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LGBT Rights in Kazakhstan

    Homosexuality
    ✔ Legal
    Gay Marriage
    ✖ Unrecognized
    Censorship
    ✖ State-enforced
    Changing Gender
    ✖ Legal, but requires surgery
    Non-binary gender recognition
    ✖ Not legally recognized
    Discrimination
    ✖ No protections
    Employment Discrimination
    ✖ No protections
    Housing Discrimination
    ✖ No protections
    Adoption
    Ambiguous
    Military
    ✔ Legal
    Donating Blood
    ✔ Legal
    Conversion Therapy
    ✖ Not banned
    Age of Consent
    ✔ Equal

According to recent survey data, there appears to be strong opposition to LGBTQ+ rights in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan Surveys

Orthodox Christian Support for Church's Position of Refusing to Perform Same-Sex Marriage

74%
Support
14%
Oppose

History

Homosexual activity in Kazakhstan

?

Homosexual activity in Kazakhstan is legal.

Current status
Since 1998
Legal
De facto legal since late 1997 (equalized age of consent), de jure since 1998
Added by vviet93  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Same-sex marriage in Kazakhstan

?

Same-sex marriage in Kazakhstan is unrecognized.

Current status
Unrecognized
Neither same-sex marriage nor civil unions are legal.
Sources:
Sometimes unofficially performed, not banned constitutionally but restricted due to the Family Code
Added by vviet93  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Censorship of LGBT Issues in Kazakhstan

?

Censorship of LGBT Issues in Kazakhstan is state-enforced.

Current status
Since Feb 13, 2024
State-enforced
Kazakhstan's Culture and Information Ministry announced the blocking of the Selftanu.kz website, which centers on LGBT relations. The ministry cited safeguarding children's rights and respecting Kazakhstan's societal norms and traditions as reasons for the action.
Added by equaldex  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Right to change legal gender in Kazakhstan

?

Right to change legal gender in Kazakhstan is legal, but requires surgery.

Current status
Since 2011
Legal, but requires surgery
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.
Sources:
tbinternet.ohchr.org › ...PDF
Web results
Violations by Kazakhstan of the Right of Transgender Persons to Legal ...
Added by Muhammadaji2022  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log
Legal, but requires medical diagnosis
Since 2003, Transgender individuals have been allowed to change legal gender 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.
Sources:
tbinternet.ohchr.org › ...PDF
Web results
Violations by Kazakhstan of the Right of Transgender Persons to Legal ...
Added by cihalcoc  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Legal recognition of non-binary gender in Kazakhstan

?

Legal recognition of non-binary gender in Kazakhstan is not legally recognized.

Current status
Not legally recognized
There is no legal recognition of non-binary gender.
Added by JohnQuebec98  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

LGBT discrimination in Kazakhstan

?

LGBT discrimination in Kazakhstan is no protections.

Current status
No protections
According to ILGA, there are no explicit legal protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

According to the Constitution, any kind of discrimination is illegal as long as a person is considered a competent citizen. (Article 14 of the Constitution).
Added by cihalcoc  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Dec 25, 1991–Aug 30, 1995
Ambiguous
No laws about discrimination
Added by vviet93  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Until Dec 25, 1991
Illegal
Only protections for gender identity and expression since 2014. Full discrimination protection since 2016.
Added by Ausyk  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

LGBT employment discrimination in Kazakhstan

?

LGBT employment discrimination in Kazakhstan is no protections.

Current status
No protections
According to ILGA, there are no explicit legal protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity in employment.
According to the Constitution, any kind of discrimination is illegal, but neither sexuality nor gender identity is included explicitly.

The official list of mental illnesses of the Republic of Kazakhstan does not include either sexuality or gender identity. And therefore, since a person does not have any reason to be considered incompetent, they should have the right to be employed (Article 24 of the Constitution).
Added by cihalcoc  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

LGBT housing discrimination in Kazakhstan

?

LGBT housing discrimination in Kazakhstan is no protections.

Current status
No protections
According to ILGA, there are no explicit legal protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity in housing.

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the people's right to housing shall not be violable (Article 25 of the Constitution). And even though neither sexual orientation nor gender identity is included into the protected categories of people from discrimination explicitly, as neither of them is viewed as a mental illness in Kazakhstan, a non-cishet person may not be considered incompetent, and therefore, their rights to housing may not be discriminated against.
Added by Ausyk  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Same-sex adoption in Kazakhstan

?

Same-sex adoption in Kazakhstan is ambiguous.

Current status
Since Dec 16, 1991
Ambiguous
"People who adhere to non-traditional sexual orientation are banned". Legal for single and married trans people
Added by cihalcoc  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Until Dec 16, 1991
Illegal
Same-sex Adoption in Kazakhstan is Unknown, but if we interpret from Wikipedia, it might be illegal.
Added by Ro_Guy  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Serving openly in military in Kazakhstan

?

Serving openly in military in Kazakhstan is legal.

Current status
Since Feb 25, 2022
Legal
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. Quote "According to our Constitution, no one can be discriminated against for any reason." indicates that discrimination based on any reason in Kazakhstan is illegal according to the constitution, the same applies to military service. Since transgenderism is not classified as a mental illness in this country, trans people have legal rights to serve in the military, just like any other citizen.
Added by LGBT_southeastasian  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Blood donations by MSMs in Kazakhstan

?

Blood donations by MSMs in Kazakhstan is legal.

Current status
Legal
No restrictions.
Added by Ausyk  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Conversion therapy in Kazakhstan

?

Conversion therapy in Kazakhstan is not banned.

Current status
Since Aug 25, 1991
Not banned
No laws are in place against conversion therapy.
Added by Ausyk  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Equal age of consent in Kazakhstan

?

Equal age of consent in Kazakhstan is equal.

Current status
Since Jul 16, 1997
Equal
The law sets the age of consent as 16 for all sexual activities ("sodomy and "lesbianism" included explicitly.)
Added by vviet93  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log