22 dates in Portugal’s LGBTQ+ history
To my knowledge, the country that I now call my home doesn’t have a dedicated LGBTQ+ history month. I married my husband João this month, so it feels like the perfect opportunity to celebrate the LGBTQ+ rights that have been won here.
Perhaps with exception to the empire building of the 15th and 16th centuries and the right-wing dictatorship during the 20th century, outside of Portugal, little is known about its history. Furthermore, the histories of minorities in any country have often been suppressed, as these groups have been silenced or have had little power to shape the narrative.
As a queer man, I find it important to try to understand the struggles of the LGBTQ+ people of our past. When you grow up in ‘the closet’, you are required to rebuild your identity. Learning about Section 28 and London’s first Pride in 1972, as well as the Stonewall heroes and the US LGBTQ+ civil rights movement, has helped me strengthen my identity and to feel proud.
the timeline of how Portugal became the 8th country in the world to gain marriage equality
It isn’t easy to find out about LGBTQ+ history in Portugal — neither in English nor Portuguese. So recently at the Museu do Aljube, I was very grateful to visit the Adeus, Pátria e Família exhibition to celebrate 40 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Portugal.
Portugal was slow to start its LGBTQ+ rights movement but achieved a lot in a short time — with much of it happening during my own lifetime. Below is the timeline of how Portugal became the 8th country in the world to gain marriage equality and how it moved to the forefront of LGBTQ+ rights.
1902 Egas Moniz, neurologist and Nobel Prize laureate defines homosexuality as an ‘illness’ and a ‘perversion’.
1912Portugal establishes a law against ‘whoever indulges in the practice of vices against nature’. Gay men and lesbians could be imprisoned for up to a year and taken to correctional labour houses or agricultural penal colonies.
1923Lesbian and gay books were seized and destroyed, including Decadência (Decay) by Judith Teixeira, Canções (Songs) by António Botto, and Sodoma Divinizada (Deified Sodom) by Raul Leal.
1933 Estado Novo began, one of the longest-surviving fascist regimes of the 20th century. This was an especially difficult time for queer people: many gay men were sent to criminal asylums like the Albergue da Mitra in Lisbon; a new penal law against LGBTQ+ people came into force in 1954; and Júlio Fogaça, leader of the Portuguese Communist Party was tried for homosexuality and imprisoned for 18 years.
1974 The Carnation Revolution, a left-leaning military coup overthrew Estado Novo and LGBTQ+ progress became possible. In this year, the Manifesto of the Revolutionary Homosexual Action Movement was published in the newspaper Diário de Lisboa and a poster was seen claiming ‘Freedom for Homosexuals’ on Labour Day in Porto. But despite this, military leaders made clear that the Revolution was ‘not made for homosexuals to assert themselves’.
1980The Revolutionary Homosexuals Collective (CHOR) held a meeting with 300 people attending — this was a massive number during this time when homosexuality was still illegal.
1983Nine years after the Revolution, the Penal Code is revised to decriminalise homosexuality. In this same year, the music career of gay icon António Variações began (he is sometimes known as Portugal’s Freddie Mercury).
1990Organa, Portugal’s first lesbian magazine, and the first support line for gays, lesbians and bisexuals are launched.
1995 The first public celebration of Pride Day takes place on 28 June at the Climacz club in Lisbon.
1996A landmark case for LGBTQ+ rights at the European Court of Human Rights. A Portuguese court withdraws parental authority from João Silva Mouta, a gay or bisexual father, and the European Court deems this discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
1997 ILGA–Portugal (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Intervention), organises the first march in memory of those affected by HIV and AIDS, opens the first Gay and Lesbian Community Center, the first Lisbon Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, and celebrates the first Pride out on the streets in Principe Real.
1999Gay men were permitted to join the military, but in the same year the Portuguese Parliament votes against ending discrimination for homosexual couples in the law of de facto unions. Organisations ILGA, Clube Safo, Opus Gay, GTH-PSR, and Lilás hold demonstrations and start a public campaign for civil partnerships.
2000 A new beginning for both LGBTQ+ visibility in public and in the Assembly of the Republic with the first Pride Parade in Lisbon. Today there at least 17 Portuguese cities with an annual Pride.
2001 Parliament votes in favour of ending discrimination against homosexual and lesbian couples in de facto unions.
2005 The first national demonstration against homophobia takes place. The Panteras Rosa (the Pink Panthers) starts it by fighting back against organised homophobic attacks in the city of Viseu.
2006A lesbian couple, Teresa and Helena, request but are declined marriage at the Civil Registry Office in Lisbon. The same year in Porto, a trans woman, Gisberta, was savagely beaten and tortured to death by a group of young people.
2007 The Penal Code was revised to provide clear punishments for discrimination based on sexual orientation.
2010Same sex marriage law approved (the year I met my husband to-be). Three years before the UK and five before the USA. Teresa and Helena become the first same sex couple to marry in Portugal.
2011 Approval of the gender identity law, allowing transmen and transwomen to offically change their name and sex.
2016Same sex couples won the same adoption rights enjoyed by opposite sex couples.
2018 The right to self-determination of gender identity and gender expression approved for trans people aged over 16.
2022 Portugal ranks as number 9 of 49 in the ILGA-Europe rainbow rankings for LGBTQ+ social and legal equality.
Portugal has come a long way in a short amount of time. There was a span of only 28 years from when it was illegal to be homosexual to the passing of marriage equality. Incredible progress took place. Learning about queer history gives me a sense of grounding, reminds me how fortunate I have been in my life, and helps to outline what else is required for all LGBTQ+ people to have equality.
Portugal is a wonderful country, I am lucky to live here and it can be a great place to be queer. But there are still legal rights to be won, such as legally recognising non-binary people, permitting trans people in the military, and banning the terrors of conversion therapy.
My own understanding of Portugal is that homophobia isn’t always in the open but can hide below the surface. For example, a 2020 study found same-sex couples face significant housing discrimination in Porto and Lisbon. In comparison to my own country, the UK, there are less opponents to LGBTQ+ rights in public life and less aggression on the streets here. But at the same time, there are fewer vocal allies from the straight community.
Recently, there has also been the rise of the Far-Right, with the homophobic political party Chega coming third in the Presidential Election of 2021. Upsettingly, there is also evidence that an anti-trans movement is also starting to take hold here, like we see in the UK.
start to discover the histories of Portugal’s forgotten queer people and pay respect to the rights they won
Perhaps a positive small step would be for Portugal to adopt its own LGBTQ+ history month, like the UK has in February and USA has in October. History is not just dates and I know little of the struggles behind the years in the timeline above. Then we can have more discussions like this and start to discover the histories of Portugal’s forgotten queer people and pay respect to the rights they won that I can enjoy today.
Credit to Rita Rato, Joana Alves, Miguel Vale de Almeida, Hilda de Paulo, Ricardo Carvalho, Raquel Afonso, Comissão para a Cidadania e Igualdade de Género (CIG), and everyone involved in the ‘Adeus, Pátria e Família’ exhibition at Museu do Aljube in Lisbon. Please do contact me if you know other good resources for learning about LGBTQ+ history in Portugal.
