The legal code regarding LGBT rights in Vatican City is based on the Italian Zanardelli Code of 1889 (effective 1890), since the founding of the

sovereign state A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined te ...

of the

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

in 1929. Although

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

(incumbent Sovereign of the Vatican) has expressed support for same-sex civil unions, Vatican City does not currently recognize them.

Criminal law

Since 1890, Vatican city has had no criminal laws against non-commercial, private, adult and consensual same-sex sexual activity. The age of consent is set at 18 years for all persons, regardless of gender. Foreign diplomats, in order to be accredited, must not be part of a same-sex family, and must not be

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

d. In 2008, Jean-Loup Kuhn-Delforge, who is an openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

diplomat, and who is in a civil pact with his partner, was rejected by

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

officials to be the French ambassador to the Holy See. In 2015, Laurent Stefanini, an openly gay practising Catholic diplomat was rejected by Roman Catholic officials to be the French ambassador to the Holy See, despite being single. He was backed by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Francois Hollande and was supported by France's top

Curia Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...

cardinal,

Jean-Louis Tauran Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran (; 5 April 1943 – 5 July 2018) was a French cardinal of the Catholic Church. When he died, he had been the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue since 2007 and Camerlengo of the Holy Roman ...

, who was the

Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church The Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church is an office of the papal household that administers the property and revenues of the Holy See. Formerly, his responsibilities included the fiscal administration of the Patrimony of Saint Peter. As reg ...

, and Cardinal

André Vingt-Trois André Armand Vingt-Trois (; born 7 November 1942) is a French cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Paris from 2005 to 2017, having previously served as Archbishop of Tours from 1999 to 2005. He was elevated to the cardi ...

, Archbishop of Paris. France kept their ambassador position vacant from March 2015 to May 2016 in protest, before nominating another diplomat in May 2016.

Civil rights

Vatican City State Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

does not have any

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

provisions that include

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the ...

. On 13 January 1998, a member of Arcigay, Alfredo Ormando, set himself on fire in

St. Peter's Square Saint Peter's Square ( la, Forum Sancti Petri, it, Piazza San Pietro ,) is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave inside Rome, directly west of the neighborhood ( rione) of Borgo. B ...

in protest of Catholic doctrine around

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

. As a result of the severe burns suffered, he died a few days later in hospital.

Recognition of same-sex relationships

has always expressed disagreement with any civil recognition of same-sex unions,

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

, and against the granting of adoption rights to same-sex couples. In March of 2021, the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible ...

issued a ruling saying it was "not licit" for Catholic priests to bless same-sex marriages. In September of 2021, Pope Francis expressed some support for same-sex civil unions, saying that "same-sex civil unions are good and helpful to many".

Discrimination protections

The

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

reserves the inalienable right to remove, suspend and dismiss immediately any official and employee who publicly admits to being

or questions the general policy of the Vatican towards homosexuals. On its website, the Vatican states that homosexuals should be treated with respect, and all unjust discriminations against them must be avoided. Pope Francis, the head of Vatican City stated that parents should never condemn their gay children but offer them support instead. He also said that "gays have a right to be accepted by their families as children and siblings".

Krzysztof Charamsa

In October 2015, the coming-out of theologian Father

Krzysztof Charamsa Krzysztof Olaf Charamsa (; born 5 August 1972) is a Polish Catholic theologian and author. In 2015, after declaring he was homosexual and in a relationship, he was suspended from his position as a Catholic priest and removed from several previous ...

ended with his suspension from his priestly duties, teaching positions and posts in the Roman Curia. On the eve of the second session of the Bishop's Synod on the Family, Charamsa was quoted as saying in the '' Corriere Della Sera'', "I want the Church and my community to know who I am: a gay priest who is happy, and proud of his identity. I’m prepared to pay the consequences, but it’s time the Church opened its eyes, and realised that offering gay believers total abstinence from a life of love is inhuman."

On gender theory, identity and expression

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church: :Man and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand, in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective beings as man and woman. "Being man" or "being woman" is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity which comes to them immediately from God their Creator. Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity "in the image of God". In their "being-man" and "being-woman", they reflect the Creator's wisdom and goodness. The Vatican has stated that doctors should not use the terms

intersex Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bin ...

and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

to refer to patients and other individuals, stating that it would make masculinity and

femininity Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered f ...

"ambiguous". In January 2015, Pope Francis called

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field ...

"ideological colonization" while visiting the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. In an interview for a book (''Pope Francis: The Economy Kills'', originally in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

) published in 2015,

compared gender studies to "genetic manipulation" and "nuclear weapons". In the 2016 document "''

Amoris Laetitia ''Amoris laetitia'' (''The Joy of Love'') is a post-synodal apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis addressing the pastoral care of families. Dated 19 March 2016, it was released on 8 April 2016. It follows the Synods on the Family held in 2014 ...

''", written by Pope Francis after a Synod involving Catholic

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

s from around the world, he wrote that: "It needs to be emphasized that 'biological sex and the socio-cultural role of sex (gender) can be distinguished but not separated'." There are no provisions in the Catechism that prohibit

gender transition Gender transition is the process of changing one's gender presentation or sex characteristics to accord with one's internal sense of gender identity – the idea of what it means to be a man or a woman,Brown, M. L. & Rounsley, C. A. (1996) ''True ...

. However, in June 2019 the Vatican condemned gender studies as a "confused concept of freedom". In a 2019 document issued by the

Congregation for Catholic Education , type = Congregation , seal = Coat of arms Holy See.svg , seal_size = 100px , seal_caption = Coat of arms of the Holy See , logo = , picture =Via della Conciliazione din Roma1.jpg , picture_caption = Palazzo delle Congregazioni in Piazza ...

, the Vatican warned Catholic educators that ideas of gender fluidity threatened "traditional families" and ignored "natural differences" between

men A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chro ...

and

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

HIV/AIDS

Internationally, the Vatican government has been a leading opponent of the use of condoms as part of any campaign to stop the spread of the

HIV/AIDS pandemic The global epidemic of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2021, HIV/AI ...

Influence on LGBT laws abroad

In 2021, the Vatican foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, delivered a letter to the Italian ambassador to the Holy See, expressing "concerns" over a bill in the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitio ...

meant to legally protect LGBT Italians against

violence Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened ...

and discrimination. The letter claimed the section of the bill prohibiting incitement of hatred on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity constituted a violation of freedom of speech and of religion, and asked for the draft law's text to be reformulated.

Summary table

References

External links

"'Male and Female He Created Them': Towards a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education"

"''Amoris Laetita''"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lgbt Rights in Vatican City

Human rights in Vatican City