GayLawNet^®

Territory

Consensual sex between same-sex male couples is 18 years, compared to 16 years for heterosexuals and quaere lesbians [R1.1].

On 18 June 2009, a Private Members Bill aimed at equalising the age of consent for gay men in Gibraltar was defeated in parliament [R1.2].

In October 2007 the UK Prime Minister committed himself to ending the unequal age of consent in the self-governing territory [R1.3].

Courts & Tribunals

In March 2010, Chief Minister Peter Caruana and Attorney General Ricky Rhoda, QC, asked the Supreme Court court to declare whether the difference between the age of consent for homosexuals compared to that for lesbian and heterosexual couples breaches the constitutional rights of gay males [R2.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 14 December 2009, the 5–judge Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled that housing officials in Gibraltar discriminated against a lesbian couple because of their sexual orientation in denying them a joint tenancy in a government apartment [R1.1].

Previously:

In May 2009, a lesbian couple took their case to the Privy Council, the Court of Appeal having upheld a Supreme Court ruling that the government was entitled to protect the 'traditional family' by favouring straight married couples when allocating state housing [R1.2].

In August 2007, a lesbian couple launched legal action against the government of Gibralter over its failure to recognise their 19-year relationship [R1.3].

Territory

In 1993, consensual sex between same-sex couples was decriminalised [R1.1].