Click to expand Image Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov speaks during the first session of the Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament) of Kyrgyzstan of the 8th convocation in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, December 17, 2025. © 2025 Igor Yegorov / Sputnik via AP Photo (Bishkek, June 15, 2026) – A harmful draft law before the Kyrgyzstan parliament would prohibit legal gender recognition, ban gender-affirming health care, and restrict information about gender diversity and the possibility of transitioning for children, Human Rights Watch said today. The bill, which passed its first reading on June 4, 2026, still requires approval at the second and third readings and then the president’s signature to be signed into law. Rights advocates are concerned that the parliament could fast-track the legislation through its remaining readings before the session ends on June 30, leaving little time for meaningful debate or scrutiny. “This bill is built on dangerous myths about transgender people and would cause immediate, serious harm to people’s lives,” said Syinat Sultanalieva, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The law would strip people of the possibility of legal recognition, push them further into the margins of society, and expose them to discrimination and violence. The parliament should reject it outright.” If adopted, the bill would eliminate the last remaining pathway for legal gender recognition in Kyrgyzstan and impose a blanket ban on gender-affirming health care, with a narrow exception for “congenital anomalies.” The exception appears to refer to medically unnecessary nonconsensual surgeries on children born with intersex variations. The bill not only requires parents to raise children strictly according to their “biological sex” but also prohibits “any actions aimed at changing sex self-awareness in minors.” As a result, children would be deni