Homosexuality
    ✔ Legal
    Gay Marriage
    ✖ Banned
    Censorship
    ✔ No censorship
    Changing Gender
    ✖ Illegal
    Gender-Affirming Care
    ✔ Legal
    Non-Binary Gender Recognition
    ✖ Not legally recognized
    Discrimination
    ✖ Illegal in some contexts
    Employment Discrimination
    ✖ Sexual orientation only
    Housing Discrimination
    ✖ Sexual orientation only
    Adoption
    ✖ Single only
    Intersex Infant Surgery
    ✖ Not banned
    Military
    ✔ Legal
    Donating Blood
    Ambiguous
    Conversion Therapy
    ✖ Not banned
    Age of Consent
    ✖ Unequal
💬 Join Equaldex's LGBTQ+ Discord to discuss LGBT rights and chat!

Recent studies in Suriname indicate societal resistance to LGBTQ+ rights.

Suriname is lacking public opinion data.

Help expand our understanding of the public's view on LGBTQ+ issues in Suriname by sharing a link to a survey from a reputable organization.

Suggest Public Opinion Data

Have you lived in or visited Suriname?

Share your experience of being LGBTQ+ in Suriname.

Take Survey

History

Homosexual activity in Suriname

?

Homosexual activity in Suriname is legal.

Current status
Since Oct 14, 1910
Legal
Homosexuality has been legal since October 14th 1910.
Report error  ·  Log

Same-sex marriage in Suriname

?

Same-sex marriage in Suriname is banned.

Current status
Since Feb 1, 2023
Banned
The Constitutional Court of Suriname refused to recognize marriage of same-sex couple which was performed in Argentina. The court ruled that the ban on same-sex marriage does not violate the constitution or Suriname's obligations under the Interamerican Convention on Human Rights.
Report error  ·  Log

Censorship of LGBT issues in Suriname

?

Censorship of LGBT issues in Suriname is no censorship.

Current status
No censorship
In Suriname, there are no laws restricting the discussion or promotion of LGBTQ+ topics.
Report error  ·  Log

Right to change legal gender in Suriname

?

Right to change legal gender in Suriname is illegal.

Current status
Since Jan 1, 2022
Illegal
It is currently not available to change your gender and only two people in Suriname have ever been able to because of exceptions. Although they were able to change it, this does not make it legal. In January 2017, the Eerste Kantongerecht (one of 3 Courts of First Instance in Suriname) granted a transgender woman the right to have her gender formally changed with the Central Bureau of Civil Affairs and ordered the registry to officially change her registration to reflect her amended status. The Association of Pentecostal Churches in Suriname (VVPES) and the Suriname Islamic Association (SIV), which had protested against and opposed the right to recognize a gender change, indicated they would "accept the verdict". In February 2017, the Central Bureau of Civil Affairs formally appealed the court ruling. In January 2022, the Suriname Court of Appeal ruled in favor and ordered the gender change on the birth certificate of the transgender woman who had undergone sex reassignment surgery in 2009.

Gender-affirming care in Suriname

?

Gender-affirming care in Suriname is legal.

Current status
Since 1995
Legal
In 1995, Suriname adopted the ICD-10 classification, which contains codes for diagnosing transsexualism in adulthood and childhood, which authorize the initiation of medical transition.
Report error  ·  Log

Legal recognition of non-binary gender in Suriname

?

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

Current status
Not legally recognized
There's not the option of non-binary gender on Suriname gender markers.
Report error  ·  Log

LGBT discrimination in Suriname

?

LGBT discrimination in Suriname is illegal in some contexts.

Current status
Since Mar 30, 2015
Illegal in some contexts federal law
In 2015, Articles 175(a) and 176 of the Criminal Code (1911) were amended by S.B. 2015 No. 44 to criminalise discrimination and incitement to hatred based on sexual orientation per Article 175, which includes the list of prohibited grounds.
The protections (only for sexual orientation) are: Education/Housing/Goods and services/Health/Employiment/Prohibition of Incitement
Nov 25, 19752015
No protections
No protections.
Report error  ·  Log

LGBT employment discrimination in Suriname

?

LGBT employment discrimination in Suriname is sexual orientation only.

Current status
Since Mar 30, 2015
Sexual orientation only
Articles 176b, 176c and 500a of the Criminal Code bans discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment.
Report error  ·  Log

LGBT housing discrimination in Suriname

?

LGBT housing discrimination in Suriname is sexual orientation only.

Current status
Since 2015
Sexual orientation only
Protections in housing only available for sexual orientation and not gender identity.
Report error  ·  Log

Same-sex adoption in Suriname

?

Same-sex adoption in Suriname is single only.

Current status
Single only
No other laws in place.
Report error  ·  Log

Intersex infant surgery in Suriname

?

Intersex infant surgery in Suriname is not banned.

Current status
Not banned
No laws banning it.
Report error  ·  Log

Serving openly in military in Suriname

?

Serving openly in military in Suriname is legal.

Current status
Legal
No known prohibitions or special policies in the military.
Report error  ·  Log

Blood donations by MSMs in Suriname

?

Blood donations by MSMs in Suriname is ambiguous.

Current status
Ambiguous
There isn't any information about MSMs blood donations in Suriname
Report error  ·  Log

Conversion therapy in Suriname

?

Conversion therapy in Suriname is not banned.

Current status
Not banned
Not criminalized.
Report error  ·  Log

Equal age of consent in Suriname

?

Equal age of consent in Suriname is unequal.

Current status
Since Jan 1, 1869
Unequal
The age of consent in Suriname is 16 for heterosexuals, and 18 for homosexuals.


LGBT Rights by District

View the LGBT laws in each individual district of Suriname.