The situation of LGBTIQ+ people in Belarus is characterised by a lack of protection mechanisms for LGBTIQ+ rights597 and a deteriorating human rights environment.598 While same sex-sex relations and gender transition are not criminalised and remain legal,599 discrimination against LGBTIQ+ people is widespread.600 The Belarusian authorities have declared ‘the safeguarding and promotion of the traditional family’ a matter of national security601 and perceive gender identity as an area that requires protection from ‘Western ideology’, with ‘hostile rhetoric toward the LGBTIQ+ community’ expressed by state officials and representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belarus.602
Legislation discriminating against LGBTIQ+ people has been expanded.603Since April 2024, the legal definition of pornography has been expanded to include depictions of same-sex relationships and transgender people, allowing the authorities to treat such content as pornography, punishable by up to four years’ imprisonment.604 In July 2025, the Law on the Rights of the Child was amended to classify the ‘propaganda of homosexual relations, gender reassignment, paedophilia, and childlessness’ as harmful to the psychological health of children.605
On 2 April 2026, the parliament adopted amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences, introducing, inter alia,606 Article 19.16 ‘Propaganda of homosexuality, sex change, childlessness, and paedophilia’. Under this legislation, the distribution of information that creates a positive perception of ‘same-sex relations, gender transition, voluntary childlessness, or recognising paedophilia as permissible’ is punishable by fines, community labour, or administrative detention of up to 15 days.607 The term ‘propaganda’ lacks a clear legal definition, allowing for the broad and arbitrary application of the law,608 including potential punishment for educational materials, social media posts, and the work of civil society and human rights organisations.609 The law was signed by President Lukashenka on 15 April 2026610 and will enter into force in mid-June 2026. 611
Sources noted that LGBTIQ+ people have faced harassment and intimidation,612 increased surveillance,613 arbitrary arrest and detention,614 and mistreatment in detention.615 Security forces reportedly carry out raids on LGBTIQ+ cultural events,616 nightclubs and private gatherings.617 During raids, LGBTIQ+ individuals have reportedly been subjected to selective detention, document checks, and searches of mobile devices, as well as interrogations ‘often conducted without the drafting of formal records.’618 In addition, KGB officers reportedly used blackmail against LGBTIQ+ individuals to pressure them into cooperation.619
Due to ‘the absence of independent media and effective legal protection mechanisms’, many violations of the rights of LGBTIQ+ individuals remain undocumented, with many of those affected refraining from making public statements ‘due to fear of further repression, threats against relatives, or repeated violence.’ 620
LGBTIQ+ organisations in the country have been closed.621 In September 2025, a district court of the Minsk Region designated the LGBTIQ+ media outlet DazHip as an extremist formation.622 In April 2025, a psychologist and LGBTIQ+ activist was detained in Minsk and interrogated by the KGB officers, who threatened her with criminal proceedings for participation in an extremist formation unless she cooperated and provided information about LGBTIQ+ activists and groups supporting LGBTIQ+ people. In September 2025, a ‘queer activist’ was convicted for the creation of an extremist formation and sentenced to three years in prison in a trial held behind closed doors in relation to her participation in the educational project ‘School of Leadership for Women.’623
- 597
Euronews, Belarus passes bill to crack down on LGBTIQ+ rights echoing similar law in Russia, 2 April 2026, url; AP, Belarusian parliament passes a bill to crack down on LGBTQ+ rights, 2 April 2026, url
- 598
TG House, Report: Situation of the LGBTIQ+ Community in Belarus, 2024, url, p. 10; UN Human Rights Council, Situation of human rights in Belarus, Report of the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus, 6 February 2026, url, para. 16
- 599
CSO meter, Belarus set to punish information on LGBTIQ, childlessness, and gender transition, 3 September 2026, url
- 600
UN Human Rights Council, Situation of human rights in Belarus, Report of the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus, 6 February 2026, url, para. 45
- 601
UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus, 7 February 2025, url, para. 62
- 602
TG House, The Monitoring of Repression and Discrimination Against Belarusian LGBTIQ+ Community in 2025, 28 January 2026, url
- 603
Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2025 – Belarus, February 2025, url; TG House, The Monitoring of Repression and Discrimination Against Belarusian LGBTIQ+ Community in 2025, 28 January 2026, url; ILGA Europe, Belarus, 2026, url, p. 1
- 604
HRW, Belarus Calls LGBT Lives ‘Pornography’, 12 April 2024, url; Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2025 – Belarus, February 2025, url; UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus, 7 February 2025, url, para. 62
- 605
ILGA Europe, Belarus, 2026, url, p. 1; Bertelsmann Stiftung, BTI 2026 Country Report – Belarus, 2026, url, p. 12
- 606
Belsat, Lukashenka signs law imposing fines for LGBT rights and related issues, 16 April 2026, url
- 607
UN OHCHR, UN experts alarmed by law targeting LGBT, women’s rights advocates and independent voices in Belarus, 15 April 2026, url
- 608
TG House, Лукашенко подписал закон о наказании за «пропаганду ЛГБТ» в Беларуси [Lukashenko signed a law criminalizing “LGBT propaganda” in Belarus], 15 April 2026, url; Belsat, Lukashenka signs law imposing fines for LGBT rights and related issues, 16 April 2026, url
- 609
CSO meter, Belarus set to punish information on LGBTIQ, childlessness, and gender transition, 3 September 2026, url; TG House, Лукашенко подписал закон о наказании за «пропаганду ЛГБТ» в Беларуси [Lukashenko signed a law criminalizing “LGBT propaganda” in Belarus], 15 April 2026, url
- 610
Belsat, Lukashenka signs law imposing fines for LGBT rights and related issues, 16 April 2026, url
- 611
TG House, Лукашенко подписал закон о наказании за «пропаганду ЛГБТ» в Беларуси [Lukashenko signed a law criminalizing “LGBT propaganda” in Belarus], 15 April 2026, url
- 612
UN OHCHR, UN experts alarmed by law targeting LGBT, women’s rights advocates and independent voices in Belarus, 15 April 2026, url
- 613
AI, Belarus 2024, 28 April 2025, url; UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus, 7 February 2025, url, para. 62
- 614
AI, Belarus 2024, 28 April 2025, url
- 615
UN Human Rights Council, Situation of human rights in Belarus, Report of the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus, 6 February 2026, url, para. 46
- 616
TG House, The Monitoring of Repression and Discrimination Against Belarusian LGBTIQ+ Community in 2025, 28 January 2026, url
- 617
AP, Belarusian parliament passes a bill to crack down on LGBTQ+ rights, 2 April 2026, url; Euronews, Belarus passes bill to crack down on LGBTIQ+ rights echoing similar law in Russia, 2 April 2026, url
- 618
TG House, The Monitoring of Repression and Discrimination Against Belarusian LGBTIQ+ Community in 2025, 28 January 2026, url
- 619
AP, Belarusian parliament passes a bill to crack down on LGBTQ+ rights, 2 April 2026, url; Euronews, Belarus passes bill to crack down on LGBTIQ+ rights echoing similar law in Russia, 2 April 2026, url
- 620
TG House, The Monitoring of Repression and Discrimination Against Belarusian LGBTIQ+ Community in 2025, 28 January 2026, url
- 621
AP, Belarusian parliament passes a bill to crack down on LGBTQ+ rights, 2 April 2026, url
- 622
ILGA Europe, Belarus, 2026, url, p. 1
- 623
TG House, The Monitoring of Repression and Discrimination Against Belarusian LGBTIQ+ Community in 2025, 28 January 2026, url