Suriname

The Constitution of the Republic of Suriname offers LGBTIQ people some protection against discrimination. Article 8 prohibits discrimination based on birth, sex, race, language, religion, education, political opinion, economic position, or any other status. The government has argued that inclusion of “any other status” is understood to extend to sexual orientation and gender identity. Same-sex intercourse is not criminalized, and the Penal Code protects against hate speech. Despite the state’s efforts to increase tolerance toward LGBTIQ people in Suriname, LGBTIQ people continue to experience violence, discrimination, harassment, and public hostility. 

The law on legal gender recognition has advanced by virtue of a recent court decision concerning a transgender person who had undergone gender-affirming surgery and was living her life as a woman for approximately ten years. In January 2022, Suriname’s appeals court ordered the registration of a gender change on the birth register, notwithstanding the lack of legislation allowing for legal gender recognition. The Court emphasized that fundamental human rights, in particular protection from discrimination and respect for the right to private life as provided for under international human rights treaties and the Surinamese Constitution, extend to transgender persons. Where a local law or gap in the law conflicts with one of these fundamental human rights, the local law must be declared unlawful, and the protection of fundamental rights prevails. The court decided that it follows that the affected person was entitled to legal gender recognition and to gender reassignment. The court rejected the state’s argument that legal gender recognition must be arrived at via a legislative process and further stressed that the state cannot continue to invoke the absence of legislation if it does not take any initiatives to that effect itself. 

In 2022, the Equal Treatment in Employment Act was passed, banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace. In 2024, the Suriname National Assembly made history by voting to include sexual orientation and gender identity as categories in the national census. Suriname was one of the first countries in the region to do so. Activists celebrated the step as an opportunity for evidence-based inclusion in government policy.

Social perceptions of LGBTIQ people are somewhat positive. According to a 2017 study, 83 percent of people in Suriname accept or tolerate “homosexual” people. However, in practice, many barriers remain that hinder social and political inclusion and meaningful implementation of inclusive policies.

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