Republic of the Congo

In the Republic of the Congo, while same-sex sexual acts are not criminalized under the penal code (1836), a discriminatory law sets a higher age of consent for same-sex acts. Article 331 punishes anyone who “commits a shameless act or an act against nature with an individual of the same sex younger than age 21” with up to three years in prison, while the age of consent is set at 18 for different-sex sexual acts. 

There is no law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics. However, sexual orientation and sexual life are considered sensitive personal data under existing cybercrime prevention laws, such as Law No. 29-2019 on the Protection of Personal Data and Decree No. 2025-66 relating to the Personal Data of Air Passengers, while Law No. 27-2020 on the Fight Against Cybercrime punishes the nonconsensual disclosure of a person’s sexual orientation through electronic platforms.

There is no procedure for trans people to change their names and gender markers, and intersex infants and children are not protected from nonconsensual medical interventions seeking to “normalize” their bodies. Several organizations working with and on the issues and rights of sexual and gender minorities operate in the Republic of Congo, though they face significant barriers to registration.

According to the U.S. State Department, civil society groups have reported that LGBTIQ people experienced harassment and that police occasionally relied on the law against “acts against nature” with a person under age 21 to extort men perceived to be gay. According to a September 2020 report by national advocacy group Cœur Arc-en-ciel, 54 percent of LGBTQ survey participants in Brazzaville City experienced discrimination or violence on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in 2020. Among those who had experienced violence or discrimination, nearly 28 percent said their family members were the perpetrators.

Public opinion toward homosexuality is generally negative. In a 2022 survey, only 20 percent of individuals surveyed in the Republic of the Congo believed that their domicile in the country was a good place to live for gay or lesbian people. Based on data collected between 2021 and 2023, another survey showed that 73 percent of persons surveyed in the country would dislike having a “homosexual” as a neighbor.