LGBT rights in Kazakhstan
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Kazakhstan face significant challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female kinds of same-sex sexual activity are legal in Kazakhstan, but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples.
LGBT rights in Kazakhstan | |
|---|---|
| Status | Yes,
|
| Gender identity | Yes, transgender people allowed to change legal gender following surgery, medical examinations, hormone therapy and sterilisation since 2003 |
| Military | Yes, gays, lesbians and bisexuals allowed to serve in the military since 2022 |
| Discrimination protections | No law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation (see below) |
| Family rights | |
| Recognition of relationships | No recognition of same-sex couples |
| Restrictions | Code on Marriage and Family explicitly bans persons of the same sex from marrying each other. |
| Adoption | Adoption by single LGBT people is banned since 2024 |
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Since the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan decriminalised both male and female same-sex sexual activity in late 1997 de facto (since 1998 de jure) and the age of consent was equalised to that of heterosexual activity in late 1997 de facto (since 1998 de jure). Transgender people have been allowed to legally change their gender since 2003. LGBT people are also allowed to serve in the military since 2022. LGBT rights in Kazakhstan remain severely limited and homosexuality remains highly stigmatised in Kazakhstan society, with no LGBTQ NGOs, strong overtones of official intolerance and no equal rights on the basis of sexual orientation in areas such as employment, education, media, and the provision of goods and services, amongst others.
The influence of Islam and socially conservative attitudes against gay and lesbian men and women remain firmly entrenched throughout the country. Many people in Kazakhstan believe that homosexuality is a behavioural disorder, and many LGBT persons in Kazakhstan tend to hide their sexual orientation in public. Those who are "out" face harassment, violence and physical abuse.