Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste has been progressing with its acceptance of LGBTIQ communities, but barriers to full equality remain. Same-sex sexual activity is legal, and Timor-Leste’s Penal Code protects against crimes motivated by prejudice based on sexual orientation. 

The country has held a Pride march every year since 2017. In 2022, the Pride March concluded at the Presidential Palace with the support of the newly elected president. In 2024, a prominent lesbian couple who work at the Presidential Palace married legally in Darwin, Australia, with the president of Timor-Leste being one of the witnesses. Many activists viewed this as an important stepping stone toward the acceptance of LGBTIQ people. In 2023, Timor-Leste became a member of the UN LGBTI Core Group. 

Despite these developments, LGBTIQ people still face stigma, discrimination, and violence at the hands of their families and the broader society. Support from high-profile government officials has also failed to translate into laws and regulations that protect the rights of LGBTIQ persons. For example, transgender people still cannot change their legal gender markers or access gender-affirming health care in Timor-Leste. Timor-Leste’s Law on Domestic Violence (Law No. 7/2010) may offer some level of protection to LGBTIQ persons as it adopts a victim-centered and human rights-based approach, uses gender-neutral language, and broadly covers intimate partner relationships, but it does not explicitly reference LGBTIQ people among vulnerable groups.