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LGBT rights in Belarus

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While a part of the Soviet Union, Belarus used the laws common for all Soviet republics. Homosexuality was considered illegal. Sexual relationship between females have never been illegal in Belarus, while those between males were always prosecuted. Words such as homosexuality or gay were not present in any old Soviet code as the Soviet juridical system used the term sodomy. On 1 March 1994 the Parliament of Independent Belarus changed Article 119-1 of the Criminal Code of Belarus, and homosexuality became legal.

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While a part of the Soviet Union, Belarus used the laws common for all Soviet republics. Homosexuality was considered illegal. Sexual relationship between females have never been illegal in Belarus, while those between males were always prosecuted. Words such as homosexuality or gay were not present in any old Soviet code as the Soviet juridical system used the term sodomy. Article 119-1 of the previous Criminal Code of Belarus set out that homosexual men having voluntary sexual contacts were to be convicted to prison terms up to five years. In 1989 nearly 50 Belarus citizens were fired due to their sexual orientation. A special department was set up in KGB to fight homosexuals. Secret services used blackmail to recruit their agents from the gay environment. This thus prevented the possibility of the emergence of any gay organization, or a printed edition designed specifically for sexual minorities. Homosexuals met in the streets, toilets, railway stations, or gathered in private flats or houses. In 1992 a newspaper named Sex-Antiaids-Plus was founded through the help provided by a non-governmental organization Stop-Aids-Belarus (SAB). The second issue of the newspaper was arrested by a procurator’s office, and a criminal case was initiated against the newspaper. The newspaper contained contact announcements for gays and lesbians. Prosecution regarded announcements as pandering. In 1994 the criminal case against the newspaper was dropped. However, its founder and chief editor, Ruslan Geniush, fearing persecution for sexual reasons, stopped his publishing endeavour. In 1992 a magazine named Randez-vous was registered, and began publishing. The magazine focused primarily on personal contacts, thus, contained articles written by psychologists, sexologists as well as letters and announcements of sexual minority readers in a special column "Blue Salon". In 1994 the magazine ceased to exist. On 1 March 1994 the Parliament of Independent Belarus changed Article 119-1 of the Criminal Code of Belarus, and homosexuality became legal.