An article under which sodomy was punishable by imprisonment from 5 to 8 years appeared in the Soviet Criminal Code on March 7, 1934 - number 154-a: “Sexual intercourse between a man and a man (sodomy) - imprisonment for a term of three to five years. Sodomy committed with the use of violence or taking advantage of the dependent position of the victim - imprisonment for a term of five to eight years."

Operating under the framework of the Soviet Union, legal gender recognition became possible under Resolution No. 1006 issued by the Council of Ministers of the USSR. Item 2, sub-item 't' of these provisions allowed for the correction of personal data in civil registry records due to a change of sex. Civil Registry (ZAGS) offices processed these changes based on medical certificates, strictly conditioning the amendment on the applicant having undergone surgical correction. This was formalized by the USSR Ministry of Health's Methodological Guidelines for the Change of Sex (No. 10-91) in August 1991. Following Armenian independence in 1991, this Soviet administrative practice continued to function as the active legal basis for gender marker changes until the national parliament explicitly legislated on the matter.