Country Overview
Czech Republic
At a glance
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Same-sex relations are legal in the Czech Republic, and same-sex couples may enter into joint partnerships. According to a 2023 poll, a significant majority of Czechs supported the rights of LGBTI+ people, including the right to marriage. A same-sex marriage bill passed its first reading in the Chamber of Deputies in June 2023. However, it was rejected at its third reading in February 2024 in favor of a bill expanding the rights of registered partnerships that entered into force on January 1, 2025. The partnership status holds almost the same legal recognition as marriage, with the exception of joint adoptions.
Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is prohibited by law. However, discrimination persists. A 2022 report found that 43 percent of its respondents had been discriminated against or harassed in the five preceding years.
In May 2024, the Czech Constitutional Court repealed a regulation mandating a sterilization requirement for the legal gender recognition of transgender people, calling it a severe violation of human rights. The Constitutional Court ordered that as of July 1, 2025, sterilization would no longer be a legal obligation for gender recognition and that by that date, Parliament would need to adopt legislation establishing a new procedure for legal gender recognition. The deadline passed without a new law taking effect. As a result, there is no clear legislation regulating the new procedure, and authorities currently rely on ministerial guidelines. The Constitutional Court ruling is reinforced by a European Court of Human Rights ruling on June 12, 2025, which found that the Czech Republic had violated the rights of trans people by requiring forced sterilization as a legal requirement for gender recognition.
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