LGBTQ rights in Chile
, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer rights in Chile have advanced significantly in the 21st century, and are now very progressive. Despite Chile being considered one of the most conservative countries in Latin America for decades, today the majority of the Chilean society supports the rights of LGBTQ people. Chile is currently considered one of the safest and most friendly countries for the LGBTQ community in the world.
Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Chile since 1999. Chile was one of the latest South American countries to have legalized the activity. In 2012, a law banning all discrimination and hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity was approved. Since then, the Chilean Armed Forces allow gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender and queer people to openly serve. LGBTQ people are allowed to donate blood without restrictions since 2013.
Same-sex couples can be registered officially. In 2015, a civil union law was implemented for both heterosexual and homosexual couples, with similar but not equal legal benefits to those of a marriage. After several lawsuits, including one at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Chilean government proposed a bill for marriage equality in 2017. On 9 December 2021, the law was approved and same-sex couples are able to marry and adopt since 10 March 2022.
Legal gender transition has been possible in the country through judicial processes, with the first one being registered in 1974. In 2019, a law recognizes the right to self-perceived gender identity, allowing people over 14 years to change their name and gender in documents without prohibitive requirements.
Law regarding same-sex sexual activity
Adult, consensual, non-commercial, same-sex sexual activity has been legal in Chile since 1999, but the liberalization of the criminal code created an unequal age of consent and did not modify vague public indecency laws, which have been used to harass LGBT people in Chile. Until 2022, Article 365 of the Penal Code established a higher age of consent of 18 for male homosexual acts. However, this provision was abolished by Law 21,483 on August, 24, 2022.In Chile, the age at which there are no restrictions for sexual activities is 18, while the minimum age of consent is 14. Limitations exist between 14 and 18 years old.
There also exists in the Chilean Penal Code, a legal figure called estupro. This figure establishes some limitations to sexual contacts with children older than 14 and younger than 18 years old. The estupro legislation defines four situations in which sex with such a children can be declared illegal even if the minor consented to the relationship :
- When one takes advantage of a mental anomaly or perturbation of the child, even if transitory.
- When one takes advantage of a dependency or subordinate relationship of the child, like in cases when the aggressor is in charge of the custody, education or caretaking of the child, or when there exists a laboral relationship with the child.
- When one takes advantage of severely neglected children.
- When one takes advantage of the sexual ignorance or inexperience of the child.
Article 369 states that charges relating to these offenses can be brought only after a complaint by the minor or the minor's parent, guardian or legal representative. Nevertheless, if the offended party cannot freely file the complaint and lacks a legal representative, parent or guardian, or if the legal representative, parent or guardian is involved in the crime, the Public Ministry may proceed by its own.
History
In 1810, the age of consent for opposite-sex activity was 12. In 1999, the age of consent was set at 14 for both girls and boys in relation to heterosexual sex. Homosexual acts were decriminalized in 1999, with an age of consent of 18. In 2011, the Tribunal Constitucional de Chile confirmed that the age of consent is 14 for heterosexual relations, as well as for lesbian relations, but it is 18 for male homosexual relations. In August 2018, the Constitutional Court again rejected that Article 365 of the Criminal Code was unconstitutional, in a 5-5 vote, validating for the second time in its history that the age of consent for gay men is 18, while for heterosexuals and lesbians is 14 years old.A bill repealing Article 365 and equalizing the age of consent passed the Chamber of Deputies on August 17, 2022 and the Senate on August 2, 2022. The bill was published in the Diario Oficial de la República de Chile on August 24, 2022, and came into force on the same day.
Recognition of same-sex relationships
In March 2015, the Ministry of Foreign affairs issued a circular that recognizes same-sex civil unions and equal marriages performed abroad for residency matters. Chile has recognised civil unions since 22 October 2015.Civil unions
Chile's civil union laws enable same-sex and opposite-sex cohabitating couples to co-own property and make medical decisions as well as claim pension benefits and inherit property if their civil partner dies. Gaining custody of a partner's child where necessary is also made easier by the law. The new law recognises marriages performed abroad as civil unions and views couples and their children as a family.In August 2011, President Sebastián Piñera introduced a bill to Congress allowing registered cohabitation. After four years of debate and improved provisions added during Michelle Bachelet's administration, the bill was passed in both houses on 28 January 2015. On 13 April 2015, the bill was signed into law by President Bachelet and was published in the Official Gazette on 21 April 2015. It took effect on 22 October 2015.
On 1 December 2016, the Chamber of Deputies unanimously approved a bill to give couples who enter in a civil union five days off, like couples who marry have. The bill was approved by the Senate in October 2017, in a unanimous 15-0 vote. It took effect on 8 November 2017.
Same-sex marriage bill
On 28 August 2017, President Michelle Bachelet introduced the Marriage Equality Bill, fulfilling an election promise and as part of the friendly settlement signed in June 2016 by the State of Chile with the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, in the context of a lawsuit filed before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, involving the lack of access to civil marriage by three same-sex couples in Chile.The bill would have amended the definition of marriage of article 102 of the Civil Code, replacing the phrase that determines it as the union "between a man and a woman", by "the union between two people". In addition, the measure contemplates the right of joint adoption and filiation for same-sex couples.
The bill had stalled in the National Congress of Chile, and in June 2021 Chilean president Sebastián Piñera said he will attempt to expedite the passing of the bill, saying "I think the time for equal marriage has come in our country". On 7 December 2021, the Chamber of Deputies passed the bill with 82 votes for and 20 against, and 2 abstentions. The Senate passed the bill as well. It came into force on 10 March, 2022.
Adoption, parenting and family planning
Since March 10, 2022, joint parenthood of same-sex couples is legal after the entry into force of Law 21,400 on Equal Marriage, which explicitly guarantees non-discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity for custody purposes, filiation and adoption whether or not the couples are married or whether or not they had their children through assisted human fertilization. In addition, the motherhood of transgender women and the fatherhood of transgender men are recognized on the birth certificates of their children. The law amends the Civil Code to recognise as parents of children as their mother and/or father, their two mothers, or their two fathers. It states that the order of the surnames of the children of same-sex couples is defined by themselves as parents and, if there is no agreement, the Civil Registry will determine. In March 2025, the Civil Registry reported that 847 people had been registered as children of two fathers or two mothers.According to the law, the filiation of the child born by the application of assisted human reproduction techniques, will be determined with respect to the two people who have undergone them. On the other hand, it opens the possibility that the filiation rights of children can be determined with respect to more than two persons. It states pre and post-natal labor rights without discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation or gender identity. The rights of working mothers related to maternity protection will be applicable to the mother or pregnant person, regardless of gender identity. The rights granted to the father will also be applicable to the non-pregnant parent.
In July 2025, President Gabriel Boric enacted the new Adoption Law, which establishes in Article 1 that its primary consideration "shall be the best interests of the adopted child or adolescent, and shall protect their right to live and develop within a family, regardless of its composition, that provides them with affection and provides the care necessary to meet all their needs, when this cannot be provided by their family of origin." The new law eliminates the old priority that privileged married couples at the time of adoption, leaving single people, widows, couples with a Civil Union Agreement, or common-law partners on equal footing, without discrimination based on marital status. Article 18 establishes that "Under no circumstances may applicants be arbitrarily discriminated against for reasons that constitute arbitrary discrimination, in accordance with the provisions of the Zamudio Law, which establishes anti-discrimination measures." The amendment submitted by President Sebastián Piñera's government, which stated that "if the child or adolescent expresses his will to have a father and a mother, the judge must consider it preferentially," was rejected and was not included in the final text of the law before it was approved. The Equal Marriage Law did not amend the old Adoption Law, which had been in force since 1999, to include the marital status of "civil cohabitant." Therefore, until the new Adoption Law comes into force, same-sex couples in a civil union will not be able to apply jointly for adoption.
On 5 July 2017, the Seventh Civil Court of Santiago ordered the Civil Registry to register two children as sons of two men. The Chilean-American couple adopted both children in 2014 in Connecticut, USA. The ruling was endorsed in July 2019 by the Santiago Court of Appeals. Finally, on 26 June 2020, the Civil Registry registered both parents into the birth certificate of both children.
On 8 June 2020, the Second Family Court of Santiago ordered the Civil Registry Service to register a child on his birth certificate as the son of two women. The couple underwent an assisted reproduction technique to have their child. Previously, in March 2015, a lesbian mother filed a voluntary petition to a Family Court to have her daughter legally recognized as the daughter of her partner. In November 2015, the Supreme Court ruled against the two mothers, by a vote of three to two.
In April 2016, the Filiation Regulation for Children of Same Sex Families bill was introduced into the Senate. If passed, the bill would offer three pathways to legally recognize the filiation of same-sex parents to their children. On 1 July 2020, the bill was approved at its first reading in the Senate by 27 votes in favor, 13 against and 1 abstention, and will now go to the Special Commission on Children and Adolescents.