Current Version
| Region | Turkmenistan |
| Issue | Right to change legal gender |
| Status | Illegal |
| Start Date | Sep 27, 1991 |
| End Date | (none) |
| Description | There are no legal provisions that allow gender change in official documents. Article 21 of the Civil Code allows name change, but it is not specific to trans people. The Handbook for Higher Education Institutions presented by the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan includes transsexuality and hermaphroditism within the investigations on controversial sexual situations and mentions that these examinations are carried out in ambiguous cases, i.e. when a person's gender (female or male) is uncertain. |
| Sources | https://afew.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ECOM_Legal-Environment-Assessment-2019_Turkmenistan_ENG.pdf https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/528267_TURKMENISTAN-2023-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf https://www.illiberalism.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Culture-Wars-papers-no.-10-July-2022.pdf https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/legislation/details/14673 https://www.kitaphana.net/book/1123/read |
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Revision History (5)
edited by DaisyGeekyTrans. Adding start date as independence day as it was previously legal in the USSR.
Helpful?
0 | Old Value | New Value (Current) | |
|---|---|---|
| Start Date | (unknown) | Sep 27, 1991 |
| Old Value | New Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Value | Legal, but requires surgery | Illegal |
| Start Date | Apr 5, 1972 | (unknown) |
| Description | the Soviet 1972 law allowing legal sex change after undergoing sex reassignment surgery was never repealed | There are no legal provisions that allow gender change in official documents. Article 21 of the Civil Code allows name change, but it is not specific to trans people. The Handbook for Higher Education Institutions presented by the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan includes transsexuality and hermaphroditism within the investigations on controversial sexual situations and mentions that these examinations are carried out in ambiguous cases, i.e. when a person's gender (female or male) is uncertain. |
Show Difference | ||
| Sources | https://bigpicture.ru/ya-peredumala-istoriya-pervoj-operacii-po-smene-pola/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/02/11/russia-is-not-the-only-former-soviet-state-to-restrict-lgbt-rights/ | https://afew.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ECOM_Legal-Environment-Assessment-2019_Turkmenistan_ENG.pdf https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/528267_TURKMENISTAN-2023-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf https://www.illiberalism.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Culture-Wars-papers-no.-10-July-2022.pdf https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/legislation/details/14673 https://www.kitaphana.net/book/1123/read |
Show Difference | ||
| Old Value | New Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Value | Illegal | Legal, but requires surgery |
| Start Date | 1991 | Apr 5, 1972 |
| Description | the Soviet 1972 case of sex change after undergoing sex reassignment surgery does not apply to independent Turkmenistan | the Soviet 1972 law allowing legal sex change after undergoing sex reassignment surgery was never repealed |
Show Difference | ||
| Old Value (Original) | New Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Value | Legal, but requires surgery | Illegal |
| Start Date | Apr 5, 1972 | 1991 |
| Description | the Soviet 1972 law allowing legal sex change after undergoing sex reassignment surgery was never repealed | the Soviet 1972 case of sex change after undergoing sex reassignment surgery does not apply to independent Turkmenistan |
Show Difference | ||
| Sources | https://bigpicture.ru/ya-peredumala-istoriya-pervoj-operacii-po-smene-pola/ | https://bigpicture.ru/ya-peredumala-istoriya-pervoj-operacii-po-smene-pola/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/02/11/russia-is-not-the-only-former-soviet-state-to-restrict-lgbt-rights/ |
Show Difference | ||
| Original entry | |
|---|---|
| Status | Legal, but requires surgery |
| Start Date | Apr 5, 1972 |
| End Date | (none) |
| Description | the Soviet 1972 law allowing legal sex change after undergoing sex reassignment surgery was never repealed |
| Sources | https://bigpicture.ru/ya-peredumala-istoriya-pervoj-operacii-po-smene-pola/ |
Reports (1)
- Status is not correct "Availability of Legal Gender Recognition: The government provided no legal protection to transgender individuals or recognition of their gender identity.
https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/turkmenistan/"