Progress and setbacks: How LGBTQ+ rights changed in Europe in 2024

LONDON – Despite some important gains for the LGBTQ+ community in Europe in 2024, the continent still became more polarised over gay and transgender rights as elections took place in more than 30 countries and voters chose a new European parliament.

Marriage equality became law in Estonia and Greece, while countries including Bulgaria and Georgia introduced anti-LGBTQ+ bills and policies to restrict rights. Hate crime and harassment cases also rose to an all-time high. 

Here were the key developments during the year.

Marriage equality and civil partnerships

As of December, same-sex marriage is legal in 20 European countries. Liechtenstein will become the 21st country with marriage equality on Jan. 1, having passed its law in May.

Estonia became the first central European country to legalise same-sex marriage at the start of this year, when a law approved by parliament in June 2023 came into effect.

Greece became the first Orthodox country to pass such a law in February, and the first same-sex wedding took place in March. The legislation also gave LGBTQ+ couples the right to adopt.

In Czechia, a law for same-sex civil unions was signed by the president in April and goes into effect on Jan. 1, while Latvia's own law from 2023 came into effect on July 1.

Similar bills to recognise same-sex partnerships were also introduced in Lithuania and Poland.

In 2023, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Romania to recognise same-sex couples, but the government has ignored the ruling.

Legal gender recognition

Germany passed a self-identification law in April, allowing trans people to change their gender without a psychological assessment or a visit to court.

In September, Malta began legally recognising non-binary people and reduced the age for legal gender recognition to 16.

Sweden also passed a law to improve the process of transitioning and lowered the age of legal gender recognition from 18 to 16. 

Montenegro introduced a self-determination bill in March, but it has not progressed this year, activists told Context.

European Union members were told they must accept changes of gender registered in other countries in the bloc in October, after Romanian authorities refused to do so.

The European Court of Justice said Romania's refusal to recognise the gender identity of a British-Romanian trans man - who began his transition in Britain - infringed on his rights.

In December, Britain announced an indefinite ban on puberty-blocking drugs, a contested treatment for children experiencing discomfort or dysphoria over the sex they were assigned at birth.

Conversion therapy

Portugal's law banning conversion therapy for all of the LGBTQ+ community came into effect in March after it was passed last December. 

The EU has also pledged to seek a ban on such practices in the bloc as part of a new LGBTQ+ equality strategy, outlined in a mission letter by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in September. 

Following a July election, Britain committed to a trans-inclusive ban on conversion therapy, more than six years after the former Conservative government pledged to end such practices.

Rights rollbacks

Two laws were passed in Georgia with negative implications for the LGBTQ+ community ahead of parliamentary election in October this year.

The "foreign agents" law, passed in May, forces internationally funded organisations to share their internal data, while the "family values" legislation package, passed in October, blocks access to gender-affirming care, so-called LGBTQ+ propaganda, and freedom of assembly.

In Bulgaria, a law banning "propaganda" on same-sex relationships and trans identities in schools was passed in August.

Laws banning so-called propaganda have also been introduced in Slovakia and Luxembourg. In Lithuania, the nation's top court deemed an attempt at such legislation to be unconstitutional in December.

In October, Italy banned couples from seeking surrogates abroad, a move that activists told Reuters would primarily affect same-sex families.

(Reporting by Lucy Middleton; Editing by Ayla Jean Yackley.)