Situation with LGBT. Overview

The overview covers only those countries which representatives shared their stories under "We Accept" project.
Same-gender sexual activities are 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.

Even though then Prime Minister Sali Berisha announced in July 2009 that he would support the recognition of civil marriages, the proposed anti-discrimination law, unanimously approved on 4 February 2010, never addressed same-sex marriage. Gay rights groups praised the new law but said they hoped that Berisha would eventually keep to his promise on legalizing same-sex marriage.

Albania is considered to be rather conservative, especially in public reactions regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender rights and visibility of LGBT people; however, anti-discrimination legislation have made ILGA-Europe regard Albania as one of a very few countries in Europe which explicitly bans discrimination on the grounds of gender identity.

In June 2016, the government passed the National Action Plan for LGBTI that would address bullying and LGBT discrimination in primary and secondary education with lectures and other activities. The Albanian Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth expressed that in accordance to the plan, it would work with LGBT activists to fight discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation.
Croatia

LGBT organizations and groups: Trans Aid
LGBT rights in Croatia have expanded in recent years but LGBT residents may still face some legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Homosexuality was for the first time in Croatian history de jure criminalized in 1951 while Croatia was a unit of federal Yugoslavia. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity was legalized in Croatia in 1977 with the introduction of Croatia's own penal code.

The status of same-sex relationships was first formally recognized in 2003 under a law dealing with unregistered cohabitations. As a result of a 2013 referendum, Croatia's Constitution defines marriage solely as a union between a woman and man, effectively prohibiting same-sex marriage. However, since the introduction of the Life Partnership Act in 2014, same-sex couples have effectively enjoyed rights equal to heterosexual married couples in everything except adoption rights. The separate legislation does provide same-sex couples with a mechanism similar to step-child adoption called "partner-guardianship". Croatia bans all discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.

The first life partnership in Croatia took place in Zagreb on September 5, 2014 between two men. Within a year of the Sabor passing the law 80 life partnerships were conducted. In 2015, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) ranked Croatia 5th in terms of LGBT rights out of 49 observed European countries, which represented an improvement compared to the previous year's position of 12th place.

In May 2016, Zagreb Pride published the first Croatian guide for same-sex couples, LGBT parents and families named "We Have a Family!". The publication was intended for informing same-sex partners and LGBT parents and contains information about life partnership, same-sex couples rights and the possibilities of planning LGBTIQ parenting in Croatia, as well as parenting stories written based on the experience of actual Croatian LGBT parents.
Kazakhstan

LGBT organizations and groups: KazFem, KokTeam
Since 1998 the same-sex relationships are decriminalized in the country. Since 2009 gender reassignment surgeries are legalized. However, in Kazakhstan LGBT people are not allowed to enter into marriage, adopt children and serve in the internal affaires bodies.

Negative attitude towards LGBT people manifests in social exclusion (most prefer to hide their sexual orientation and / or gender identity), "hate language" in the media and social networks, cases of physical violence, labor discrimination

Examples:
- In 2010 in Karaganda the organization leader who have struggled for LGBT rights was killed; - in 2013 a Shymkent resident, who came out with his homosexuality, was forced to leave the country because of insults and humiliation;
- in 2013 the creators of the oktobegay.kz project was prosecuted, the project was closed due to the involvement of the prosecutor's office;
- the Deputy of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Aldan Smayyl in the public space called LGBT people "criminals", and gay clubs - "a shame"

Since 2012 Kazakhstan has been developing a draft law "On the protection of children from information harmful to their health and development". This information included, among other things, information "promoting non-traditional sexual orientation". In 2015, the Upper Chamber of the Parliament of Kazakhstan approved this bill, but in 2017 the Constitutional Council of Kazakhstan recognized it as inappropriate to the Constitution.
Kosovo
A study conducted in 2015 by National Institute for Democracy showed that Kosovo is the most homophobic country in the Balkans, a region that does not know about tolerant viewpoints on sexuality. More than 80 % of interviewed members of the LGBT communities in Kosovo claimed to have been subject to psychological abuse due to their sexual orientation, whereas 29 % of them reported to have been victims of physical violence. LGBT rights in Kosovo have improved in recent years, most notably with the adoption of the new Constitution, banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. However, these anti-discrimination laws remain largely unenforced.

On 17 May 2014, well-known politicians, and local LGBT organizations QESh and CEL, took to the streets of Pristina to march against homophobia. The first-ever gay pride parade in Kosovo was held in Pristina on 17 May 2016, in which a few hundred people marched through the streets of the capital. There are currently three local LGBT rights organisations in Kosovo; the Center for Equality and Liberty, the Center for Social Group Development and the Center for Social Emancipation.
Kyrgyzstan

LGBT organizations and groups: Kyrgiz Indigo, Labris
Since 1998 the same-sex relationships are decriminalized in the country.

However, based on the Human Rights Watch data, the charges of sodomy are often presented by the police during the detention of homosexual men. Arbitrary detentions, as well as beatings and sexual abuse from the police officers, is one of the most frequent hate crimes in Kyrgyzstan. There are also frequent extortion, threats, "hate language" in the media and from public figures towards LGBT people.

For example, in 2014, the acting mufti of Kyrgyzstan Maksat Toktomushev, issued a fatwa (decision of the muftiat), containing a statement about homosexuals: "kill the one who does and the one with whom it is done!" Later this statement was removed, and Toktomushev stated that the fatwa text was not a call for murder.

In 2015 "Labrys" organization defending LGBT rights was attacked: Molotov cocktails were thrown into the building. The same year the representatives of the Kyrk-Tchoro and Kalys activist movements broke into the LGBT event and fought. One of the participants was injured.

In 2017 the representatives of the federation "Sports Wing of Kyrgyzstan" and Public Foundation "Tilekmat Ake" held a press conference where they stated that "it is necessary to sue international organizations that support LGBT community policy".

In June 2015 the Kyrgyz parliament passed a bill banning the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations. A few days later the document was recalled by the initiators.

In 2016 the Constitution of Kyrgyzstan was amended. As stated in the report of the public association "Kyrgyz Indigo": "now the Constitution has officially a discriminating attribute that allows the state to decide in a heteronormative way for the people for whom marriage is the most correct and appropriate. ... this and some other amendments were included into the country's Constitution, and they unceremoniously institutionalized homo- and transphobia".

The World Human Rights Watch report for 2017 states that "the usual impunity of unlawful treatment and torture" preserves, "violence and discrimination against women and lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people (LGBT)" continues.
Macedonia

LGBT organizations and groups: LGBT United, Coalition MARGINS, LGBTI Support Center
Homosexuality was illegal in Macedonia until 1996, when the country decriminalized sex between people of the same sex as a condition for becoming a member of the Council of Europe.

There is no legal recognition of same-sex couples, and the family law defines marriage as "a union between a man and a woman". At the beginning of 2015, the Parliament voted in favour to constitutionally define marriage as a union solely between a man and a woman.

From 2008 to 2010 the Macedonian gays, lesbians and bisexuals were protected from discrimination in the area of employment. In the beginning of 2010 however, while revising the anti-discrimination law, Parliament removed sexual orientation from the list of protected grounds. Currently there are no laws protecting the LGBT citizens of the country from discrimination or hate crimes due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

In January 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the state authorities' requirement that people to undergo gender reassignment surgery before their gender marker on ID documents can be changed, is a violation of human rights.

The country itself is mainly socially conservative towards homosexuality. There are many reports about public humiliations, worker firings and even casting homosexual teenagers onto the streets due to revelation of their sexual orientations.
Russia

LGBT organizations and groups: ЛГБТ-организации и группы: Russian LGBT-network, Stimul, Legal Assistance Project for Transgender People, Heterosexuals and LGBT Alliance for Equality, Intersex Russia, Resourse (Mosсow), Vyhod (St. Petersburg), Raduzhnyi mir (Perm), Resource Center (Yekaterinburg), Т9NSK (Novosibirsk),T9KRSK (Krasnoyarsk), Mayak (Vladivostok)
Since 1993 the same-sex relationships are decriminalized in the country. Since 1997 the right for civil sex transformation is secured. Since 2008 the men practicing sex with men are allowed to be blood donors.

However, in 2013 a law prohibiting "the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations among minors," which seriously limited the rights to free expression of opinion, association and union, and peaceful meetings was passed. LGBT people in Russia regularly face violations of their rights to a fair trial, labor, education and medical assistance. As stated in the Russian LGBT Network report, the concept of "propaganda" includes any positive or neutral references to LGBT, and this causes the silence about sexuality subject as it is.

LGBT people in Russia have no right to marry and adopt children. No anti-discrimination laws. At the same time, according to human rights activists, discrimination of LGBT citizens in Russia is massive and systematic, and most cases remain unknown to the public. In 2009, the UN Committee on Human Rights recommended Russia to develop anti-discrimination legislation and strengthen the fight against discrimination of LGBT people, but the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised that this was not necessary.

The most common hate crimes against LGBT people in Russia are: targeted beatings and murders, torture, hooligan attacks, sexual abuse, domestic violence, harassment of LGBT teenagers, the use of "hate language".

A report prepared by the Russian LGBT network based on monitoring results in 2016–2017 mentions cases of flagrant violations against LGBT people in the Chechen Republic, where law enforcement agencies launched an unprecedented campaign aimed at "cleansing the nation from gays".

The high level of discrimination of LGBT people in Russia is due to a number of factors. In particular: 1) LGBT at a legal level is not recognized as a social group, and it makes difficult to qualify violent crimes as hate crimes and recognize hostility as an aggravating circumstance, 2) the political agenda affects systematic discrimination, as well as values and emphasizing differences between western countries and Russia.
Uzbekistan
The same-sex relationships between men are criminalized in Uzbekistan.

Bezakalbazlyk (when a man satisfies his sexual need with a man without any violence) is a criminal offense and is punished with up to three years in prison. The article is rarely applied, but the very fact of its existence is an instrument of extortion and surrender, including from the police side. The article does not apply to women.

The application of the article relates to humiliating medical expertise, which includes the study of the anus for sexual intercourse. According to the international non-governmental organization CAGSAN for 2013, under article 120 about five hundred men were imprisoned. Among high-profile cases under the article on chastity are charges against journalist Ruslan Sharipov and the head of one of the branches of the National Television and Radio Company Botir Sultonov.

The homosexuality and LGBT rights subject remains completely closed to the media and public debate.

Former Uzbek President Islam Karimov (1991–2016) stated that homosexual relations are disgusting for the Uzbeks, and Western democracy allowing such relations pollutes the "moral cleanliness" of Uzbek culture.

In 2018 Uzbekistan adopted 201 out of 212 UN Universal Periodic Review recommendations on the human rights situation. Only 11 recommendations were not accepted. All of them concerned the rights of representatives of the LGBT community.