Lebap is governed by federal Turkmenistan law. Learn more
    Homosexuality
    ✖ Male illegal, female legal
    Gay Marriage
    ✖ Unrecognized
    Censorship
    ✔ No censorship
    Changing Gender
    ✖ Illegal
    Gender-Affirming Care
    ✖ Restricted
    Non-Binary Gender Recognition
    ✖ Not legally recognized
    Discrimination
    ✖ No protections
    Employment Discrimination
    ✖ No protections
    Housing Discrimination
    ✖ No protections
    Adoption
    ✖ Single only
    Intersex Infant Surgery
    Unknown
    Military
    Ambiguous
    Donating Blood
    Ambiguous
    Conversion Therapy
    ✖ Not banned
    Age of Consent
    Female equal, male N/A
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Public Opinion

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History

Homosexual activity in Lebap

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Homosexual activity in Lebap is male illegal, female legal.

Current status
Since 1999
Male illegal, female legal
Male homosexuality is explicitly illegal and sodomy— defined as sexual intercourse between men —is punishable by up to two years in prison, with additional terms of two to five years in a labor camp possible, under the Criminal Code of Turkmenistan, Chapter 3; Article 135, section. In addition, the provisions of Article 19 of the code allow for increased penalties for repeat convictions, applying to any crime under the code. Prior to a 2019 amendment, the 1997 code's maximum term was two years.
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Male illegal, female legal
up to 2 years imprisonment for men
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Mar 7, 1934–Jan 1, 1998
Male illegal, female uncertain under federal Turkmenistan law
An article under which sodomy was punishable by imprisonment from 5 to 8 years appeared in the Soviet Criminal Code on March 7, 1934 - number 154-a: “Sexual intercourse between a man and a man (sodomy) - imprisonment for a term of three to five years. Sodomy committed with the use of violence or taking advantage of the dependent position of the victim - imprisonment for a term of five to eight years."

Same-sex marriage in Lebap

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Same-sex marriage in Lebap is unrecognized.

Current status
Since May 18, 1992
Unrecognized
Marriage is not recognized. However, it is implied to be illegal for male as male homosexuality is illegal.
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Censorship of LGBT issues in Lebap

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Censorship of LGBT issues in Lebap is no censorship.

Current status
Since Apr 14, 2022
No censorship
No laws censoring LGBTQ+ issues
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Until Apr 14, 2022
Other punishment
In Turkmenistan, there are no laws restricting the discussion or promotion of LGBTQ+ topics.
Sources:
No laws against it
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Right to change legal gender in Lebap

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Right to change legal gender in Lebap is illegal.

Current status
Illegal
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.
Until Apr 5, 1972
N/A
No Rules in Place.
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Gender-affirming care in Lebap

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Gender-affirming care in Lebap is restricted.

Current status
Restricted
Turkmenistan has no legally approved procedure for medical transition for trans people. The concepts of “gender identity” and “medical sex reassignment” are absent not only in the legal framework, but also in practice.
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Restricted
In 1926, the Soviet Union's Ministry of Internal Affairs legalized sex reassignment surgery
Sources:
russiapost.info/society/lgbt
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Legal recognition of non-binary gender in Lebap

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

Current status
Not legally recognized
there are no laws recognizing this.
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LGBT discrimination in Lebap

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LGBT discrimination in Lebap is no protections.

Until Jul 1, 2009
No protections
As male homosexuality is illegal, there are no protection for LGBTQ+ populations (including women and other gender identities)
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LGBT employment discrimination in Lebap

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LGBT employment discrimination in Lebap is no protections.

Current status
No protections
The Labor Code does not ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Until Jul 1, 2009
No protections
No anti-discrimination laws regarding sexual orientation or gender for transgender people
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LGBT housing discrimination in Lebap

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LGBT housing discrimination in Lebap is no protections.

Current status
Since May 18, 1992
No protections
Homosexuality is illegal there.
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Same-sex adoption in Lebap

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Same-sex adoption in Lebap is single only.

Current status
Since Jul 1, 2020
Single only
Article 57 of the Act on Civil Status Records specifies in point 1 that an application for adoptive adoption of a child should be submitted to the competent RYNÝ institution through a written application for state registration of the child's adoption, containing the decision of the voivode or a final court decision on the adoption of the child. Such an application may be submitted by an individual or a heterosexual couple.
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Until Jul 1, 2020
Illegal
NO laws for same sex couples.
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Intersex infant surgery in Lebap

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Intersex infant surgery in Lebap is unknown.

Current status
Unknown

Serving openly in military in Lebap

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Serving openly in military in Lebap is ambiguous.

Current status
Ambiguous
The legal status regarding the service of homosexual and transgender people in Turkmenistan is unknown.
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Blood donations by MSMs in Lebap

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Blood donations by MSMs in Lebap is ambiguous.

Current status
Ambiguous
There is no explicit prohibition on blood donation by LGBT community people in the legislation of Turkmenistan, as there is no concept of LGBT itself. Nevertheless, the hostile situation for LGBT people makes it unlikely that they can donate blood.

In accordance with article 13 of the Law «On blood donation», donors can be capable persons between 18 and 60 years of age who do not have any medical contraindications related to donating blood. Blood donors cannot be persons who have diseases that are dangerous to the life and health of the recipient.

Conversion therapy in Lebap

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Conversion therapy in Lebap is not banned.

Current status
Not banned
There is no ban on conversion therapy.
Until Dec 10, 2012
Not banned
According to the ILGA World, there's no ban on conversion therapy in Turkmenistan.
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Equal age of consent in Lebap

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Equal age of consent in Lebap is female equal, male n/a.

Current status
Since Jan 1, 2014
Female equal, male N/A
Set age of 16 years for same sexual activity between women and for heterosexual sexual activity. However male same sexual activity is illegal
Sources:
"NGO Submission In Connection with Turkmenistan's Mid-Term Reporting On the Implementation of the 2018 UPR Recommendations (Third Cycle)"
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