Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Austria have advanced significantly in the 21st century. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. Registered partnerships were introduced in 2010, giving same-sex couples some of the rights of marriage. Stepchild adoption was legalised in 2013, while full joint adoption was legalised by the
Constitutional Court of Austria
The Constitutional Court (german: Verfassungsgerichtshof or ) in Austria is the tribunal responsible for judicial review.
It verifies the constitutionality of statutes, the legality of ordinances and other secondary legislation, and the consti ...
in January 2015. On 5 December 2017, the Austrian
Constitutional Court
A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
decided to legalise
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
, and the ruling went into effect on 1 January 2019.
The country, while influenced by
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
, has slowly become more
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
with laws and social opinions concerning sexual orientation and gender identity. However, there are still many LGBT minorities think being different is a problem. In June 2019,
Minister of Education, Science and Research Iris Eliisa Rauskala became the first government minister to come out as
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
.
Law regarding same-sex sexual activity
Same-sex sexual acts have been legal since 1971. In 2002, the age of consent was equalized by a court decision from 18 to 14 years of age.
Despite widespread support to set up an "expungement or compensation scheme" for old historical gay sex
criminal records
A criminal record, police record, or colloquially RAP sheet (Record of Arrests and Prosecutions) is a record of a person's criminal history. The information included in a criminal record and the existence of a criminal record varies between coun ...
, the government of
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
has not implemented it yet as of July 2020.
Recognition of same-sex relationships
![Wien-Innere Stadt - Verfassungsgerichtshof und Kunstforum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Wien-Innere_Stadt_-_Verfassungsgerichtshof_und_Kunstforum.jpg)
Following the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in ''Karner v. Austria'' in 2003, cohabitating same-sex couples were given the same rights as cohabitating opposite-sex couples.
First planned in 2007,
registered partnerships have been legal in Austria since 1 January 2010.
Before the Constitutional Court decided to legalize same-sex marriage, the
Austrian Government had not legalised same-sex marriage due to opposition by the
Austrian People's Party
The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria.
Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...
(ÖVP).
The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to:
Current political parties
* Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens''
* Greens of Andorra
* Greens of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Greens of Burkina
* Greens (Greece)
* Greens of Montenegro
*Greens of Serbia
*G ...
had however introduced a bill in
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, and in 2015 a citizens' initiative "Ehe Gleich!" was set up to petition the Parliament to consider the legalisation of same-sex marriage. They also filed a lawsuit challenging the current law; however, it was dismissed by a lower court. A second lawsuit was heard on 21 March 2016 in Linz. On 15 April 2016, a court dismissed the case as well.
On 5 December 2017, the Constitutional Court struck down the ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional. The ruling would take effect on 1 January 2019, though the plaintiffs in the court case were allowed to marry prior to that date.
In January 2018, the new ÖVP-Chancellor,
Sebastian Kurz
Sebastian Kurz (; born 27 August 1986) is a former Austrian politician who twice served as chancellor of Austria, initially from December 2017 to May 2019 and then a second time from January 2020 to October 2021.
Kurz was born and raised in ...
, said on national television that his new Government will respect the ruling by the Constitutional Court. As legislators took no steps to legalise same-sex marriage before the deadline, same-sex marriage became legal on 1 January 2019.
Adoption and parenting
On 19 February 2013, the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
ruled in ''
X and Others v. Austria'' that a partner in a same-sex union has the right to adopt his or her partner's biological child. On 4 July 2013, the Austrian Parliament passed a government bill that allows stepchild adoption by same-sex couples. The law entered into force on 1 August 2013.
In January 2015, the Constitutional Court found the existing laws on adoption to be unconstitutional and ordered the laws to be changed by 31 December 2015 to allow joint adoption by same-sex couples. On 30 October 2015, the Justice Minister announced that the ban would no longer be enforced starting on 1 January 2016, thus allowing the Court's decision to automatically cancel the joint adoption ban.
Additionally, lesbian couples can get access to artificial insemination and
IVF
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) f ...
treatments.
In October 2018, in a case concerning adoption issues following the end of a relationship, the Austrian Constitutional Court ruled that same-sex couples must be treated the same way as opposite-sex couples. It decided that the non-biological mother should be fully recognized as a parent, through way of an adoption, and enjoy the same rights, treatment and obligations as a heterosexual father would, even if the couple has separated. The children's best interest must be taken and guaranteed in every adoption process, the court ruled.
Discrimination protections
The ''Equal Treatment Act'' (german: Gleichbehandlungsgesetz) has included anti-discrimination protections on the basis of
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 ...
since 2004, to follow the implementation of EU legislation prohibiting discrimination on that ground.
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 i ...
and intersex status are not explicitly included, but are perceived as being covered under "gender". In January 2017,
Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...
became the last Austrian state (''Bundesland'') to update its anti-discrimination laws to cover sexual orientation in the provision of goods and services.
Every other state had already established anti-discrimination laws covering sexual orientation.
The 1993 ''Security Police Act'' (german: Sicherheitspolizeigesetz) requires the police to refrain from any actions that could create the impression of bias or that could be perceived as discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. In addition, the city of
Bludenz
Bludenz (; Alemannic: ''Bludaz'') is a town in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg. It is the administrative seat of the Bludenz District, which encompasses about half of the Vorarlberg's territory.
Geography
The town is located on the Il ...
adopted a symbolic non-discrimination declaration which includes sexual orientation in 1998. Although the
Federal Constitution protects all citizens equally and prohibits discrimination, sexual orientation is not explicitly included.
In 2015, the
Austrian Parliament
The Austrian Parliament (german: Österreichisches Parlament) is the bicameral federal legislature of the Austrian Republic. It consists of two chambers – the National Council and the Federal Council. In specific cases, both houses convene ...
approved amendments to the Criminal Code, making it an aggravating sentence to commit a crime on account of the victim's sexual orientation and banning hate speech on the basis of sexual orientation.
The changes went into effect on 1 January 2016.
Gender identity and expression
Transgender people in Austria are allowed to change their legal gender and name so that they match their gender identity. They are not obliged to undergo
sex reassignment surgery
Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and alle ...
beforehand. The legal change of gender and name is bound to submission of psychiatric opinion though - so is the payment of sex-change treatment by public health insurance bound to submission of various psychiatric opinions.
Intersex rights
On 14 March 2018, the
Constitutional Court
A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
preliminarily ruled that
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 bina ...
people, who are biologically neither male nor female, can choose to have their entry in the birth registry left blank or changed to "inter", "other" or "X". In May 2019, as a result of the ruling, Austrian intersex activist Alex Jürgen was issued documents featuring a third gender option. The Court also ruled that
intersex medical interventions
Intersex medical interventions, also known as intersex genital mutilations (IGM), are surgical, hormonal and other medical interventions performed to modify atypical or ambiguous genitalia and other sex characteristics, primarily for the purposes ...
are not constitutional and should be avoided as much as possible. It ruled that such medical interventions could only be justified in exceptional cases, such as in life-threatening cases. The final judgment was published on 29 June 2018, and entered into force immediately.
In July 2020, the first intersex
birth certificate
A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a person. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation of the ensuin ...
was legally recognised and issued to an individual person within
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
.
Military service
Austria permits LGBT people to serve openly in the
Austrian Armed Forces
The Austrian Armed Forces (german: Bundesheer, lit=Federal Army) are the combined military forces of the Republic of Austria.
The military consists of 22,050 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 0.74% of natio ...
.
As of 2014, Austria allowed transgender people to serve openly in its military forces.
The policy of inclusion was reportedly still in effect in 2017.
Conversion therapy
In June and July 2018, LGBT association
HOSI Salzburg criticised the ultra-conservative Christian association "TeenSTAR" for claiming that "Homosexuality is considered an identity problem and 'aberration'". The group offered minors conversion therapy classes by teaching them that sexual orientation was "changeable" through a combination of therapy, self-help groups and pastoral care, as reported by the ''
Salzburger Nachrichten
The ''Salzburger Nachrichten'' is a German language daily newspaper published in Salzburg, Austria. It has been in circulation since 1945.
History and profile
''Salzburger Nachrichten'' was established in 1945 by the American forces occupying Au ...
'' newspaper.
Member of the National Council Mario Lindner (
SPÖ
The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...
) made a parliamentary request to former
Minister of Education Heinz Faßmann
Heinz Faßmann (born 13 August 1955 in Düsseldorf) is an Austrian politician and professor of human geography and land-use planning at the University of Vienna. He served as the Minister of Education in the Second Kurz cabinet in the government ...
on the allegations; another parliamentary question was launched by
Member of the National Council Ewa Dziedzic (
Greens). In October 2018, the Education Directorate Salzburg banned TeenSTAR workshops until the result of the review. Although the
Ministry of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
announced a ban on the association, and a decree by Christmas 2018, as of February 2019, no decree had been published, and TeenSTAR continued to work in schools. In April, the association was finally banned.
In December 2018, a resolution calling for a ban on conversion therapy on minors was submitted to Parliament by
SPÖ
The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...
equal treatment spokesman Mario Lindner. A vote was initially prevented and delayed by the ruling ÖVP and FPÖ coalition. However, on 13 June 2019, in a preliminary vote, the
National Council approved the resolution. The
Social Democratic Party of Austria
The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...
(SPÖ),
NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum
NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum (german: NEOS – Das Neue Österreich und Liberales Forum) is a liberal political party in Austria. It was founded as NEOS – The New Austria in 2012. In 2014, NEOS merged with Liberal Forum and adopt ...
(NEOS)
JETZT – Pilz List (JETZT), the two independent members and the
Austrian People's Party
The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria.
Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...
(ÖVP) all voted for the resolution; with the
Freedom Party of Austria
The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aust ...
(FPÖ) opposing. On 2 July 2019, the National Council approved the resolution in a final vote. In this vote, the FPÖ also agreed, on the grounds that children and adolescents should always be given priority protection. The resolution calls on the
Government of Austria to "immediately submit to the
Federal Council a government bill banning the use of conversion and reparative therapies on minors" by setting a deadline before summer.
Living conditions
Politics
In 1995, the
International Human Rights Tribunal
The International Human Rights Tribunal (IHRT) was a symbolic tribunal which took place in Vienna, Austria, in June 1995. It was chaired by environmental and human rights activist Freda Meissner-Blau and Gerhard Oberschlick, editor of ''FORVM'', ...
instigated the political discussion about the discrimination and persecution of LGBT persons in Austria. The first major parliamentary debates on that issue took place thereafter, initiated by the
Liberal Forum
The Liberal Forum (german: Liberales Forum, LiF) was a centrist, Liberalism in Austria, liberal political party in Austria. The party was active from February 1993 to January 2014, when the party merged into NEOS – The New Austria.
A member ...
(LIF) which was campaigning strongly against discrimination of homosexuals, which at that time existed through section 209 of the Austrian Penal Code, and for complete equality of treatment also including marriage and adoption. Section 209 set a higher age of consent for gay men, at 18 (instead of 14 for heterosexuals and lesbians). The
Social Democrats
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
(SPÖ) and the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
at that time showed support for the issue of equal treatment of same-sex couples.
After the LIF did not pass the four percent electoral threshold in the 1999 elections, the Social Democrats and the Green Party started to embrace this issue more. The SPÖ on its biannual Federal Party Convention made a decision on the issue of equal treatment of same-sex couples. They proposed a model of registered partnership ("Eingetragene Partnerschaft") including stepchild adoption. The Austrian Green Party proposed the civil pact ("Zivilpakt") as a somewhat similar model to that of the Social Democrats in 2004.
However, progress was visible to a limited extent. Since 1998, Austria has recognized the right not to testify against their partner if the partner is of the same sex, as amended in the Criminal Code. In June 2002, the Constitutional Court rescinded section 209 of the Criminal Code, which led to the introduction of section 207b as a substitute by the coalition of the conservative
ÖVP
The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria.
Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...
and the right-wing
FPÖ
The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aust ...
. Section 207b lowered the age of consent for all regardless of sexual orientation to 14 with a close in age exemption of 3 years. It also prohibits corrupting a minor under 16 to have sexual relations. Following the 2003 decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of ''Karner v Austria'', cohabiting same-sex partners are entitled to the same rights as unmarried cohabiting opposite-sex partners. In 2005, the Green Party campaigned heavily for registered partnerships during the Vienna election campaign in 2005. On 26 July 2006, the first legal same-sex marriage was conducted, when Angelika Frasl, a transsexual woman with two children, was permitted by the Constitutional Court to change her legal gender to female while remaining married to her wife.
Karin Gastinger, the then Minister of Justice and a former member of the
centre-right
Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...
Alliance for the Future of Austria, had fought for gay and lesbian couples to get rights to partners' estates and medical care in December 2005. However, her case was ultimately unsuccessful.
It was not thought likely that the coalition of Conservatives and Social Democrats formed in 2007 would result in major steps towards more equality quickly. Although the then Minister of Justice,
Maria Berger, a Social Democrat, intended to improve the situation, she herself expected huge opposition by the conservative coalition partner ÖVP, most likely because her situation was similar to that of her predecessor Gastinger.
Furthermore,
Maria Fekter
Maria Theresia Fekter is an Politics of Austria, Austrian politician (Austrian People's Party, ÖVP) and was the Austrian Minister of Finance between 2011 and 2013. Before that, she was Minister of the Interior.
On 27 June 2008, it was announced ...
, former chairperson of the parliamentary committee for the judiciary, and former Minister of the Interior, repeatedly announced her opposition to registered same-sex partnerships and that conservative values would prevail. Though, despite such opposition, partnerships were approved in December 2009.
Other, more conservative, political parties include the Austrian People's Party and the Freedom Party tend to oppose LGBT rights.
Openly LGBT politicians
Openly LGBT politicians in Austria include
Ulrike Lunacek
Ulrike Lunacek (] born 26 May 1957) is an Austrian politician who served as State Secretary for Cultural Affairs in the Second Kurz government, government of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in 2020. She is a member of the Austrian Green party The Gree ...
, former
Greens leader and the
Vice-President of the European Parliament
There are fourteen vice-presidents of the European Parliament who sit in for the president in presiding over the plenary of the European Parliament.
Role
Vice-presidents are members of the Bureau and chair the plenary when the president is not i ...
. Lunacek was elected to the
National Council in 1999, remaining a member until 2009. In 2009, she became the first openly lesbian
MEP. She retired from politics in 2020. In 2017, Mario Lindner (
SPÖ
The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...
) became the first openly gay politician to be elected to the National Council. Gerald Grosz, member of the National Council between 2008 and 2013 and the
party leader
In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a political ...
of the
Alliance for the Future of Austria between 2013 and 2015, came out as gay in 2013 just before his retirement from politics in 2015.
Member of the Federal Council Ewa Dziedzic (
Greens) and member of the
Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna
As Vienna, the capital of Austria is both a city and a state, the 100 members of the Municipal Council (''Gemeinderat'') of the city of Vienna also act as members of the Landtag (legislative assembly) of the state of Vienna. Members serve for five ...
Faika El-Nagashi (
Greens) are both lesbians. In April 2019, Georg Djundja (
SPÖ
The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...
) was elected as the first openly gay mayor in Austria, of the city of
Oberndorf bei Salzburg
Oberndorf bei Salzburg (Central Bavarian: ''Owerndorf ba Såizburg'') is a List of cities and towns in Austria, small city in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg, about 17 km (11 mi) north of the Salzburg, City of Salzburg. I ...
.
In June 2019,
Minister of Education, Science and Research Iris Eliisa Rauskala came out as
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
and announced that she is married to a woman, becoming the first openly LGBT minister in the
Government of Austria.
Since the 2019 National Election seven politicians in the National Council are openly gay. With four politicians (Ewa Dziedzic, Faika El-Nagashi, David Stögmüller and Meri Disoski) the Green party has the highest number of LGBT representatives. Beside Yannik Shetty from the liberal party NEOS - Das Neue Österreich, there are also two openly gay politicians from the conservative Austrian People's Party: Nico Marchetti and Martina Kaufmann.
Controversies
![Regenbogenparade2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Regenbogenparade2007.jpg)
Much speculation has been made about the sexual orientation of
Jörg Haider
Jörg Haider (; 26 January 1950 – 11 October 2008)
was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of ...
, who took control of the right-wing
Freedom Party in 1986 and then later created the more mainstream but still
socially conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...
Alliance for the Future of Austria. The controversy continued after Haider's death in an accident on 11 October 2008. In 2009, some Austrian publications were forbidden by a court injunction for "breach of personal and privacy rights of Dr Jörg Haider", and thus from making claims that Jörg Haider was not heterosexual.
Gay community
The gay community is developed in all larger cities, such as
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
,
Linz
Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846.
In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...
,
Innsbruck
Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...
,
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the ...
and
Graz
Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...
. Every year, the Austrian capital hosts
Vienna Gay Pride, which includes the ''Regenbogenparade'', the "Rainbow Parade".
LGBT rights organisations
Major LGBT organisations include
HOSI Wien
The Homosexual Initiative Vienna (HOSI Wien) was founded in Vienna in 1979. It is Austria's oldest and largest gay, lesbian and bisexual association. It is a member-based organisation holding an annual general meeting and board elections. The orga ...
, which was founded in 1979 and is Austria's oldest and largest gay, lesbian and bisexual association,
The Austrian Lesbian and Gay Forum (ALGF), which was active throughout the 1990s, and Afro Rainbow Austria (ARA), the first organisation by and for LGBT migrants from Africa in Austria.
Summary table
See also
*
Human rights in Austria
*
LGBT rights in the European Union
LGBT rights in the European Union are protected under the European Union's (EU) treaties and law. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in all EU member states and discrimination in employment has been banned since 2000. However, EU states have diff ...
*
LGBT rights in Europe
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights are widely diverse in Europe per country. Nineteen out of the 33 countries that have legalised same-sex marriage worldwide are situated in Europe. A further eleven European countries have leg ...
References
External links
*Percy, William A. ''Austria.''
''Encyclopedia of Homosexuality.''Dynes, Wayne R. (ed.), Garland Publishing, 1990. pp. 97–99
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lgbt Rights in Austria