in Europe (dark grey)  –  [Legend]Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Bosnia and Herzegovina may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents.

According to a 2015 survey, 51% of LGBT Bosnians and Herzegovinians reported some form of discrimination directed against them, including verbal abuse, harassment, and physical violence.

In 2016, the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina approved a comprehensive anti-discrimination law, banning discrimination on account of one's sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics.

[1] Bosnia and Herzegovina's desire to join the European Union has also played an important role in the Government's approach to LGBT rights.

[3] The association ILGA-Europe has ranked Bosnia and Herzegovina 22 out of the 49 countries in the Council of Europe in terms of LGBT rights legislation.

Same-sex sexual activity was legalized in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1996 and in the Republika Srpska in 1998, by those two entities adopting their own criminal laws.

[11] Article 12 of the Law on Equality of Sexes (Bosnian: Zakon o ravnopravnosti spolova), adopted in early 2003, prohibits discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation.

[13] Article 2 of the law states as follows:[14] Discrimination, in terms of this Law, shall be any different treatment including any exclusion, limitation or preference based on real or perceived grounds towards any person or group of persons, their relatives, or persons otherwise associated with them, on the grounds of their race, skin colour, language, religion, ethnic affiliation, disability, age, national or social background, connection to a national minority, political or other persuasion, property, membership in trade union or any other association, education, social status and sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, sexual characteristics, as well as any other circumstance serving the purpose of or resulting in prevention or restriction of any individual from enjoyment or realization, on equal footing, of rights and freedoms in all areas of life.In July 2016, the Bosnian Parliament adopted a bill amending anti-discrimination laws to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics.

[15][16] In April 2016, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina approved amendments to its Criminal Code by outlawing hate crimes on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

[17][18][19] Transgender people may change their legal gender in Bosnia and Herzegovina after having undergone sex reassignment surgery and other medical treatments.

[3] Other organizations include Okvir and Simosyon (which both registered in 2011), Viktorija, the Sarajevo Open Centre (Sarajevski Otvoreni Centar), BUKA (Bosnian: Banjalučko Udruženje Kvir Aktivista, lit.

Eight people, one policeman included, were reported to have been injured after a large group of Wahhabi (Salafis) and others islamists hooligans attacked visitors and the crowds.

According to the organizers of the four-day event, police allowed a non-approved protest and anti-gay protestors to get too close to the venue, thus endangering the participants.

[4] In March 2023, activists at the offices of Transparency International, claimed that they were attacked by a group of men after a local event was banned by police.