Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan: Gay Matchmakg and Culture

Contents:

• SERI: GAY MEN AND LBIANS UNR THE NAZI REGIME
• KAZAKHSTAN: GAY SMOOCH ADVERT SPARKS IRE ALMATY
• SE RMATN
• KAZAKHSTAN AND KYRGYZSTAN: GAY MATCHMAKG AND CULTURE
• KOZ GO GAY
• A GAY GIRL’S GUI TO THE 2023 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
• 'PASSAG' DIRECTOR NOUNC 'DANGERO' NC-17 RATG ON A FILM PICTG A GAY LOVE STORY
• JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

SERI: GAY MEN AND LBIANS UNR THE NAZI REGIME

The Nazi regime harassed and targeted gay men and lbians by banng their anizatns, shutterg their prs, and raidg and closg their meetg plac. The Nazi regime’s actns effectively stroyed the works and muni that gay men and lbians had tablished before the Nazis me to power.

For gay men, harrassment worsened over the urse of the 1930s, eventually turng to btal persecutn. Some of the men were sent to ncentratn mps as “homosexual” (“homosexuell”).

In 1991 Kazakhstan beme pennt om the Soviet Unn, a untry where homosexual relatnships were regard as crimal and same-sex terurse was wily nsired part of jail culture only. While the state do not place any systemic prsure on lbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and queer (LGBTQ) people, also has not lnched any awarens raisg or cln mpaigns volvg LGBTQ rights.

KAZAKHSTAN: GAY SMOOCH ADVERT SPARKS IRE ALMATY

There ed to be a handful of NGOs Kazakhstan providg servic for the gay muny unr ternatnally fund AIDS preventn programm, and several gay-rights NGOs focg on psychologil support for LGBTQs, sharg rmatn and rourc and servg as a meetg place for LGBTQ people. This was eher bee of the fear of negative reactns om the public or fancial difficulti, rather than due to any persecutn om the state., the most popular muny webse, which is not affiliated to any NGO, had a vibrant fom, news, lerature and featur about gay and queer culture, and an onle rad statn lled “Boys and Girls”.

SE RMATN

The gay muny's onle experienc are nfed to datg s and dited groups on social media where they share “fun stuff”.

KAZAKHSTAN AND KYRGYZSTAN: GAY MATCHMAKG AND CULTURE

4 “It is much more difficult for transgenr people than for gays, ” says Ksan, an emergg activist the field, who exprsed unrstandg towards those who do not want to “e out”.

Dpe sporadic statements by ge policians and an uniendly media, the gay muny was not always hidg. The gree of public acceptance ed to be higher 10 or even five years ago, wh gay clubs flourishg Almaty, Kazakhstan's biggt cy.

Today, g out for gays is a ght experience, which is likely to volve public huiatn and pa, unlike the early 1990s – many still prefer kvartirniki, or havg meetgs wh gay iends someone's private apartment, rather than meetg public plac. The language ed by journalists has notably changed to clu emotnally load words and the e of obsolete terms that serve to stigmatise LGBTQs, such as “homosexualism” or “sodomy”, and the public is readily nsumg the.

KOZ GO GAY

6 In 2010, a gay rights activist was murred. Homophobic and transphobic narrativ and discsns about sexual “normalcy” often bee hot topics on social media and ments on articl on news s.

It rarely volv physil threats – more monly volv sults and statements urgg the person speakg out about LGBTQ rights to leave the untry, says CT, a gay man who cid to follow this uniendly advice and leave the untry. Onle mentators, llg for ath to homosexuals, amongst other forms of hate speech, n negatively fluence otherwise ntral rears.

A GAY GIRL’S GUI TO THE 2023 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

Social media n rerce the impact of tradnal media bias and further nsolidate homophobia and transphobia. The “poster ntroversy” and gay propaganda law. In late summer 2014, Kazakhstani ter ers were plunged to a stand-off between nservative groups and those supportg homosexualy: the worst batn possible if you want to igne the flam of onle war this untry.

'PASSAG' DIRECTOR NOUNC 'DANGERO' NC-17 RATG ON A FILM PICTG A GAY LOVE STORY

A Havas Worldwi advertisg agency branch Kazakhstan created a poster for “Stud 69”, an Almaty-based gay club, and entered to the fluential Central Asian ads petn lled the “Red Jolbors”. The immediate rponse was wispread public dignatn at the “mockery of Kazakhs' great anctor”, but almost stantly turned to a homophobic wch hunt.

JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

The advertisg agency was blamed for “propagatg gay culture the uglit way”, by reprentg a figure of natnal pri as homosexual.

In the swell of public outrage, all gays Kazakhstan beme llateral victims. The most nocuo er ments lled for gays to rema visible; the most radil urged people to burn them alive. 10 The ultra-nservative Bolashak (Future) youth movement anised a roundtable agast homosexualy, urgg the state to crimalise “LGBTQ propaganda”, to expel gays om public stutns and to close all gay clubs.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

They also picketed outsi Stud 69, breakg to the venue and shoutg homophobic chants.

The poster ntroversy cid wh the fal stage of discsns on a draft law that aimed to ban “gay propaganda”, although the draft first emerged 2012 – troublgly, at the time of a siar legislative move Rsia's St. In the same way that many other untri, rights activists cricise attempts by ernments to e the issue of protectg children onle as a pretext for tensified state ntrol of the ter, the Kazakh “gay propaganda” bill has siar far-reachg implitns.

On the other hand, EFis grateful that the poster helped LGBTQ people see not only the extent of homophobia Kazakhstan, but also intified those opn lears who support equal rights for all. Human Rights Watch (HRW), a leadg ternatnal NGO, released two statements nmng the urt lgs that “supported homophobia, masked as cultural ncern. ” 20 Later on, letters om HRW, as well as om Freedom Hoe and Amnty Internatnal, targeted the “gay propaganda” legislatn.