LGBT rights in Italy
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Italy significantly advanced in the 21st century, although LGBT people still face various challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents, despite public opinion being increasingly liberal and in favor of LGBT rights. According to ILGA-Europe's 2021 report, the status of LGBT rights in Italy is below the standards of other Western European countries – such as still not recognizing same-sex marriage, lacking nationwide discrimination protections for goods and services, as well as not granting to same-sex couples parental rights, such as adoption and IVF. Italy and Japan are the only G7 nations where same-sex marriages are not permitted.
LGBT rights in Italy | |
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Italy wrapped in the colors of the rainbow flag | |
| Status | Same-sex activity legal nationwide since 1890, with an equal age of consent; legal in Tuscany since 1853 (as the Grand Duchy of Tuscany), in Sicily since 1819 (as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies) and in Naples since 1810 (as the Kingdom of Naples) |
| Gender identity | Transgender people allowed to change legal gender since 1982 |
| Military | Gays, lesbians and bisexuals allowed to serve openly |
| Discrimination protections | Sexual orientation protections in employment (see below); discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity banned in street advertisement since 2021; sexual orientation and gender identity protections in the provision of goods and services at a regional level in Tuscany, Piedmont, Liguria, Marche, Umbria, Sicily, Emilia-Romagna and Campania |
| Family rights | |
| Recognition of relationships | Civil unions, unregistered cohabitation and contracts of cohabitation since 2016 |
| Adoption | Stepchild adoption since 2016. Same-sex couples are allowed to foster children. |
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In Italy, both male and female same-sex sexual activity has been legal since 1890, when a new Penal Code was promulgated. A civil union law was passed in May 2016, providing same-sex couples with all of the rights of marriage except for adoption rights. Stepchild adoption was excluded from the bill, but in June 2016 the Supreme Court of Cassation stated that courts can allow a couple in a civil union to adopt their stepchildren. The same law provides both same-sex and heterosexual couples which live in an unregistered cohabitation with several legal rights.
Transgender people have been allowed to legally change their gender since 1982. Although discrimination regarding sexual orientation in employment has been banned since 2003, no other anti-discrimination laws regarding sexual orientation or gender identity and expression have been enacted nationwide, although some Italian regions have enacted far more comprehensive anti-discrimination laws. In 2023, a new poll showed a large majority in favour of civil unions (70.1%), a majority for same-sex marriage (65.2%), and also for adoption by same-sex couples (51.4%).