Mind the Gap! LGBTQ + Population’s Perceptions of Discrimination and of Legal Innovation

Homosexuality was decriminalized in Portugal in 1982, and several legislative changes have emerged since the beginning of the twenty-first century. However, 2010 marked the beginning of the approval of fundamental laws for the life of LGBTQ + people, such as same-sex marriage, access to parenthood and the right to self-determination of gender identity. Despite these advances, discrimination is still present in Portuguese society.

The aim of this investigation is to study the processes and experiences of discrimination of LGBTQ + people in their daily lives, analyzing the perception of the discrepancy between legislation and the experiences of participants. Its aim is also to analyze the strategies suggested by the participants to reduce this discrepancy. To this end, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 LGBTQ + participants, of various sexual orientations (six gay men, three lesbian women, six bisexual persons, five pansexual individuals, and one who identified as “other”) and gender identities (six transgender participants, including two trans men, two non-binary persons, one trans woman, and one genderqueer participant).

Content analysis of these interviews resulted in 828 units of analysis coded in 30 categories. The participants reported that they have gone through multiple experiences of discrimination in different contexts and that they recognize forces of resistance to legal innovation.

There is a gap between legal advances and the experiences of LGBTQ+ people in Portugal, who still report discrimination experiences in many domains of daily life.

Implications for research and public policies are presented, particularly considering the need to inform and provide training to both strategic audiences and stakeholders and to inform the larger population to promote social change.