LGBT rights in Chechnya information

LGBT rights in Russia
LGBT rights in Russia
Status	De jure legal for consenting men same-sex sexual activity since 1993 but not criminalised for women. "Promotion" of LGBT identity illegal since 2013 (homosexuality) and 2022 (transidentity)
Penalty	In Chechnya: up to death since 2017
Gender identity	Gender change legal between 1997 and 2023, illegal afterwards
Military	LGB people can serve in the army, there are no restrictions.
Discrimination protections	None
Family rights
Recognition of relationships	No recognition of same-sex unions
Restrictions	Same-sex marriage constitutionally banned since 2020
Adoption	Allowed to adopt by a single person

LGBT rights in Chechnya
LGBT rights in Chechnya
	Location of Chechnya (dark green)
Status	Male homosexuality de-facto illegal since 1996
Penalty	Includes corporal punishment, imprisonment, torture, execution
Discrimination protections	None
Family rights
Recognition of relationships	No recognition of same-sex relationships

The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Chechnya have long been a cause of concern for human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. As a member of the Russian Federation, Russia's LGBT laws formally apply. De facto, there are no protections for LGBT citizens, and the Chechen authorities allegedly encourage the killing of people suspected of homosexuality by their families.

Since March 2017, a violent crackdown on the LGBT community led to the abduction and detention of gay and bisexual men, who were beaten and tortured.^[7]^[8] More than one hundred men, and possibly several hundred men, were targeted.^[7] At least three,^[9] and reportedly as many as 20, were beaten to death.^[10] The precise number of those detained and killed is unknown.^[8] A panel of expert advisors to the United Nations Human Rights Council reported in early April 2017 that: "These are acts of persecution and violence on an unprecedented scale in the region and constitute serious violations of the obligations of the Russian Federation under international human rights law."^[8]

^ Cite error: The named reference LGBT rights in Russia RUS33940 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Milashina, Elena (1 April 2017). "Murder of honor: the ambitions of a well-known LGBT activist awake a terrible ancient custom in Chechnya". Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2017. "Novaya Gazeta" became aware of mass detentions of residents of Chechnya in connection with their unconventional sexual orientation – or suspicion of such. At the moment, more than a hundred men have been informed of the detention. "Novaya Gazeta" knows the names of the three dead, but our sources say that there are many more victims.
^ Kramer, Andrew E. (1 April 2017). "Chechen Authorities Arresting and Killing Gay Men, Russian Paper Says". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
^ "Геи, гомосексулисты и армия || Комитет солдатских матерей России".
^ Kramer, Andrew E. (3 March 2020). "Putin Proposes Constitutional Ban on Gay Marriage". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2020. By including an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman, "they are reinventing the vote as a referendum for traditional values," said Ekaterina Schulmann, a Moscow-based political scientist.
^ Adoption is regulated by the Civil Procedure Code of Russia (Chapter 29); Family Code of Russia (Chapter 19); Federal Law On Acts of Civil Status (Chapter V). None of these documents contain any direct restriction or ban for homosexual people to adopt, though unmarried couples are not allowed to adopt children (Article 127.2 of the Family Code of Russia), and since same-sex marriage is not officially recognized, gay couples cannot adopt children together; nevertheless, single individuals can adopt (see also the Parent Relations section of the Russian LGBT Network 2009 Report). The Court makes the decision to allow or deny adoption considering many documents and testimonies, so it is unclear whether LGBT affiliation of the candidate adopter can be in fact an issue for a judge to make a negative decision.
^ ^a ^b Shaun Walker, Chechens tell of prison beatings and electric shocks in anti-gay purge: 'They called us animals', The Guardian (13 April 2017).
^ ^a ^b ^c Sewell Chan, U.N. Experts Condemn Killing and Torture of Gay Men in Chechnya, New York Times (13 April 2017).
^ Russia asked to end alleged killings of gays in Chechnya Archived 15 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Associated Press (13 April 2017).
^ Mary Emily O'Hara, Pleas for Help From Gay Men in Chechnya on Rise, Russian Group Says, NBC News (12 April 2017).

Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

[LGBT_rights_in_Russia_RUS33940-1] Cite error: The named reference LGBT rights in Russia RUS33940 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[LGBT_rights_in_Russia_NovayaGazeta-2] Milashina, Elena (1 April 2017). "Murder of honor: the ambitions of a well-known LGBT activist awake a terrible ancient custom in Chechnya". Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2017. "Novaya Gazeta" became aware of mass detentions of residents of Chechnya in connection with their unconventional sexual orientation – or suspicion of such. At the moment, more than a hundred men have been informed of the detention. "Novaya Gazeta" knows the names of the three dead, but our sources say that there are many more victims.

[LGBT_rights_in_Russia_KramerNYT-3] Kramer, Andrew E. (1 April 2017). "Chechen Authorities Arresting and Killing Gay Men, Russian Paper Says". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2017.

[LGBT_rights_in_Russia_ksmrus.ru-5] "Геи, гомосексулисты и армия || Комитет солдатских матерей России".

[LGBT_rights_in_Russia_Times-3Mar20-6] Kramer, Andrew E. (3 March 2020). "Putin Proposes Constitutional Ban on Gay Marriage". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2020. By including an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman, "they are reinventing the vote as a referendum for traditional values," said Ekaterina Schulmann, a Moscow-based political scientist.

[LGBT_rights_in_Russia_adoption-8] Adoption is regulated by the Civil Procedure Code of Russia (Chapter 29); Family Code of Russia (Chapter 19); Federal Law On Acts of Civil Status (Chapter V). None of these documents contain any direct restriction or ban for homosexual people to adopt, though unmarried couples are not allowed to adopt children (Article 127.2 of the Family Code of Russia), and since same-sex marriage is not officially recognized, gay couples cannot adopt children together; nevertheless, single individuals can adopt (see also the Parent Relations section of the Russian LGBT Network 2009 Report). The Court makes the decision to allow or deny adoption considering many documents and testimonies, so it is unclear whether LGBT affiliation of the candidate adopter can be in fact an issue for a judge to make a negative decision.

[Walker-9] Shaun Walker, Chechens tell of prison beatings and electric shocks in anti-gay purge: 'They called us animals', The Guardian (13 April 2017).

[Chan-10] Sewell Chan, U.N. Experts Condemn Killing and Torture of Gay Men in Chechnya, New York Times (13 April 2017).

[APUnitedNationsApril-11] Russia asked to end alleged killings of gays in Chechnya Archived 15 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Associated Press (13 April 2017).

[12] Mary Emily O'Hara, Pleas for Help From Gay Men in Chechnya on Rise, Russian Group Says, NBC News (12 April 2017).

LGBT rights in Chechnya information

and 25 Related for: LGBT rights in Chechnya information

LGBT rights in Chechnya

LGBT rights in Russia

Black site

Welcome to Chechnya

Chechnya

LGBT rights in Armenia

LGBT rights by country or territory

Russian LGBT Network

LGBT people and Islam

LGBT rights opposition

LGBT rights in Asia

LGBT rights in Europe

Human rights in Russia

Outline of LGBT topics

Ramzan Kadyrov

Kadyrovites

Zelim Bakaev

Magomed Tushayev

List of human rights organisations

List of European Court of Human Rights judgments

Outing

Gay men

Yabloko

Internment

Human rights in Belarus

LGBT rights in Chechnya
Location of Chechnya (dark green)
Status	Male homosexuality de-facto illegal since 1996
Penalty	Includes corporal punishment, imprisonment, torture, execution
Discrimination protections	None
Family rights
Recognition of relationships	No recognition of same-sex relationships

LGBT rights in Russia

Status	De jure legal for consenting men same-sex sexual activity since 1993 but not criminalised for women.^[1] "Promotion" of LGBT identity illegal since 2013 (homosexuality) and 2022 (transidentity)
Penalty	In Chechnya: up to death since 2017^{[note 1]}
Gender identity	Gender change legal between 1997 and 2023, illegal afterwards
Military	LGB people can serve in the army, there are no restrictions.^[4]
Discrimination protections	None
Family rights
Recognition of relationships	No recognition of same-sex unions
Restrictions	Same-sex marriage constitutionally banned since 2020^{[note 2]}
Adoption	Allowed to adopt by a single person^[6]

LGBT rights
Part of a series on

Lesbian ∙ Gay ∙ Bisexual ∙ Transgender
Overview Rights Movements Student Germany (pre-1933) United States Intersex rights Social attitudes Transgender rights Legal status Movement
Aspects Decriminalization Marriage Legal status Timeline Migration Military service Organizations List Parenting Adoption Pinkwashing Relationship Recognition Union
Opposition Censorship Conversion therapy Corrective rape Discrimination Criminalization of homosexuality Execution Opposition Propaganda Rhetoric Violence
Organizations LGBT Bisexual Intersex Community centre Medical Military and Veteran Rights Transgender United States Religious Christian Jewish Muslim
Politics Anarchist Bisexual politics Communism Conservatism Ecology Homonationalism Liberation Libertarianism Nationalism Radicalism Sexual revolution Socialism Transfeminism Political parties affiliates Political ideologies regarding LGBT
Timeline Years List Category
Related Discrimination Freedom Index Human rights Minority rights LGBT people in prison
LGBT portal
v t e