LGBTQ IN TURKMENISTAN: A NEVER-ENDING TRAP
Igor Kotler
Turkmenistan remains one of the most repressive states in the post-Soviet region in its treatment of sexual orientation and gender identity. Same-sex relations between men are criminalized under Article 135 of the Turkmen Criminal Code, which prescribes imprisonment for “sodomy,” while Article 133, which concerns “indecent behavior,” is applied broadly to sexual minorities and carries penalties ranging from two to twenty years of imprisonment.
This provision is routinely applied not only to prosecute individuals but also to maintain a climate of fear and complete invisibility for LGBTQ people. Criminalization facilitates police surveillance, secret monitoring of private communications, and coercive interrogation practices in which individuals suspected of same-sex relationships experience pressure, intimidation, and threats of arrest. The state has made no effort to revise this law, and official rhetoric continues to portray homosexuality as a pathology or a danger to national values. As early as 2007, the issue of decriminalizing homosexual relations was raised during a visit to Turkmenistan by members of the German Bundestag. During their discussions, the Turkmen Minister of Foreign Affairs categorically rejected any possibility of decriminalization and asserted that homosexuality was incompatible with Turkmen cultural norms.2 Same sex relations continue to be punishable under domestic law.
