus�, German for �cross
dressing�, wearing the clothes of the opposite sex. Initially linked
closely to homosexuality, although the two are now seen as separate.
1910, First use of the pejorative term poofter for a homosexual men (derived
from poof, an Australian term used back in the
1850s),, see 1977, woofter.
1909, The term �camp�
for an outrageously exaggerated style, usually with connotations of male
homosexuality., was first used.
1904, First use of the term �nancy� (or �nancy-boy�)
as a derogatory term for male homosexuals. Derived from �sissy� (weak, timid, effeminate), which became �Miss Nancy�, the term had largely died
out by the end of the 1970s.