Latvia

Same-sex intimacy is legal in Latvia, but the country has been slow to recognize broader legal protections for LGBTIQ people. However, in November 2023, the Latvian parliament adopted a law recognizing same-sex civil unions, conferring similar rights and obligations as marriage, with the exception of adoption and inheritance rights. As of July 1, 2024, same-sex couples may register their relationships as civil unions. Nevertheless, the Constitution of Latvia still defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Transgender people may change their legal gender markers, but only after medical intervention. 

Public opinion toward LGBTIQ people is generally conservative, but there has been an increase in LGBTIQ visibility in recent years. The current President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, is an openly gay man who became the first openly gay head of state of a European Union nation in 2023 and first came out publicly when he was the country’s foreign minister in 2014. In 2018, Marija Golubeva became the first openly lesbian member of parliament. She has since served as Interior Minister and remains a member of parliament as of 2025. 

While in the early 2000s, Pride events in Riga came under severe and sometimes violent attack by anti-LGBTIQ protesters, in recent years, Pride events have been largely peaceful and participation has grown, with Pride participants vastly outnumbering protesters.

*Outright research indicates that the bodily autonomy of intersex people is not respected and protected in this country.