Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in Northern Ireland have traditionally been slower to advance than the rest of the United Kingdom, with the region having lagged behind England, Scotland, and Wales. Northern Ireland was the last part of the United Kingdom where same-sex sexual activity was decriminalised, the last to implement a blood donation “monogamous no waiting period” policy system for men who have sex with men and, after intervention by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the last to allow same-sex marriage. Compared to the neighbouring Republic of Ireland, all major LGBT rights milestones had been reached earlier in Northern Ireland, with the exception of same-sex marriage. Homosexuality was decriminalised in Northern Ireland a decade earlier and civil partnerships were introduced six years earlier.
Most liberalisation of LGBT rights in Northern Ireland has been achieved under direct rule by the Government of the United Kingdom, British parliamentary legislation or court decisions rather than through laws passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly. This is due to the veto power exercised by opponents of LGBT rights, such as the Democratic Unionist Party, under Northern Ireland's power-sharing system. In 2017, ILGA rated Northern Ireland last place in the United Kingdom for LGBT people, with 74% equality of rights compared to 86% LGBT equality in the United Kingdom overall and 92% equality in Scotland, but above the Republic of Ireland which was ranked 52% the same year.
Same-sex sexual activity has been legal since 1982 and the age of consent was equalised for all forms of sexual activity in 2001. Civil partnerships have been available for same-sex couples since 2005. Same-sex couples were granted full adoption rights in 2013. Same-sex marriage was introduced in 2020. Since 1 September 2020, religious and church same-sex marriage and weddings have been permitted in Northern Ireland.
Laws regarding same-sex sexual activity
Historical persecution
Northern Ireland's homosexuality laws have historically reflected the English position, given the history of English dominance over Ireland since the 12th century, culminating in official union under the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. Following the partition of Ireland, Northern Ireland remained a part of the United Kingdom, with the remainder of Ireland forming the independent Republic of Ireland.
Homosexuality was a matter for the ecclesiastical law of the Roman Catholic Church until the reign of King Henry VIII. During his rule, the act of buggery was criminalised by the Buggery Act 1533 as part of increasing the State's role in public life at the expense of the Catholic Church. This prohibited anal sex with "mankind or beast" anywhere in England and Wales on pain of death, but did not apply to Ireland until 1634. The death penalty was retained until 1861. In 1885, the Labouchere Amendment introduced the offence of gross indecency in the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, which applied throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. This broadened the scope of the criminal law to outlaw any form of male homosexual activity. By contrast, adult lesbianism was never criminalised.
The Victorian era laws criminalising male homosexual acts throughout Great Britain and Ireland, the Offences against the Person Act 1861 and Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, remained in effect well into the 20th century.
Campaigns for and against change
In 1967, the Parliament of the United Kingdom voted to pass the Sexual Offences Act 1967 for the limited decriminalisation of homosexual acts, but this applied only to England and Wales. Same-sex sexual activities were legalised in Scotland on the same basis as in the 1967 Act, by section 80 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980, which came into force on 1 February 1981.