# LGBTQ rights in Jersey

Part of a series on :
LGBTQ rights in the United Kingdom :
By location :
United Kingdom Scotland Northern Ireland :
Crown dependencies Guernsey Jersey Isle of Man :
Overseas Territories Anguilla Akrotiri and Dhekelia Bermuda British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Falkland Islands Gibraltar Montserrat Pitcairn Islands Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Turks and Caicos Islands :
Same-sex marriage by territory United Kingdom Scotland Northern Ireland Guernsey Jersey Isle of Man Akrotiri and Dhekelia Bermuda British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory Cayman Islands Falkland Islands Gibraltar Pitcairn Islands Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands :
Policy aspects :
Sexual orientation
Adoption
Age of consent
Blood donation
Christian nation
Civil partnership
History of violence
HIV/AIDS
Military policy
Same-sex marriage :
Gender identity, sex and intersex
21st-century anti-trans movement
Transgender rights
Intersex rights
NHS Gender Identity Development Service
Gender Recognition Panel :
Legislation :
Criminality
Buggery Act 1533
Offences Against the Person Act 1828
Offences Against the Person Act 1861
Labouchere Amendment
Wolfenden report
Sexual Offences Act 1967
Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980
Homosexual Offences Order 1982
Section 28
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000
Sexual Offences Act 2003
Policing and Crime Act 2017
Alan Turing law
Merchant Shipping (Homosexual Conduct) Act 2017
Historical Sexual Offences (Pardons and Disregards) (Scotland) Act 2018 :
Protection and recognition
Public Order Act 1986
Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999
Adoption and Children Act 2002
Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003
Civil Partnership Act 2004
Gender Recognition Act 2004
Equality Act 2006
Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007
Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008
Equality Act 2010
Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014
Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 :
Litigation
Corbett v Corbett (1969)
X v United Kingdom (1978)
Dudgeon v United Kingdom (1981)
R v Brown (1993)
Sutherland v United Kingdom (1994)
Smith and Grady v United Kingdom (1999)
Goodwin & I v United Kingdom (2002)
HJ and HT v Home Secretary (2010)
National AIDS Trust v NHS Service Commissioning Board (2016)
Bell v Tavistock (2021)
AB v CD and others (2021) :
Culture :
By city
Brighton
Cardiff
London
Liverpool
Leeds
Manchester :
Gay villages
Birmingham Gay Village
The Calls
Canal Street (Manchester)
Old Compton Street
Pride Quarter, Liverpool
Vauxhall :
Gay male
Polari
Saunas
Cruising :
Organisations :
LGBT advocacy and support
Stonewall
Hall–Carpenter Archives
Black Gay Men's Advisory Group
Akt
Naz and Matt Foundation
FFLAG
LGBT Foundation
LGBT Network
Outright Scotland
Switchboard (UK)
NUS LGBT
LGBT+ Liberal Democrats
LGBT+ Conservatives
LGBT+ Labour
Labour Campaign for Trans Rights
Mermaids
Press for Change
The Gender Trust :
Pride events
BiCon (UK)
Big Gay Out
Birmingham Pride
Bourne Free
Brighton Pride
Bristol Pride
Doncaster Pride
GFest – gayWise LGBT Arts Festival
Glasgay! Festival
Homotopia (Liverpool)
Leeds Pride
Leicester Pride
LGBT History Month
BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival
Manchester Pride
Mr Gay UK
Mr Gay Wales
Northern Pride
Nottinghamshire Pride
Pride Cymru
Pride Glasgow
Pride in Hull
Pride in Liverpool
Pride in London
Pride Scotia
Reading Pride
Swansea Pride
Worthing Pride :
Former groups
OutRage!
Campaign for Homosexual Equality
Homosexual Law Reform Society
Gay Liberation Front
Gay Rights Working Party
Order of Chaeronea :
History :
Topics
Timeline
List of politicians
First LGBT officeholders
Violence against LGBT people
HIV/AIDS crisis
Death penalty :
Timeline 342 MSM activity made illegal 1533 Death penalty introduced for MSM activity 1543 Buggery Act extended to Wales 1828 Offences Against the Person Act 1828 1835 James Pratt and John Smith executed 1861 Death penalty for buggery abolished 1885 Labouchere Amendment introduced 1889 Cleveland Street scandal 1895 Oscar Wilde found guilty of gross indecency 1912 The Cave of the Golden Calf opens 1921 Plans to make lesbian activity illegal defeated 1936 Mark Weston transitions 1952 John Nott-Bower begins crackdown 1954 Pitt-Rivers, Montagu, Wildeblood imprisoned 1954 Alan Turing commits suicide 1957 Wolfenden report released 1967 MSM activity made legal (England & Wales) 1972 First British Gay Pride Rally 1976 Jeremy Thorpe resigns as Liberal leader 1981 MSM activity made legal (Scotland) 1981 First case of AIDS reported in the UK 1982 MSM activity made legal (NI) 1983 Gay men barred from donating blood 1984 Chris Smith elected as first openly gay MP 1987 Operation Spanner begins 1988 Section 28 comes into force 1989 Stonewall UK forms 1994 Age of consent for MSM becomes 18 1997 Angela Eagle becomes first openly lesbian MP 1998 Bolton 7 found guilty 1998 Lord Alli becomes first openly gay Lord 1999 Admiral Duncan bombing 2000 Gay men allowed in HM Armed Forces 2001 Age of consent equalised to 16 2001 MSM activity involving multiple men legal 2002 Same sex couples granted equal rights to adopt 2003 Section 28 repealed 2004 Civil partnerships introduced 2004 Gender Recognition Act 2004 2006 Discrimination made illegal 2008 Equalised access to IVF for lesbian couples 2008 Incitement to homophobic hatred made a crime 2009 Public apology to Alan Turing 2010 Equality Act 2010 2011 Gay men allowed to donate blood (1 yr deferral) 2013 Nikki Sinclaire becomes first openly trans MEP 2013 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 2014 First same-sex marriages take place 2016 MSM activity not grounds for military discharge 2017 Turing law implemented 2017 Blood donation deferral 3 months (excl. NI) 2019 MPs legislate for gay marriage in NI 2020 Gay marriage legal across UK, incl. NI 2020 Blood donation deferral 3 months (incl. NI) 2021 Blood donation deferral equalised :
LGBTQ portal UK portal :
vte :
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) rights in the British Crown dependency of Jersey have evolved significantly since the early 1990s. Same-sex sexual activity was decriminalised in 1990. Since then, LGBTQ people have been given many more rights equal to that of heterosexuals, such as an equal age of consent (2006), the right to change legal gender for transgender people (2010), the right to enter into civil partnerships (2012), the right to adopt children (2012) and very broad anti-discrimination and legal protections on the basis of "sexual orientation, gender reassignment and intersex status" (2015). Jersey is the only British territory that explicitly includes "intersex status" within anti-discrimination laws. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Jersey since 1 July 2018.
The status of LGBT rights is similar to that of the United Kingdom and the other two Crown dependencies (the Isle of Man and Guernsey). Societal acceptance of homosexuality and same-sex relationships is high. Jersey organised its first public LGBT event in July 2014, when hundreds of participants gathered in Saint Helier to call for the legalisation of same-sex marriage.

## Law regarding same-sex sexual activity

Prior to 1990, same-sex sexual activity was a criminal offence. The age of consent was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1995, exactly one year after the United Kingdom lowered the age of consent to 18. The age of consent has been equal at 16 since 2006.

### Pardon scheme

In May 2024, it was formally announced that a pardon scheme would be established to remove gay sex sexual offences (prior to 1990) in regarding to Jersey - on an individuals criminal record. A similar pardon scheme known as the “Alan Turing Law” was implemented in the UK by legislation.

## Recognition of same-sex relationships

Jersey allows same-sex couples to enter into civil partnerships or marriages.

### Civil partnerships

On 20 October 2009, the States of Jersey (Parliament) voted in favour of civil partnerships "in principle". The vote was 48 in favour, 1 against and 4 abstaining. Legislation allowing for civil partnerships was approved on 12 July 2011. The bill was signed by Queen Elizabeth II on 14 December 2011 and registered by the royal court on 6 January 2012. The law took effect on 2 April 2012. It also allows same-sex couples to register their civil partnership in churches, if the church in question chooses to do so.
In March 2022, a bill passed the States of Jersey that allows heterosexual couples to enter civil partnerships - not just same-sex couples. It is expected to go into effect from January 1, 2023.

### Marriage

The States made an in-principle agreement to legalise same-sex marriage on 22 September 2015, voting 37–4. Legislation to bring the law into effect was introduced in October 2017. Though delayed on several occasions, the same-sex marriage legislation was approved by the States on 1 February 2018, by a vote of 43–1. The bill received royal assent 23 May 2018, and went into effect on 1 July 2018. The first couple married shortly thereafter, on 9 July.

## Adoption and parenting

Both joint and stepchild adoption have been legal since 2012, when the civil partnership law came into effect.
Additionally, lesbian couples can access artificial insemination.
On 23 June 2015, the States of Jersey agreed to bring about changes in their adoption laws, called the Adoption (Amendment No. 7) (Jersey) Law 2015, to grant unmarried couples full adoption rights. Previously, only married couples and couples in civil partnerships were allowed to apply to adopt children. The law came into effect on 16 October 2015.

### Parentage legislation introduction

In December 2023, legislation was introduced to formally recognize children of same-sex couples by parentage from IVF and surrogacy to the Jersey Assembly - a legal first for the Channel Islands. The legislation would meet compliance and obligations based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The law was passed unanimously by the Assembly in March 2024, and was due to be brought into effect with all regulations by the end of that year.

## Discrimination protections

On 2 June 2015, Jersey passed the Discrimination (Sex and Related Characteristics) (Jersey) Regulations 2015, protecting LGBT and intersex people from discrimination. The legislation was approved on third reading by 37 members voting in favour, 1 abstention and 11 absences, and went into effect on 1 September 2015.

## Gender identity and expression

Transgender people are allowed to change their legal gender and to have their new gender recognised as a result of the Gender Recognition (Jersey) Law 2010.
Additionally, transgender people are fully protected through anti-discrimination laws.

## Blood donation

Gay and bisexual men have been allowed to donate blood, provided they haven't had sex in a year, since 2011. In March 2019, it was confirmed that the 12 month criterion is under review, following the introduction of more advanced blood testing technology. In December 2019, it was revealed that this review would not take place until 2021 at the earliest.
In June 2021, it is proposed that the Channel Islands will be implementing the "UK-model on risk based assessments" of blood donation. It is not clear on when the policy goes into effect yet.

## Local charities working for LGBT rights

Liberate is the only organisation in the Channel Islands that represents the local LGBT community and other minority groups. It was established in Guernsey in February 2014 and in Jersey in August 2014. The Jersey branch lobbied to ensure that intersex people were included in Jersey's Discrimination (Sex and Related Characteristics) (Jersey) Regulations 2015 and campaigning to legalise same-sex marriage.

## Summary table

| Same-sex sexual activity legal | (Since 1990) |
| Equal age of consent (16) | (Since 2006) |
| Anti-discrimination laws in employment | (Since 2015) |
| Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services | (Since 2015) |
| Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas (incl. indirect discrimination, hate speech) | (Since 2015) |
| Anti-discrimination laws covering gender identity in all areas | (Since 2015) |
| Discrimination based on intersex status prohibited | (Since 2015) |
| Same-sex marriages | (Since 2018) |
| Recognition of same-sex couples (e.g. civil partnerships) | (Since 2012) |
| Stepchild adoption by same-sex couples | (Since 2012) |
| Joint adoption by same-sex couples | (Since 2012) |
| LGBT people allowed to serve openly in the military | (Since 2000) |
| Right to change legal gender | (Since 2010) |
| Access to IVF for lesbians | (Since 2012) |
| Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples | (Banned for heterosexual couples as well) |
| MSMs allowed to donate blood | / (12 month deferral period since 2011) |