Portuguese glbtq activists also won an important victory in 2001 when legislators, over the vociferous protests of the Catholic church, voted to extend to gay and lesbian couples living together for at least two years the same limited rights of common-law marriage that they had granted to similar heterosexual couples two years before.

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Still, Portuguese law does not permit same-sex civil marriage. Nor does Portugal permit openly gay men and lesbians to serve in the military and police forces. These concerns, along with the equalization of the age of consent, and rights, including the right to have documents revised after a person has undergone gender-reassignment surgery, are at the top of the Portuguese glbtq rights agenda. To resolve them, pressure from the European Union may be necessary.

Although challenges remain, the glbtq people of Portugal have made significant progress in recent years. They have a greater political voice and a much stronger public presence. Lisbon's Pride and Film festivals have grown year by year, and since 2001 the cities of Porto and Leiria have also held well-attended Pride events. Given the increasing role of glbtq rights organizations and support from groups in other European Union countries, it may be hoped that Portuguese society will gradually become more open so that all its members may enjoy equal rights.

In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the Inquisitions of Aragon and Portugal prosecuted almost 1500 trials for sodomy of various kinds.

Historically, the Roman Catholic Church may be the institution most responsible for the suffering of individuals involved in same-sex sexual relationships.

Situational homosexuality is same-sex sexual activity that occurs not as part of a gay life style, but because the participants happen to find themselves in a single-sex environment for a prolonged period.

The European Commission on Human Rights was the first international human rights organization to condemn homophobia; the European Court of Human Rights, which replaced the Commission, has also helped enforce glbtq rights.

Although his sexuality cannot be documented, the Portugese poet Fernando Pessoa wrote homoerotic verse, much of it in English.