Tajikistan

Since Tajikistan gained independence from the former USSR bloc in 1991, the criminal code has not contained any provision outlawing consensual same-sex sexual acts between adults. However, the country has not enacted legal nondiscrimination protections based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics. There is no transparent procedure for legal gender recognition in the country, but at least two trans men and one trans woman were able to change their gender markers on official documents in 2023 through a court procedure. Nonconsensual medical interventions on intersex people remain legal. 

Sexual and gender minorities frequently face discrimination and violence at the hands of both the authorities and the general public. In 2024, the Eurasian Coalition on Health, Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity recorded 27 cases of human rights violations against LGBT people. Police have subjected LGBT individuals to arbitrary arrests and other forms of violence, including blackmail, extortion, and sexual assault. In 2017, the government reportedly created a special registry of “proven” LGBT persons in the country, comprising over 300 individuals. While supposedly aimed at protecting people of queer experience and stopping the spread of sexually transmissible infections, such a registry exposes these communities to increased risks of violence and persecution. There have also been cases of law enforcement using Article 125 of the criminal code, which prohibits the intentional transmission of HIV, to detain and extort sexual and gender minorities, and force them to out other queer people.

In 2021, Tajikistan was ranked by the Williams Institute as the second worst out of 175 countries for average social acceptance of LGBTI people between 2017 and 2020. Influential religious leaders have publicly opposed what they describe as “nontraditional sexual relations.” Although there is no explicit legal ban on the registration of LGBTIQ organizations in Tajikistan, the state prevents the registration of such organizations in practice, citing the “unacceptability” of the subject matter or other justifications directly or indirectly related to sexual orientation. From 2022 to 2023, the government dissolved over 700 NGOs, including “Equal Opportunity,” the only NGO specifically working on LGBTIQ equality in the country. 

Anti-LGBTIQ rhetoric and policies and deeply ingrained gender inequalities create specific challenges for lesbian, bisexual, and queer (LBQ) women in the country, who face “widespread deliberate silence” and rights violations. Over half of LBQ respondents to a 2024 needs assessment by an Outright grantee reported that they did not feel safe, while 72 percent reported a need for mental health services in the previous year.

Broader crackdowns on civil liberties may have negative impacts on sexual and gender minorities. In 2024, the president amended the law on “traditions” to regulate clothing and enforce compliance with “national culture,” but in practice, they created a mechanism for controlling citizens’ bodies and self-expression. Campaigns preceding these amendments to force women to wear “proper” headscarves and men to shave their beards, as well as cases of denial of medical care, arbitrary detentions, and forced identification, demonstrate that state standards of appearance are, in fact, used as a tool of control.