Advances of LGBT rights in Mongolia

Homosexuality has existed since the stone ages and throughout history same sex relations were accepted by many different cultures such as South Asia, South Pacific, Mesopotamians, Grecians and Romans. However, in the middle ages, engaging in homosexual activity was punishable by death. In the nomadic cultures of Central Asia and Siberia, same sex relations were considered a deviation due to how they had a high regard for heterosexuality and fertility.

On August 25, the LGBT Centre will host its 6th annual Equality & Pride Days with a parade. “We know that it is not easy being LGBT in Mongolia,” said Beate Trankmann, UN residence coordinator in Mongolia. “The public still knows very little about the LGBT community and significant advocacy is needed to enhance their awareness and acceptance. This coalition is a step toward greater understanding and collaboration.

The main issue that the LGBTI community faces is acceptance. From this root, other challenges such as protection, employment, portrayal in media, and health. A pilot study concluded by the World Bank found that discrimination against LGBT people in India could be costing the country’s economy up to 32 billion USD a year in lost economic output. Another research recently conducted by the United States found that gay and lesbian people are four times more likely to contemplate or attempt suicide and transsexual youth are 10 times more likely to do so compared to the general population.

It is evident that the LGBT people in Mongolia do not relish the same rights and opportunities that non-LGBT people are afforded. However, change is happening slowly, but surely. Following the 1990 revolution of Mongolia that won the country democracy, LGBT rights movements started to take place in the country.

Homosexuality was banned in the country since 1961 and was in the Criminal Code until 1993 where same-sex sexual intercourse had been legalized. The 1992 Constitution ensured equal protection to everyone under the law and provided everyone with the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

Since then, the first Mongolian gay organization was established in 1999. The organization was called Tavilan, meaning “destiny” in Mongo- lian. Further growth was made in late 2003 when MICL, the first Mongolian lesbian organization was established.

LGBT rights movements were closely correlated to the promotion of sexual health in the early 2000s and many NGOs made it a goal to promote the rights of LGBT members as well as promoting sexual health. Currently, there is only one NGO that states “advocacy for the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Mongolia” to be its mandate.

The LGBT Centre has been active since 2007 and is the main group behind the policy and legislative changes in the country around LGBT rights. At first, the State Registration Agency refused to register the organization because it “conflicts with Mongolian customs and traditions and has the potential to set a wrong example for youth and adolescents.”

After more than 10 failed attempts, the Mongolian government had registered the LGBT Centre as the sole non-governmental for LGBTI human rights in 2009. The International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia has been marked in Mongolia since 2011 and the first ever Pride Week in Mongolia was held by the LGBT Centre in 2013.

Now, transgender people are allowed to have their sex changed on legal documents. In 2009, an amendment was made to the Article 20(1) of the Civil Registration Laws to allow transgender people to change their legal gender on birth certificates or citizen identification cards following a medical procedure to affirm their new gender.

The act of discrimination and violence against the LGBT in Mongolia are often not reported to the police and is common. Back in 2001, a horrendous crime against a lesbian woman was committed where she was abducted by two men who raped and stabbed her. Likewise in 2009, an ultranationalist group kidnapped three transgender women in Mongolia and sexually assaulted them.

These crimes were not reported to the police for the fear of victimization, and in 2014, a gay man was sexually assaulted by an ultra national group. After these terrible crimes were committed, the government announced a statement in May 2014 that they will consider anti-discrimination legislation to legislation for protection of the LGBT people.

The outcries of the people have finally been heard and in late 2015, the Mongolian Parliament adopted a new Criminal Code to prohibit hate crimes with the protected grounds including sexual orientation, gender identity and health status. It was September 1 of 2016 that the new Criminal Code was to come into force but it was delayed until July 1, 2017.

Following a month since the law passed, the LGBT Centre began to train more than 100 police officers on what hate crimes are and how to properly handle them in August of 2017.

During the 2018 spring session of Parliament, two new laws have been made in which both are on the basis of non-discrimination, and protection of gender equality and sexual orientation.

Though much progress has been made legally and socially for the LGBTI people in Mongolia, they are still denied marriage and adoption rights. In the Mongolian Constitution Article 16 (11), “Marriage is based on the equality and mutual consent of a man and a woman who have reached the age determined by law. The state protects the interests of the family, motherhood and the child.”

In 2011, the United Nations Mongolia signed the “Joint Statement on Ending Acts of Violence and Related Human Rights Violations based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity”, which was to stop violence and discrimination against the LGBT people.

Starting August 2018, the UN in cooperation of the LGBT Centre is launching the Coalition for Equality and LGBT Human Rights in Mongolia. The aim of the coalition is to bring together civil society, international organizations, academic institutions, government agencies and the private sector to celebrate Pride, advocate and promote the rights of the LGBTI community in Mongolia.

Advisor of the LGBT Centre in Mongolia Anaraa Nyamdorj said, “We encourage the government to continue its laudable efforts to protect everyone on an equal footing with a purpose of guaranteeing equality to all regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, and to start working without further delay towards a comprehensive equality legislation that will ensure equality becomes a tangible reality for all minorities in Mongolia.”

He went further to say, “This is what the LGBTI and other minority communities in Mongolia demand, this is what the international community expects along the international commitments already made by the government of Mongolia.”

...It is evident that the LGBT people in Mongolia do not relish the same rights and opportunities that non-LGBT people are afforded. However, change is happening slowly, but surely. Following the 1990 revolution of Mongolia that won the country democracy, LGBT rights movements started to take place in the country...