Belarus

Same-sex relations are legal in Belarus, but LGBTIQ people face significant barriers to equality. Belarusians are not protected from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics.

Legal gender recognition is possible in Belarus, but is heavily restricted. According to TG House, a trans-led organization that provides information to trans people about the gender recognition process and advocates for trans equality, “to obtain permission to change your name and gender marker in your passport and other documents, you must be under observation at the Republican Scientific and Practical Center for Mental Health for at least one year” and then receive approval from the Interdepartmental Gender Transition Commission, which makes determinations regarding applications for legal gender recognition as well as access to medical transition. In 2025, the Commission granted 16 approvals, eight for legal gender recognition and eight for medical transition, the highest in its three-year history. While this is tentatively seen as a positive development, most requests are still denied, and the infrastructure to support such cases is limited. Fem Queer Belarus argues that the Commission “delays approvals for months or years, with no clear appeal process, forcing people into unsafe self-medication.” Further, in March 2024, the Central District Court of Minsk declared the informational materials of TG House to be extremist. This marked the first instance in Belarusian history where an LGBTIQ organization was officially labeled as such.

Journalists in Belarus are also targeted as “extremists,” with many in jail and facing trumped-up charges, and queer journalists face particularly high levels of risk. Hate speech from politicians, including President Alexander Lukashenko, is pervasive. State media generally depicts LGBTIQ people negatively and sensationalizes LGBTIQ issues.

Belarus passed a law in 2017 prohibiting the dissemination of information that “discredits the institution of family and marriage,” based on Russia’s infamous law against “propaganda” affirming gender and sexual diversity among any age group. This law provides a legal basis for prohibiting LGBTIQ events or representation and perpetuates the narrative of people of queer experience as a threat to family and society. In 2024, the country’s culture ministry adopted an amended decree to classify “homosexuality, lesbian love,” and being transgender as “non-traditional relationships,” which means they may be considered “pornography” under Belarusian law.

In April 2026, President Aleksandr Lukashenko signed into law a bill that will impose administrative liability for “propaganda of homosexual relations, sex change, childlessness, and pedophilia.” Belarusian human rights activists have denounced the law unconstitutional.