Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Guatemala may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT

LGBT

LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

 residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is legal in Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

, but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples.

In 1871 homosexuality was decriminalized in Guatemala. The age of consent is 18.

Discrimination and hate crimes go unpunished, especially crimes towards the transgender community.

See also

• LGBT rights in the Americas
  LGBT rights in the Americas
  Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights are complex in the Americas. The British, French, Spanish and Portuguese colonists, who settled most of the Americas, brought Christianity from Europe...
  
  
• Politics of Guatemala
  Politics of Guatemala
  Politics of Guatemala takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Guatemala is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both...