Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender LGBT rights in Portugal are among the most advanced in the world; having improved substantially in the 21st century. Portugal has wide-ranging anti-discrimination laws and is one of the few countries in the world to contain a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation in its Constitution. On 5 June , the state became the eighth in the world to recognize same-sex marriage. The country, while still influenced by Roman Catholicism , has progressively become more accepting of same-sex relationships and homosexuality.
Lisbon , Porto and Faro have visible LGBT scenes, with several gay bars, nightclubs and other venues, as well as their annual pride parades. During the period of the Portuguese Inquisition , female homosexual activity was not actively prosecuted due to a ruling; one of the few cases of prosecuting a woman Maria Duran for same-sex sexual activity came in , but she was prosecuted for causing distress to her sexual partners, not for her activity.
Portugal has recognized unregistered cohabitation since 5 May , [12] and same-sex marriage since 5 June Same-sex married couples are granted all of the rights of different-sex married couples. The Penal Code was amended in to equalize the age of consent and to criminalize domestic violence in same-sex relationships, thus equalizing treatment with opposite-sex couples.
Since , Portuguese law has allowed adoption of children by same-sex couples. Prior to that reform, same-sex couples were barred from adopting and informally forbidden from fostering children, although there had been several court rulings allowing children to live with same-sex families.
In the past, Portugal had been forced to pay a fine due to homophobic statements from a court that ruled against a gay father's right for his daughter's custody. The European Court of Human Rights received the case and ruled in favour of the father in , demanding the custody back to him and issuing a penalty for the country.
