Portugal's constitution bans discrimination based on sexual orientation

Portugal is the first country in Europe and (after Ecuador, Fiji and South Africa) the fourth worldwide to explicitly ban sexual orientation discrimination by constitutional legislation.

On July 24, 2004, Constitutional Law no. 1/2004, amending (for the sixth time) the Portuguese Constitution, was published ("Diário da República" [official gazette], no. 173, of July 24, 2004). It comes into force, on the mainland, on July 31, 2004, and on the Azores and Madeira Regions on August 10, 2004. Therefore, article 13 of the Portuguese Constitution now officially states that:
«1. All citizens have the same social rank and are equal before the law.
2. No one shall be privileged or favoured, or discriminated against, or deprived of any right or exempted from any duty, by reason of his or her ancestry, sex, race, language, territory of origin, religion, political or ideological convictions, education, economic situation, social circumstances or sexual orientation.»