LGBTQ rights in Belarus
in Europe (dark grey) – [Legend]Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in Belarus face severe challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents.Although same-sex sexual activity is legal in Belarus, gay and lesbian rights in the country are otherwise severely limited and homosexuality remains highly stigmatized in Belarusian society.Belarus provides no anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people, nor does it prohibit hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity.Many Belarusian people believe that homosexuality is a psychiatric illness, and many LGBTQ persons in Belarus tend to hide their sexual orientation in public.Article 119-1 of the previous Criminal Code of Belarus set out that homosexual men having voluntary sexual contact were to be convicted to prison terms of up to five years.The magazine focused primarily on personal ads and contained articles written by psychologists, sexologists and letters and announcements from LGBTQ readers in a special column called "Blue Salon".After the fall of the communist regime many Belarusians requested and were granted political asylum abroad, based on fear of persecution because of their sexual orientation.Amnesty International and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Network – Belarus (AILGBT-Belarus) has information on individuals who were granted asylum in the Czech Republic, France, Netherlands, and Sweden.The festival was supported by the UN Development Programme, studio Tatyana, United Way Belarus, IREX, the Titanic Club, and guests from Ukraine.On 3 August 2001, unidentified vandals broke into and vandalised the flat of Lambda Belarus leader Andrei Babkin where fliers, posters and booklets of Gay Pride 2001 had been kept.In addition, threatening phone calls from authorities said foreigners trying to attend the event for workshops and discussions "would be immediately expelled from the country in keeping with the article of intervention in domestic affairs of the Republic of Belarus.It is the same group which decided to organise with Russian LGBTQ activists at Slavic Pride which is planned to alternate between Moscow and Minsk every year.[14] In January 2009, an event titled "The Right to Love" was planned and designed to raise public awareness about homophobia and discrimination against LGBTQ people in Belarus.In the text of the complaint, Mr. Mandryk claims that the decision of the Gomel City Administration violated his right to freedom of Assembly as guaranteed by Article 35 of the Constitution of Belarus.[17] On 18 April 2001, a dead body of the pensioner Alexander Stephanovich, known in Minsk as a homosexual, was found in the yard of the apartment block where he lived.On 13 November 2001 in Molodechno, Lambda Belarus leader Edward Tarletski was assaulted which resulted in a concussion and required seven days' hospitalization.On 10 June in Kommunar, Buda-Kashalyova District, Gomel region, three unidentified men beat and raped local resident Dmitrii L., 18.In 2002, the Minsk police started a criminal case in connection with the murder of Mikhail M., 50, whose mutilated body was found in his flat on 17 November.Police officers refuse to register cases of brutality committed against sexual minorities and do not conduct investigations that would seek criminal responsibility from the perpetrators of crimes motivated by homophobic prejudice.In May 2003, the administration of the European Humanities University in Minsk banned a showing of the documentary Outlawed about discrimination of gays and lesbians all around the world.[6] Specifically, Young Front leader Paval Sieviaryniec published a letter where he called homosexuality “a death-worthy sin and perversion”.[citation needed] In another incident, Belarusian sexual minorities attempted to make a formal statement of solidarity with victims of the Chernobyl disaster.[citation needed] In September 2004, President Lukashenko, in a speech before the Belarusian Security Council, said, "we have to show our society in the near future, what ‘they’ [the European Union and the United States] are doing here, how they are trying to turn our girls into prostitutes, how they are feeding our citizens with illicit drugs, how they are spreading sexual perversion here, which methods they are employing".[21] Human rights defenders called to open a criminal case for discriminatory statements, but the government didn't find any violations by Shunevich.[24] The most recent poll by Pew Research Center published in May 2017 suggests that 16% of Belarusians are in favor of same-sex marriage while 81% oppose the idea, which was significantly higher than in Ukraine (12%), Russia (5%) and Moldova (5%).[25][26] In May 2017, a survey by the Pew Research Center in Eastern European countries showed that 84% of Belarusians believed that homosexuality should not be accepted by society.
Marriage
Civil union
Limited domestic recognition (cohabitation)
Limited foreign recognition (residency rights)
Unrecognized
Constitution limits marriage to opposite-sex couples
¹ May include recent laws or court decisions that have not yet entered into effect.
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