This article is about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) history in Finland. Timeline of the legislation 1894 Homosexuality is criminalized in the new Criminal Code and punishable by a maximum of two years in prison. 1971 Homosexuality is decriminalized, but "promotion" of it remains illegal. 1981 Homosexuality is removed from the illness classification list. 1995 Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is prohibited in the Criminal Code. 1999 The Criminal Code is revised, ruling that there is no longer any age of consent difference between sexual acts performed by heterosexuals and those performed by homosexuals. The prohibition of "promotion of homosexuality" is removed. 2001 The Act on Registered Partnerships is passed in the Parliament. It follows the same regulations as the Marriage Act (for different-sex couples), though excluding the right to take the spouse's name and the right of adoption. The law comes into force on March 1, 2002, and the first couples are registered on March 8. 2003 The law on the gender confirmation of transgender individuals comes into force. 2004 The Non-Discrimination Act comes into force on February 1, prohibiting direct and indirect discrimination and harassment based on age, ethnic or national origin, citizenship, language, religion, belief, opinion, health, disability, sexual orientation or any other ground in connection to the person. 2005 The revised Act on Gender Equality comes into force on June 1, 2005. According to a report by the Parliamentary Employment and Equality Committee, the revised Act is —under the rulings of Court of Justice of the European Union— to be interpreted in the way that the Section 7 prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sex covers also transgender individuals. 2007 The Act on Assisted Fertility Treatments enters into force on September 1, 2007. The law allows treatments also for single women and female couples. Prior to the law, a number of clinics have provided treatments for female couples. Surrogacy remains illegal. 2009 The Act on Registered Partnerships is revised in the Parliament with votes 109—28 (out of 199) on May 15 and comes into force on September 1. After the revision, law gives the other party of a gay couple the right to adopt his or her spouse's biological child — hereby both the parties are legal parents. Two factors — the right to a joint last name and to external adoptions — remain excluded from registered partnerships, in contrast to marriages.