The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) is an organization which is committed to advancing human rights to all people, disregarding gender identity, sex characteristics and expression. ILGA participates in a multitude of agendas within the United Nations, such as creating visibility for LGBTI issues by conducting advocacy and outreach at the Human Rights Council, working with members to help their government improve LGBTI rights, ensuring LGBTI members are not forgotten in international law, and advocating for LBTI women's issues at the Commission on the Status of Women.
Human rights in Turkey are protected by a variety of international law treaties, which take precedence over domestic legislation, according to Article 90 of the 1982 Constitution. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) was not signed by Turkey until 2000. As of today, however, Turkey is party to 16 out of 18 international human rights treaties of the United Nations. The issue of human rights is of high importance for the negotiations with the European Union (EU).
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 2005.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Belarus face significant challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Belarus. Households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples. Belarus provides no anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people, nor does it prohibit hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Mahmoud Asgari, and Ayaz Marhoni, were Iranian teenagers from the province of Khorasan who were publicly hanged on July 19, 2005. They were executed after being convicted of having raped a 13-year-old boy. The case attracted international media attention and the facts of the case are heavily debated.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Romania may face legal challenges and discrimination not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Attitudes in Romania are generally conservative, with regard to the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender citizens. Nevertheless, the country has made significant changes in LGBT rights legislation since 2000. In the past two decades, it fully decriminalised homosexuality, introduced and enforced wide-ranging anti-discrimination laws, equalised the age of consent and introduced laws against homophobic hate crimes. Furthermore, LGBT communities have become more visible in recent years, as a result of events such as Bucharest's annual pride parade and Cluj-Napoca's Gay Film Nights festival.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Kenya face significant challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Sodomy is a felony per Section 162 of the Kenyan Penal Code, punishable by 21 years' imprisonment, and any sexual practices are a felony under section 165 of the same statute, punishable by 5 years' imprisonment. On 24 May 2019, the High Court of Kenya refused an order to declare sections 162 and 165 unconstitutional. The state does not recognise any relationships between persons of the same sex; same-sex marriage is banned under the Kenyan Constitution since 2010. There are no explicit protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Adoption is restricted to heterosexual couples only.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people living in Lebanon may face discrimination and legal difficulties not experienced by non-LGBT residents, although they have more freedom than in other parts of the Arab world. Various courts have ruled that Article 534 of the Lebanese Penal Code, which prohibits having sexual relations that "contradict the laws of nature", should not be used to arrest LGBT people. Nonetheless, the law is still being used to harass and persecute LGBT people through occasional police arrests, in which detainees are sometimes subject to intrusive physical examinations.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Turkey face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents, though the general climate for LGBT people is considered to be less repressive when compared to most other Muslim-majority countries.
KAOS GL, short for Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association, founded in 1994, is one of the oldest and largest LGBT rights organisations in Turkey. In 2005, the Ankara-based organisation became the first Turkish LGBT organisation to be legally registered as an association, after their application was initially appealed by deputy governor of Ankara. The organisation has been publishing the journal KAOS GL since its founding. The group operates the KAOS Cultural Center, which hosts cultural activities, meetings, and showings of films. The centre also houses an LGBT history library.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Albania face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents, although LGBT people are protected under comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation. Both male and female same-gender sexual activities have been legal in Albania since 1995, but households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-gender couples, with same-sex unions not being recognized in the country in any form.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) persons in Burundi face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT citizens. While never criminalized before 2009, today Burundi criminalises same-sex sexual activity by both men and women, with a penalty up to two years in prison and a fine. LGBT persons are regularly prosecuted by the government and additionally face stigmatisation among the broader population.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Nicaragua face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Nicaragua. Discrimination based on sexual orientation is banned in certain areas, including in employment and access to health services.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Honduras face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Honduras.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in Kosovo have improved in recent years, most notably with the adoption of the new Constitution, banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. Kosovo remains one of the few Muslim-majority countries where LGBT pride parades are held annually.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Zambia face significant challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity is illegal for both males and females in Zambia. Formerly a colony of the British Empire, Zambia inherited the laws and legal system of its colonial occupiers upon independence in 1964. Laws concerning homosexuality have largely remained unchanged since then, and homosexuality is covered by sodomy laws that also proscribe bestiality. Social attitudes toward LGBT people are mostly negative and coloured by perceptions that homosexuality is immoral and a form of insanity. However, in recent years, younger generations are beginning to show positive and open minded attitudes towards their LGBT peers.
LGBT history in Turkey covers the development, contributions and struggles of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the history of Turkey and their relation between Turkish politics from the Abolition of the Caliphate to modern-day Turkey.
In Turkey, pink certificate is the colloquial name for a military discharge certificate given to those who are discharged or considered exempt from military service due to their sexual orientation. The Turkish Armed Forces Health Regulation, under Article 17 of "Mental Health and Diseases," explains that the case of "advanced sexual disorders," which are "explicitly apparent in the person's whole life," could cause "objectionable situations in the military environment" To receive such a discharge, individuals must "prove" their homosexuality, under the examination of military doctors and psychologists.
Demet Demir is a Turkish LGBT activist. She was awarded the Felipa de Souza Award in 1997 for her activism.
Censorship of LGBT issues is practised by some countries around the world. They may take a variety of forms, including anti-LGBT curriculum laws in some states of the United States, the Russian gay propaganda law, and the Hungarian anti-LGBT law, and laws in Muslim-majority states such as Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Malaysia prohibiting advocacy that offends Islamic morality.
