UN Experts Urge Kyrgyzstan to Withdraw Transgender Bill

United Nations experts have expressed serious concern over a bill advancing in Kyrgyzstan, warning it could institutionalize discrimination against transgender and gender-diverse individuals. The draft legislation, which has passed its first reading in parliament, defines gender as immutable and strictly tied to biological sex assigned at birth. It also seeks to prohibit changes to gender markers in official documents and bans medical interventions for gender transition. Furthermore, the bill mandates that parents raise children according to their sex assigned at birth. Experts argue these provisions contravene both Kyrgyzstan's constitution and its international human rights commitments. They highlighted potential violations of fundamental rights, including privacy, health, education, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly. The UN experts criticized the bill's proponents' arguments that recognizing gender diversity poses a threat to demographic policy, national security, or sustainable development. They called on the Kyrgyz parliament to withdraw the bill and ensure future legislation aligns with national and international human rights standards.

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the bill defines gender as immutable and based solely on biological characteristics assigned at birth. It also prohibits changing gender markers in civil status records and other documents, bans medical interventions for sex reassignment, and requires parents to raise their children strictly according to the sex assigned at birth.