Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan is one of the two post-Soviet countries where homosexuality continues to be illegal under a penal provision inherited from the Soviet era. Article 135 of the Criminal Code of Turkmenistan (1997), amended in 2022, criminalizes consensual same-sex acts between adults with imprisonment for up to two years. The 2022 amendment also lowers the age of criminal responsibility for “sodomy” from 16 to 14. The law was rarely enforced before 2006, when Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow became president. After 2006, the authorities began using the law more frequently, ramping up the arrests and detentions of gay men. Although the law does not explicitly mention transgender and gender nonconforming individuals, it is also used to target transgender women by law enforcement officials who often conflate sexual orientation and gender identity. The Turkmenistani police have physically, sexually, and verbally attacked sexual and gender minorities. Police have subjected men detained for same-sex relations to forced anal examinations, ostensibly to find evidence of “homosexual conduct,” and lesbians have reportedly been forcibly detained in mental institutions.

The media, both print and digital, are controlled by the state, and media platforms amplify political hate speech and contribute to the pervasive anti-LGBTIQ sentiment in Turkmenistan. 

Violence, harassment, and discrimination, even on “suspicion” of homosexuality or transgender identity, are widespread, and some people of queer experience face forced marriage and family rejection. In April 2023, the UN Human Rights Committee expressed concern about discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, including “reports of police brutality…and the resulting fear of such victims to file complaints or even reveal their sexual orientation.” In July 2024, law enforcement carried out raids to “identify LGBT people” following the release of a Radio Free Europe documentary titled “Turkmenistan’s Invisible Rainbow.” In April 2025, during its dialogue with Turkmenistan, the UN Committee Against Torture directly inquired about the “treatment of homosexual persons” and the general lack of statistics and protection mechanisms, against the backdrop of the broader issue of torture in places of detention. The country delegation stated that it “took measures to prevent acts of torture and harsh treatment across its territory.”

Turkmenistan remains one of the most dangerous and closed-off countries in the region for people of queer experience. Data collection on LGBTIQ issues in the country is “impossible” due to significant safety risks, and any queer human rights advocacy work renders activists vulnerable to attacks.