# LGBTQ rights in the Falkland Islands

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
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 (LGBT) people in the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands enjoy most of the same rights as non-LGBT people. Marriage and civil partnerships have been open to both opposite-sex and same-sex couples since 29 April 2017. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is constitutionally banned. Additionally, attitudes are largely positive; a public consultation found that 90% of respondents were in favour of same-sex marriage.
In April 2017, a pride event was held in the capital city of Stanley, a first for the islands.

## Law regarding same-sex sexual activity

Prior to 1989, same-sex sexual activity was a criminal offence. The age of consent was equalised at 16 in 2005.

## Recognition of same-sex relationships

The Falkland Islands was initially reluctant to allow for any formal recognition of same-sex relationships in local law.
On 13 May 2015, the Attorney General recommended that the Executive Council consider the legalisation of same-sex marriage or civil partnership. On 13 January 2016, following a public consultation, the Council instructed the Attorney General to prepare an amendment to the island's Marriage Ordinance 1996, in order to allow same-sex marriage. The public consultation found that 90% of respondents were in favour of same-sex marriage and 94% were in favour of civil partnerships for all couples.
The Attorney General's draft amendment was considered by the Executive Council on 22 February 2017. The Council, considering whether to approve a bill to legalise same-sex marriage and create civil partnership for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples, instructed the Attorney General to publish it in the official gazette, thereby commencing the legislative process as a first reading, as well as to prepare further legislation necessary to its implementation.
On 30 March 2017, the Legislative Assembly approved a same-sex marriage bill by a 7 to 1 vote. The bill allows same-sex couples to marry and also allows both same-sex and opposite-sex couples the right to access a civil partnership. The bill received royal assent by Governor Colin Roberts on 13 April 2017. The new law, known as the Marriage (Amendment) Act 2017, went into effect on 29 April 2017. A community event to celebrate same-sex marriage becoming legal took place that same day.
Sections 3A and 3B of the Falkland Islands Marriage Ordinance 1996 as amended in 2017 state:
   The marriage of same-sex couples is lawful [and]...a same-sex marriage solemnised under this Ordinance has and must be treated in the same manner and afforded the same status as a marriage between a man and a woman.
30 March 2017 vote in the Legislative Assembly of the Falkland Islands :
| Voted for | Voted against |
| 7 Jan CheekRoger EdwardsBarry ElsbyIan HansenMichael PoolePhyl RendellGavin Short | 1 Mike Summers |

## Adoption and family planning

The 2017 law reform relating to marriage and civil partnership included a new provision to the island's Marriage Ordinance stating that "a parent in a civil partnership...has the same rights and responsibilities towards a child as a parent to a child in a marriage". The official reasons attached to the amendments to the ordinance included a note stating that "...parents to a child may be two mothers or two fathers".
There are no known IVF/assisted reproductive technology services available for same-sex couples.

## Discrimination protections

Article 16 of the 2008 Constitution bans discrimination based on sexual orientation:
    In this section, the expression "discriminatory" means affording different treatment to different persons on any grounds such as sex, sexual orientation, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.
The Crimes Ordinance 2014 provides for fines or imprisonment of up to 7 years for a person who "uses threatening words or behaviour, or displays any written material which is threatening, and intends by doing so to stir up religious hatred, or hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation". The Criminal Procedure and Evidence Ordinance 2014 allows courts to treat an offence committed on the basis of the victim's sexual orientation as an aggravative factor. Moreover, the Prisons Ordinance 2017 requires prison staff to treat all prisoners equally without distinction to, among other categories, sexual orientation, and the Communications Ordinance 2017 forbids the distribution of material which incites hatred or discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

## Gender identity and expression

Although the UK's Gender Recognition Act 2004 does not extend to the Falkland Islands, the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Ordinance 2014 states that "at law, the gender of an individual is his or her gender as registered at birth, unless the person possesses a gender recognition certificate issued under section 9 of the UK Gender Recognition Act 2004, in which case the person's gender is the acquired gender."

## Summary table

| Same-sex sexual activity legal | (Since 1989) |
| Equal age of consent (16) | (Since 2005) |
| Anti-discrimination laws in employment | (Since 2008) |
| Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services | (Since 2008) |
| Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas (incl. indirect discrimination, hate speech) | (Since 2008) |
| Recognition of same-sex unions (e.g. civil union) | (Since 2017) |
| Same-sex marriage | (Since 2017) |
| Stepchild adoption by same-sex couples | (Since 2017) |
| Joint adoption by same-sex couples | (Since 2017) |
| LGBT people allowed to serve openly in the military | (Since 2000; UK responsible for defence) |
| Right to change legal gender | |
| Access to IVF for lesbians | |
| Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples | (Banned for heterosexual couples as well) |
| MSMs allowed to donate blood | |