From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 11 Aug 1996 18:41:24 +0200

THE BAN ON HOMOSEXUALITY IN BELARUS HAS BEEN LIFTED
By Kurt Krickler

For some time now, there have been rumours about a repeal of the
total ban on homosexuality in Belarus (Art. 119.1) but it seemed
impossible to trace them back to concrete sources or information
as to when this should have happened. The legal situation has
remained unclear until now. 

At the XIth International Conference on AIDS in Vancouver in 
July 1996, however, a poster was presented on "Some 
Epidemiological Aspects of HIV-Infection inBelarus" 
(Abstract # Tu.C.202, Abstract Volume I, p. 241) in
which it is stated that Article 119.1 was repealed in 1991.
Since I found this rather surprising and wanted more details and
clarifications, I went to the oral poster discussion on 9 July
where I had the opportunity to talk with the author of this
poster abstract, Dr. A. Pimenov from the National Centre for
AIDS Prevention of Belarus. He told me that it is true: in 1991,
Belarus was the first of the former Soviet republics to repeal
the total ban on homosexuality, even before Ukraine and the
Baltic countries and Russia did so. He was so sure about that
because it was his National Centre that drafted the reform bill
and presented it to Parliament. Dr. Pimenov also reported that
Belarus has today an equal age of consent of 16 years for all
sexual orientations. This reform seems not to have been
publicized at all in Belarus in the first years of its effect
because the delegates from Belarus to the 7th ILGA Regional
Eastern and Southeastern Conference in Vienna in April 1993
still reported that Article 119.1 would not be implemented
anymore but would still be on the books (jf. Conference Report,
pp. 26-27). These delegates were from non-governmental AIDS
organisations. (I also discussed this with Henning Mikkelsen who
has worked a lot in Eastern Europe for WHO, and he doubts
heavily that the ban had been lifted as early as in 1991.)
Although a certain mystery remains with this reform, we can at
least take it for granted now that the total ban on
homosexuality has been lifted.

(published in EuroLetter 43)