LGBT rights in Vatican City

The legal code regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Vatican City is based on the Italian Zanardelli Code of 1889, since the founding of the sovereign state of the Vatican City in 1929.

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

Criminal law
Since 1890, the territory of what is now Vatican City has had no criminal laws against non-commercial, private, adult and consensual same-sex sexual activity. The age of consent is currently set at 18 years for all persons, regardless of gender. In the case of sexual relations within marriage – only in the cases of marriages recognized as valid by the Catholic Church and by the laws of Vatican City – the legal age is set at 14 years old.

Foreign diplomats, in order to be accredited, must not be part of a same-sex family, and must not be divorced. In 2008, Jean-Loup Kuhn-Delforge, who is an openly gay diplomat, and who is in a civil pact with his partner, was rejected by Roman Catholic 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 Francois Hollande and was supported by France's top Curia cardinal, Jean-Louis Tauran, who was the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, and Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, 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 does not have any civil rights provisions that include sexual orientation or gender identity.

Recognition of same-sex relationships
Vatican City has always expressed disagreement with any civil recognition of same-sex unions, same-sex marriage, and against the granting of adoption rights to same-sex couples.

Discrimination protections
The Vatican reserves the right to remove, suspend and dismiss immediately any official and employee who publicly admits to being gay or questions the general policy of the Vatican towards homosexuals.

Protests


On 13 January 1998, the LGBT activist of Arcigay Alfredo Ormando set himself on fire on St. Peter's Square (which is under the jurisdiction of the Vatican City) in protest against the attitude of deep-rooted refusal that has always been expressed by the Catholic religion towards homosexuality. As a result of the severe burns suffered, he died a few days later in a hospital.

Influence
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 meant to legally protect LGBT Italians against violence 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.