Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer LGBTQ rights in France are some of the most progressive by world standards. However, a lesser-known indecent exposure law that often targeted LGBTQ people was introduced in , before being repealed in After granting same-sex couples domestic partnership benefits known as the civil solidarity pact in , France became the thirteenth country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage in Laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity were enacted in and , respectively.
In , France became the first country in the world to declassify gender dysphoria as a mental illness. Additionally, since , transgender people have been allowed to change their legal gender without undergoing surgery or receiving any medical diagnosis.
France has frequently been named one of the most gay-friendly countries in the world. Before the French Revolution, sodomy was a serious crime. Jean Diot and Bruno Lenoir were the last gay people burned to death on 6 July This policy on private sexual conduct was retained in the Penal Code of and followed in nations and French colonies that adopted the Code. Still, homosexuality and cross-dressing were widely seen as being immoral, and LGBTQ people were still subjected to legal harassment under various laws concerning public morality and order.
An age of consent was introduced on 28 April It was fixed to 11 years for both sexes and later raised to 13 years in On 6 August , the Vichy Government introduced a discriminative law in the Penal Code: article moved to article on 8 February by the Provisional Government of the French Republic [ 9 ] which increased the age of consent to 21 for homosexual relations and 15 for heterosexual ones. The age of 21 was then lowered to 18 in , which had become the age of legal majority.
A less known discriminative law was adopted in , inserting into the Penal Code article , 2nd alinea a clause that doubled the penalty for indecent exposure for homosexual activity. This ordonnance was intended to repress pimping. This ordonnance was adopted by the executive after it was authorised by Parliament to take legislative measures against national scourges such as alcoholism.
