Venezuela is a signatory to various international human rights treaties that include protections relating to members of the LGBTQI+ community (summarised further below) and has shown some support for the Yogyakarta Principles, a set of international human rights guidelines addressing sexual orientation and gender identity issues and obligating countries to protect the rights of LGBTQI+ persons. In Decision No. 1942 of July 15 (2003)  (Spanish), the Venezuelan Supreme Court stipulated the immediate enforceability of the human rights recognised in Venezuela, “irrespective of whether those rights are recognized in any law“. 

Organisation of American States (OAS)

Venezuela is a member of the OAS. In 2012, the OAS General Assembly passed the resolution AG/RES. 2721 on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, which condemned discrimination against persons by reason of their sexual orientation and gender identity and urged states to eliminate barriers faced by LGBTQI+ persons in access to political participation and in other areas of public life, as well as to avoid interferences with their private life. 

The resolution also encouraged member states to consider adopting public policies against discrimination by reason of sexual orientation and gender identity; to condemn acts of violence and human rights violations committed against persons by reason of their sexual orientation and gender identity; and to strengthen their national institutions with a view to preventing and investigating these acts and violations and ensuring due judicial protection for victims on an equal footing and that the perpetrators are brought to justice. 

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

The ICCPR was ratified by Venezuela on 10 May 1978. The ICCPR is a key international human rights treaty which provides a range of protections for civil and political rights, including the right to life and human dignity; equality before the law; freedom of speech, assembly, and association; religious freedom and privacy; freedom from torture, ill-treatment, and arbitrary detention; gender equality; the right to a fair trial; the right to family life and family unity; and minority rights. Articles 2 and 26 of the ICCPR embody the right to non-discrimination in the enjoyment of these rights in the following terms:  

• Article 2 of ICCPR requires the signatories “to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status” [emphasis added].
• Article 26 of ICCPR provides that “[a]ll persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status” [emphasis added].

The Human Rights Committee (HRC), which interprets the ICCPR, has affirmed that discrimination based on sexual orientation is prohibited under the ICCPR. This was first articulated in the case of Toonen v Australia (1994), where the HRC held that Tasmania’s sodomy laws were discriminatory on the basis of sexual orientation and violated the ICCPR. Additionally, in Young v Australia (2003), the HRC reiterated that sexual orientation discrimination is prohibited under Article 26. These decisions have been influential in shaping international human rights law regarding sexual orientation.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

Article 2 of UDHR states that “[e]veryone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status” [emphasis added]. On 11 November 2018, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a press release regarding Article 2, stating that “[i]t is not necessary to create a new set of LGBT-specific rights, or set new international human rights standards. All that is required to protect LGBT people from violence and discrimination is respect for existing rights.”

American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) 

The ACHR came into force in 1978. It defines the human rights which the ratifying states have agreed to respect and ensure, and created two organs to further this purpose, the first to promote the observance and protection of human rights and the second to take responsibility for overseeing compliance with the Convention: the IACHR and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) respectively. 

Venezuela originally accepted the jurisdiction of the IACHR and the IACtHR on 9 August 1977 and 24 June 1981 respectively. However, in September 2013, Venezuela withdrew from the jurisdiction of the IACHR and IACtHR and is thus no longer a state party to the ACHR. 

Office of the High Commission of Human Rights (OHCHR) 

The OHCHR is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote and protect the enjoyment and full realisation of all human rights by everyone. Its primary role is to coordinate human rights promotion and protection activities across the United Nations system.

Since 2019, the OHCHR has been operating in Venezuela as part of the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator. This presence has enabled the Office to provide technical assistance for the effective implementation of various recommendations and UN human rights mechanisms, support civil society, and continue to credibly assess the human rights situation and challenges on the ground. However, on 15 February 2024, Venezuela shut down the country office of OHCHR and suspended the work of OHCHR within the country after the office expressed concern regarding the detention of human rights defender Rocío San Miguel, noting it could amount to an enforced disappearance. Services were partially resumed in December 2024. 

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) 

Venezuela signed the CAT on 15 February 1985 and ratified it on 29 July 1991. However, Venezuela has not ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, which it signed on 1 July 2011. 

In its Ninth annual report, published in March 2016, the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment stressed that it is fundamental that LGBTQI+ persons are included in the design, implementation and evaluation of measures adopted to prevent torture and ill-treatment against them. It also urged the states to adopt the measures necessary to ensure that violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity is properly identified, to carry out prompt and impartial investigations into allegations of torture and ill-treatment –including sexual violence –, and to provide reparations to victims.  

The Human Rights Watch World Report 2024 found that Venezuela had no comprehensive legislation protecting people from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In a press release dated 8 September 2021, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) also expressed its concern over the absence of public policies and legislation that guaranteed the rights of LGBTQI+ people in Venezuela, urging for the State to “take effective measures to recognize the rights of LGBTI people and eradicate the discrimination, violence, and vulnerability to which they are exposed.” 

Same-sex relations, marriage and adoption

Consensual same-sex relations have not been criminalised in Venezuela since the first Penal Code was enacted in 1836, according to the ILGA database. LGBTQI+ individuals were occasionally prosecuted under the Law on Vagrants and Crooks, particularly those involved in prostitution, until the law was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1997. Same-sex sexual activity in the military was criminalised under Article 565 of the Military Justice Code until March 2023, when the Supreme Tribunal of Justice struck down the provision for being “insufficiently precise about the punishable behaviour“. 

Civil unions or marriage are not legally available for same-sex couples in Venezuela. Article 77 of the Constitution states that “Marriage, which is based on free consent and absolute equality of rights and obligations of the spouses, is protected. A stable de facto union between a man and a woman which meets the requirements established by law shall have the same effects as marriage” [emphasis added]. Article 44 of the Civil Code provides that “Marriage may only be entered into by one man and one woman (…) which is the sole marriage to produce legal effects, both with respect to individuals and to property” [emphasis added]. In 2008, the Venezuelan Supreme Tribunal of Justice held that the provision of the Civil Code that limits marriage or union between “one man and one woman” was not unconstitutional.

There are no legal instruments that allow same-sex couples to adopt children in Venezuela. However, in 2016, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice ordered the registration of a child with the last names of both his mothers, who in this case were Venezuelan women who had married in Argentina, and upheld the rights of children of same-sex married couples under the Constitution.

Equality before the law and discrimination

Article 21 of the Venezuelan Constitution states that 

“All persons are equal before the law, and, consequently: no discrimination based on race, sex, creed or social standing shall be permitted, nor, in general, any discrimination with the intent or effect of nullifying or encroaching upon the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on equal terms, of the rights and liberties of every individual.“

In 1999, early attempts to include sexual orientation among the protected characteristics in the Venezuelan Constitution were met with opposition, especially from the Catholic Church. High-ranking bishops with the Episcopal Conference had argued that the new constitution “should protect  family values by not recognizing language that would normalize changes in patterns of behaviour” (in relation to homosexuality) and encouraged people to protest “the disintegration of the family“.

On 28 February 2008, the Constitutional Chamber of the Venezuelan Supreme Tribunal of Justice interpreted Article 21 as explicitly prohibiting discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation. However, it did not explicitly rule that the prohibition separately extended to discrimination based on gender identity or expression.

Specific legal protections against discrimination for LGBTQI+ people in Venezuela appear limited. The only two specific protections are:

• Article 21 of the Organic Law of Labour and Workers (2012) (available in Spanish), which sets out the principle of non-discrimination at work, which includes sexual orientation as a protected characteristic. However, Article 21 does not include gender identity or gender expression as protected characteristics. 
• Article 5 of the Law for the Regulation and Control of Housing Leasing (2011) (available in Spanish), which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the rental of urban and suburban properties for housing. 

On 28 March 2023, the National Assembly introduced the Draft Organic Law Against All Types of Discrimination (2023) (available in Spanish) to the second stage of the legislative process. This draft law aims to prohibit any form of distinction, exclusion, restriction, preference, or differential treatment based directly or indirectly on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in any area of public life. 

Censorship and hate crime against sexual orientation and gender identity 

There are no laws or regulations that specifically protect (or limit) freedom of expression with regard to LGBTQI+ issues in Venezuela. However, Article 57 of the Constitution provides that “[e]veryone has the right to express freely his or her thoughts, ideas or opinions orally, in writing or by any other form of expression“. Nonetheless, this does not necessarily mean that local communities can freely and effectively share and access information on sexual, gender, or bodily diversity, as various other factors may restrict this right in practice. 

There are no specific laws against hate crimes based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression in Venezuela. However, in November 2017, the National Constituent Assembly enacted the Constitutional Law Against Hate, for Peaceful Coexistence and Tolerance (available in Spanish), Article 13 of which prohibits any advocacy of hatred based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or any other characteristic that incites discrimination, intolerance, or violence. Furthermore, Article 14 bans the dissemination of messages through social networks and electronic media that incite hatred based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or any other characteristic that promotes discrimination, intolerance, or violence. In addition, in May 2022, the Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, announced the creation of a specialized prosecutor’s office to deal with issues related to the LGBTQI+ community. 

Conversion therapy 

There are no known national laws that regulate or ban conversion therapies in Venezuela. However, the Simón Rodríguez Municipality (Anzoátegui) banned conversion therapies at the local level, through the Decree on the Protection of Human Rights of the LGBTI Community (2022). In September 2022, the board of directors of the Federation of Psychologists of Venezuela issued a statement condemning the practice of conversion therapies to “cure” homosexuality and any other expression of sexual orientation or gender identity. The federation unequivocally rejected any discriminatory acts against individuals and condemned the offering and practice of conversion therapies. 

Trans rights

Article 146 of the Venezuela Civil Registry Code permits name changes based on gender. The Supreme Tribunal of Justice has similarly recognised the right to change gender on official documents following medical, psychiatric and psychological examinations (SC-No.-399-01-06-2017). However, despite this, LGBTQI+ activists report that transgender individuals often have their applications denied by the Civil Registry and redirected to administrative judges, with no administrative procedures or mechanisms in place to give effect to Article 146. However, according to the Human Rights Council’s June 2023 report on Venezuela, in November 2022, the National Assembly started to develop an administrative procedure to enable persons to change their names to reflect their gender identity, in line with the provisions of Article 146. 

Non-binary rights 

There are only two legally recognised genders in Venezuela, male and female. Despite calls for Venezuela to guarantee the rights of non-binary individuals, there remains no legal recognition of a non-binary gender according to the ILGA database.