LGBT rights in Kazakhstan

Genghis Khan banned homosexual acts in the Mongol Empire and made them punishable by death.[5]

LGBT history in Kazakhstan has been marked by periods of both tolerance and persecution and dates back to the early 20th century, when homosexuality was first decriminalised in 1917 following the October Revolution, which established the Soviet Union.

The Bolshevik government was influenced by the ideas of Magnus Hirschfeld, a German scientist who argued that homosexuality was a natural manifestation of human sexuality. However, in 1933 the Soviet Union re-criminalized homosexuality as part of a broader campaign against "deviant" behaviour. Discrimination against LGBT individuals persisted in the Soviet era, and homosexuality was not officially declassified as a mental illness until 16 July 1997 de facto, since 1998 de jure.

Kazakhstan LGBT Rainbow Flag

Since 2003, transgender individuals have been allowed to change their legal gender on their official identity documents in Kazakhstan. People who wanted to change their gender had to receive a diagnosis of "gender identity disorder" involving several medical tests and a 30-day psychiatric evaluation.

In 2011, new guidelines were established and allowed change to identity documents only after sex reassignment surgery, physical and psychiatric medical examinations, hormone therapy and sterilization. Additionally, people under 21 are not allowed to change their gender on their official identity documents.[7][8]

Kazakhstan does not recognise same-sex marriage or civil unions.

As of 2023, same-sex couples could not legally adopt children in Kazakhstan.

The violence and discrimination against LGBT people in Kazakhstan are fairly common and often not reported to the police. No laws exist yet in Kazakhstan that protect LGBT people from discrimination in employment, education, housing, health care, public accommodations or credit.

There are no restrictions on gay and bisexual men from donating blood by the Government of Kazakhstan.[9]

On 14 June 2012, Defense Minister Adilbek Zhaksybekov was reported to have declared that gay men are not welcome in the nation’s military, saying that they are exempt because they have ‘a disorder of sexual desire’.

Since 2022, lesbians, gays, and bisexuals are allowed to serve openly in the military.[2] The ministry of Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2022, said in an interview that no one is banned from serving in the military because of their sexual orientation.

Kazakhstan wrapped in the colors of the rainbow flag

On 26 May 2015, the Constitutional Council of Kazakhstan declared a pending bill, which would have banned the "propaganda of nontraditional sexual orientation", unconstitutional. The council rejected it because of its vague wording. The bill passed the Senate, Parliament's upper house, in February 2015 and was sent to President Nursultan Nazarbayev for signature. It had already been approved by the lower house.[10] Human Rights Watch said: "By rejecting this propaganda bill, Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Council set an important precedent against the adoption of discriminatory legislation."

In September 2019, the Supreme Court ruled in a landmark case that two women would receive compensation from a Facebook user who posted a video showing them kissing without their permission. The video solicited a large number of homophobic and murderous comments, and was viewed 60,000 times in a day before being taken down by the user. Human Rights Watch hailed the ruling as a milestone for privacy rights.[11]

In May 2015, PlanetRomeo, an LGBT social network, published its first Gay Happiness Index (GHI). Gay men from over 120 countries were asked about how they feel about society's view on homosexuality, how do they experience the way they are treated by other people and how satisfied are they with their lives. Kazakhstan was ranked 118th, just above Ghana and below Burkina Faso, with a GHI score of 29.[12]

According to a June 2015-June 2016 survey by the Pew Research Center, 89% of people in Kazakhstan opposed same-sex marriage, with only 7% supporting it.[13]

LGBT people in Kazakhstan face discrimination and prejudice on the grounds of their sexual orientation or gender identity during the course of their everyday lives. Manifestation of negative attitudes toward LGBT people, such as social exclusion, taunting, and violence, often cause the victims physical, psychological and emotional harm. In order to avoid the dangers posed by people who do not approve of non-heterosexual sexual orientations, many LGBT people feel compelled to keep their sexual orientation or gender identity a secret from almost all people in their lives. The majority regard it as necessary to conceal their sexual orientation or gender identity from people in the workplace in order to retain their jobs and avoid hostility from bosses and co-workers. Attempts to report homophobic and transphobic violence to police are often met with resistance and even hostility on the part of law enforcement officers.[14]

A 2011 cross-national study by the University of Chicago demonstrated that a growing trend of LGBT acceptance was either slowed or reversed in Russia and some other former USSR republics, a direct opposite of world trends.[15]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to LGBT rights in Kazakhstan.

• "Kok.team"., LGBT online media publication
• "OMOO AS AKTIV, LGBT organization from Oskemen". Facebook. LGBT organization from Oskemen
• "The study of the level of tolerance towards the LGBT community of Kazakhstan 2016".