LGBT rights in the Unified Governorates

LGBT rights in the UGB
Same-sex sexual activity	Legal / tolerated
Adoption	Prohibited
Military service	Legal, subject to restrictions
Discrimination protections	Sanctuary areas in urban bailiwicks

"While we do not condone that which runs contrary to the interests of our martial society, charged as it is with the restoration and re-population of an empty land, we must also pragmatically accept that the human spirit, which is innately perverse and driven by an infinitude of fancies to fornicate with any and every form of flesh that will yield to the persuasion or pressure of the will, must be accommodated. A man has as many masters as he has vices, and without outlets to serve as sewers to carry those away he will surely drown in this accumulation of filth not only himself, but his city and the commonwealth. It is therefore on account of this that we do condone, within reason, that which might otherwise be considered unseemly."

—Vüqar Rugahi, Revised Precepts of Harmonious Governance in the Modern Age, Merensk, 1685 AN

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual rights do not formally exist in the UGB but such practices as would be protected by those rights do enjoy a significant measure of toleration in the cities and particularly amongst designated urban districts, known colloquially as "Paradises". Same-sex marriage is illegal in consequence of the abolition of the old distinctions of the feudal nobility, wherein such practices had previously been licensed. Outside of these so-called paradises homosexual lifestyles are not especially visible, being subject to various stringent taboos - especially in rural and less developed bailiwicks. Nonetheless the Panopticon Department of the Internal Security Bureau (Benacia Command) assessed that the actual prevalence of same-sex preference individuals, excluding mixed-preference individuals and instances of casual experimentation, are broadly constant with what might be expected in any equivalent human population.

Detailed chart

Same-sex sexual activity legal	Unregulated, albeit subject to communal governance and societal taboos
Gender expression	Permitted within Paradises, tolerated within urban bailiwicks
Age of consent	It remains a criminal offence to engage in sexual relations with any person under the age of 15 years, constituting an act of statutory rape that is subject to a harsh sentence in the courts and a still harsher punishment upon arrival in the penal battalions of the remediation service.
Anti-discrimination laws in employment	A citizen is the subject of their employer for so long as the period of contractual obligation lasts.
Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services	As per Benacian custom and practice the invitation to treat may be voided by the offering party at any moment, at their sole discretion and for any reason, prior to the exchange of monies or the notarised promise thereof.
Conversion therapy	The state does not take kindly to individuals abducting or indoctrinating fellow citizens on their own initiative and without the sanction of authority. Here the primary offenders appear to be Mobads of the Zurvanite congregations recently emigrated from Alalehzamin amongst whom it appears to be something of a speciality.
Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas (incl. indirect discrimination, hate speech)	Whilst dedicated anti-discrimination laws are not found on the statute books any act, by word, or deeds, or thought, that gives rise to the commissioning of a criminal act or an act contrary to the Covenant, causing harm to either the Harmonious Society or the Coordinated State will be punished as an offence of equal severity in and of itself.
Same-sex marriage	Revoked with loss of noble privileges (1672 AN).
Recognition of same-sex unions	Legal under inherited Imperial Law, in practice only tolerated in urban bailiwicks.
Gay pride activities	Deemed overtly political.
Joint and step-child adoption by same-sex couples	A moot point in any event as orphans automatically become wards of the state, to be reared in government gymnasia for service in the Black Legions.
Gay people allowed to serve openly in the military	"Service requires Silence" – whilst abstinence on active service is expected as a part of military discipline for all members of the Black Legions, irrespective of persuasion, amenities remarkably similar to those available in the paradises of an urban bailiwick are to be found inside or immediately adjacent to the cantonments of most significant garrisons.
Right to change legal gender	Gender identity is considered to arise from observable biological sex and assigned in formal records accordingly. Living contrary to that assigned identity is tolerated (outside of rural communities) but receives no formal state recognition.
Access to IVF for lesbians	With child birth considered a civic duty on a par with National Service, discrete clinics have been known to make this service available - for a fee - for those wishing to conform without attracting undue scrutiny
MSMs allowed to donate blood	The donation of blood is a mandated civic duty - only those with a valid medical certificate and the sanction of the municipal corporation for their bailiwick are exempt.
Third gender	Recognised under inherited Imperial law. Only those naturally born with the hermaphrodite condition ("intersex") will be considered such.
Surrogacy	The practice of surrogacy is prohibited for heterosexual couples as well since long-term childlessness, within a defined time-frame, is considered under law to be the triggering point for an automatic divorce.