Question 1

🇦🇹 Austria

Accepted Answer

In December 2025, the Constitutional Court strengthened the rights of transgender and non-binary people with regard to legal gender recognition. The court made it clear that medical procedures or sterilization must not be a prerequisite for changing one’s registered gender, and extended protection to non-binary people.

Question 2

🇧🇼 Botswana

Accepted Answer

Botswana completely removed the remaining provisions criminalizing same-sex acts from its criminal code, thereby enshrining in law the judicial decriminalization that had already taken place in 2019.

Question 3

🇨🇦 Canada

Accepted Answer

In September 2025, the Federal Government introduced the ‘Combatting Hate Act’, which creates a new criminal offence for hate crime. Offences motivated by hatred based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression can now be punished more severely. The Act received official approval in June 2026 and came into force in July 2026.

Question 4

🇨🇳 China

Accepted Answer

In May 2026, the Supreme People’s Court ruled that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression is unlawful. Any decisions to the contrary must be overturned and those affected must be compensated. The court also announced training programmes for judges and a greater focus on LGBTQ+ rights in case law.

Question 5

🇨🇴 Colombia

Accepted Answer

The labour market reform explicitly prohibited discrimination against employees on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity under employment law. In 2026, the Constitutional Court further strengthened this protection by declaring restrictive provisions of the law to be unconstitutional.

Question 6

🇨🇿 Czech Republic

Accepted Answer

In 2024, the Constitutional Court ruled that the requirement to undergo gender-affirming surgery, including sterilisation, as a prerequisite for legal recognition of gender was unconstitutional. The relevant statutory provisions ceased to apply on 30 June 2025. In addition, criminal law provisions protecting against hate crime were further expanded in 2025 and 2026.

Question 7

🇨🇿 Dominican Republic

Accepted Answer

In November 2025, the Constitutional Court ruled that the criminal law provisions criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual acts within the police and the armed forces were unconstitutional. The Court found that these provisions violated the prohibition of discrimination, the right to privacy, the free development of the personality, and the right to work.

Question 8

🇰🇪 Kenya

Accepted Answer

In May 2026, the High Court ruled that changing gender markers on official documents is not expressly prohibited. The court found that the blanket rejection of such applications by state authorities contravenes constitutional guarantees such as equality, human dignity and privacy. The relevant authorities were instructed to examine applications to amend gender entries on birth certificates, identity cards and passports.

Question 9

🇳🇱 Netherlands

Accepted Answer

On 1 July 2025, a reform of the Criminal Code came into force which explicitly recognises a discriminatory motive, including sexual orientation, as an aggravating factor in hate crimes. In June 2026, Parliament also passed a law criminalising conversion therapy aimed at altering or suppressing sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

Question 10

🇱🇨 St. Lucia

Accepted Answer

In July 2025, the High Court decriminalised consensual same-sex acts between adults and declared the relevant criminal law provisions to be unconstitutional.

2026

The Risk Map 2026 from the perspective of the LGBTQ+ community

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