Belarus: New anti-gay laws enacted
Russia-style "propaganda" ban targets visibility of queer people.
On Wednesday, 15 April, the president of Belarus - Alexander Lukashenko - signed into law new legislation that outlaws the “propaganda of homosexual relations, gender change, refusal to have children, and pedophilia.”
Taking their cue from Russia, the new laws provide additional tools to Belarusian authorities in their state-sanctioned persecution of LGBTQ people.
The new laws have been criticised by the United Nations Human Rights Council.
“By conflating human rights advocacy and information about sexual orientation, gender identity, and reproductive autonomy with administrative offences, the authorities are fuelling prejudice and legitimising discrimination...” said the Council in a statement released to the media - describing the new laws as the legitimisation of persecution of marginalised groups.
What's life like for LGBTQ people in Belarus?
What's life like for LGBTQ people in Belarus? Let's take a look at some of the key equality indicators.
Is it legal to be gay in Belarus?
Yes – it’s legal. Same-sex sexual activity was legalised in Belarus in 1994.
Criminalisation of sodomy had previously been part of the country’s criminal code as a result of being part of the Soviet Union.
The decriminalisation of homosexuality was a decision made by the Belarus parliament which amended the country’s criminal code to remove the crime of sodomy.
The age-of-consent in Belarus is 16 for both homosexual and heterosexual sexual activity.
Is there Marriage Equality in Belarus?
No. There’s no legal recognition of same-sex relationships.
The constitution of Belarus specifically defines marriage as being between opposite-sex partners.
Are there anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people in Belarus?
No. There are no anti-discrimination protections in place against discrimination based on sexuality.
What’s life like for LGBTQ people in Belarus?
A socially conservative country, homosexuality is still seen as a taboo topic in Belarus. Combined with the lack of legal protections, this forces most LGBTQ people to conceal their sexuality to avoid systemic homophobia and abuse.
There are some local LGBTQ websites and publications, but the queer community is relatively small and under-resourced.
The new "anti-propaganda" laws will further limit the visibility of queer people and entrench systemic homophobia.
In the ILGA report on LGBTQ equality in Europe, Belarus was ranked 45th overall. With a total score of 10.16%, Belarus scored weakly on criteria such as Legal Gender Recognition but failed to score any points on a number of other assessed criteria.
