The LGBT Centre (active since 2007) states "advocacy for the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Mongolia" to be its mandate.
[3] Historically, the first gay men's human rights organisation was established in March 1999, and was called Tavilan (meaning "destiny" in Mongolian).
[4][5] The Khalkha Mongols, like many early Siberian peoples, placed a high regard on heterosexual fertility, love, and intercourse and therefore viewed homosexual affairs as a sort of abomination.
[6] According to Baasanjav Terbish, though forbidden for lamas from a monastic point of view, if seen from the perspective of the civil law, sleeping with a single person (whether same or opposite sex) neither constituted a criminal offense nor posed danger to existing social order in pre-socialist Mongolian society.
[10] Article 16 (11) of the Mongolian Constitution defines marriage as being "based on the equality and mutual consent of a man and a woman who have reached the age determined by law.
[16][18] An amendment made in June 2009 to Article 20(1) of the Civil Registration Law (Mongolian: Улсын бүртгэлийн ерөнхий хууль) allows transgender people to change their legal gender on birth certificates or citizen identification cards following sex reassignment surgery.
Mongolia's sex education curriculum introduced in 1998 includes discussion on LGBTQ and sexual health issues, though teachers may choose whether to cover these topics.
[20] A 2019 report from the LGBT Centre revealed that 79 % of LGBTQ-identified young people in Mongolia have experienced some form of bullying, discrimination, and/or ostracism.
[21] Initially, the State Registration Agency refused to register the organization because it "conflicts with Mongolian customs and traditions and has the potential to set a wrong example for youth and adolescents.
The first gay group, Tavilan (Mongolian: тавилан), was founded in 1999 and successfully registered as an NGO, then had its license revoked in 2000 and continued to operate informally.
[26] The first lesbian rights organisation, MILC, was established in December 2003 following the failure on the part of the founders of Tavilan to redraft its bylaws to include other sub-communities within the LGBT community.