LGBT rights in Azmara

LGBT rights in Azmara
Location of  Azmara  (dark green) in Euclean Community  (light green)  –  [Legend]
Status	Legal since 1855, age of consent equalised in 1974
Gender identity	Right to change legal gender since 1989; self-identification since 2017
Military	LGBT people allowed to serve openly in the military
Discrimination protections	Sexual orientation and gender identity/expression protections
Family rights
Recognition of relationships	Same-sex marriage since 2004
Adoption	Full adoption rights since 2004

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in the Commonwealth of Azmara are considered some of the most progressive in the world. Same-sex sexual activity was decriminalised in 1855 in the new republican legal code, yet laws against public indecency were often used to persecute LGBT individuals before 1974 when the age of consent was equalised. Since 1989, transgender individuals have been allowed to change their legal gender, with requirements for surgery being removed in 2009 and gender self-identification being introduced in 2017.

In 1992 the third government of Aarne Leifssun passed a law granting cohabitation rights to same-sex couples living together, yet this would be superseded in 2004 as Niina's Law was signed by President Liis Helmutsdohter, granting full marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples. Since 1995, discrimination in employment and the provision of goods and services on the grounds of sexual orientation has been prohibited, with this being extended to gender identity and expression in 2009.

Polling has shown consistent support for LGBT rights in Azmara in the 21st century, with 85% of respondents responding in support of same-sex marriage in a 2017 JuGov poll. Aalmsted, especially the boroughs of Eleinasburg and Lilijenburg, has gained a reputation as being an LGBT-friendly city in recent years.

Laws regarding same-sex sexual activity

Between 1578 and 1794 under the jurisdiction of the Union of Groonbank-Westmaark under the Rudolphine Confederation and later of the Azmaran Confederation sodomy was defined as a crime with punishment often consisting of hanging or imprisonment. Briefly during the Weranian Republic's invasion and the creation of the Republic of Westmaark the anti-sodomy law was removed from the books, yet was reinstated after the Kingdom of Azmara was created in 1802 as Clause 193.

After the Revolution of 1855 created the Commonwealth of Azmara, a new legal code was created inspired by ideas of rationalism and secularism, with many laws regulating private sexual activity being removed from the code including Clause 193. However, laws criminalising indecency remained in the code as Clause 194 and were varyingly used to prosecute LGBT individuals, especially during the National Coalition government of 1923-1932. Furthermore, as no official law existed specifying an age of consent for same-sex sexual activity, homosexuals were sometimes arrested on charges of statutory rape.

This situation was addressed by the Radical minority government of Aleksaander Mâþijassun, with the government proposing a reform of laws regulating sexual conduct to officially set the age of consent for homosexual activity to 16 as it was for heterosexual activity and remove Clause 194 from the code to remove any legal grounds for the prosecution of consenting homosexual adults.

Recognition of same-sex relationships

Cohabitation rights

The issue of recognition of same-sex couples became a significant topic of discussion during the 1990 election campaign as the Azmaran Democrats introduced a campaign promise to allow same-sex couples some of the rights of opposite-sex married couples. This would be adopted as official policy of the third government of Aarne Leifssun, formed in the aftermath of the election with ministers from Gold Flame, The Radicals and the Azmaran Democrats.

In November 1991 a bill introducing an official "cohabiting partner" status (Azmaran: taaśamenliibenspaartnerśip) was introduced to the Folksmot by the government. This would, amongst other things, grant same-sex cohabiting partners "next of kin" status with regards to situations such as hospital visitation and the division of property after death, yet would lack rights given to married couples such as adoption rights. This bill would be signed into law in January 1992 by President Jana Eryksdohter after passing both houses of the Alþing.

Same-sex marriage

The Left-Green Alliance, an electoral alliance between the Green Party, the Azmaran Section of the Workers' International and New Deal, adopted the legalisation of same-sex marriage as official policy at its 1997 conference and introduced a bill legalising same-sex marriage to the Folksmot at the start of 1999, yet the bill failed to pass the Internal Affairs Committee by the dissolution of the Folksmot before elections. A second attempt to introduce a same-sex marriage bill by the Alliance in 2000 failed to reach quorum at its second reading and was thus not passed.

Same-sex marriage would become a prominent issue in the early 2000s as public support increased, with the newly-merged Radicals and Democrats actively endorsing its legalisation in the 2002 election and both of the leading candidates in the 2003 Workers' Party leadership election, Eleina Helmutsdohter and Niina Hermansdohter, coming out in support of its legalisation. After being sworn in as Thingspeaker on the 3rd May 2003, Eleina Helmutsdohter listed the legalisation of same-sex marriage as one of her government's priorities and on the 15 January 2004 Interior Secretary Niina Hermansdohter introduced a bill legalising same-sex marriage, which would pass the Internal Affairs Committee on the 16th February. The bill would pass the Folksmot 93-44 on the 24th March and the Landsmot 43-27 on the 22nd April.

24 March 2004 vote in the Folksmot of Azmara

Party	Votes for	Votes against	Abstentions	Absent (Did not vote)
G  Workers' Party (Ap)	34	5	1	4
G  Gold Flame (GF)	26	9		2
Sotirian Democrats (SF)	2	28	1	1
Radicals and Democrats (ReF)	21			1
Green-Left Alliance (GLB)	10			1
Centre Party (Mp)		2	1	1
Total	93	44	3	10

After being signed into law on the 2nd May by President Liis Helmutsdohter, the bill, which would come to be known as Niina's Law, would come into effect on the 1st July 2004, the same day of the first same-sex marriage ceremonies in the country, with 35 same-sex couples being married in Lilijenburg Park on the day as the first set of same-sex marriages in the country.

Adoption and family planning

During 1999, the Azmaran government announced its intention to reform the status of "cohabiting partner" to allow for members of such partnerships to adopt their partner's children as their own, citing the number of same-sex couples with pre-existing children and the administrative difficulties of not recognising both members of a partnership as parents. The proposal was supported by the governing Workers' Party, Radicals and Azmaran Democrats as well as the opposition Green-Left Alliance, with Gold Flame allowing its members a free vote and the Sotirian Democrats and the Centre Party opposing the bill, and came into effect on the 1 April 2000.

This amendment was superseded with the passage of Niina's Law in 2004, which granted same-sex spouses the right to jointly adopt children within Azmara and lesbian spouses the right to artificial insemination, with children parented through this scheme being automatically recognised as the child of both partners. Official guidance by the Ministry for Pensions and Social Welfare, which is responsible for family policy and children's rights, notes to same-sex couples that while "the adoption of children from abroad by same-sex couples can be legally recognised in the Commonwealth of Azmara", "this does not affect individual countries' policies with regards to the legal permissibility of same-sex adoption from these countries over which the Commonwealth's government has no effect", advising same-sex couples to be aware of the laws of countries in which they intend to adopt from.

Summary table

	Yes/No	Notes
Same-sex sexual activity
Same-sex sexual activity legal		Since 1855
Equal age of consent (16)		Since 1974
Discrimination laws
Anti-discrimination laws in employment only		Since 1995 (sexual orientation)
Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services		Since 1995 (sexual orientation)
Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas (incl. indirect discrimination, hate speech)		Since 1995 for sexual orientation and since 2009 for gender identity
Anti-discrimination laws concerning gender identity		Since 2009
Hate crime law includes sexual orientation and gender identity		Since 1995 for sexual orientation and since 2009 for gender identity
Same-sex unions
Same-sex marriages		Since 2004
Recognition of same-sex couples		Since 1992
Adoption and children
Stepchild adoption by same-sex couples		Since 2000
Joint adoption by same-sex couples		Since 2004
Access to IVF for lesbians and automatic parenthood for both spouses after birth		Since 2004
Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples		Illegal for heterosexual couples as well
Military service
LGBT people allowed to serve openly in the military		Since 1974
Transgender rights
Right to change legal gender		Since 1989, no surgery required since 2009
Transgender identity declassified as an illness		Since 1989
Ability to change legal gender without a psychiatric or psychological evaluation		Since 2017
Ability to change legal gender without court approval		Since 2017
Ability to change legal gender for minors	/	Parental consent required
Third legal gender		Since 2022
Other
LGBT sex education and relationships taught in schools		Sex and relationships education compulsory in schools
Conversion therapy banned on minors		Since 2018
Homosexuality declassified as an illness		Since 1974
MSMs allowed to donate blood	/	12-month deferral period, unless in a monogamous relationship