Rabow Rage: Kyrgyz Rail Agast LGBT Communy After Central Asia's 'First' Gay-Pri March

The fact that a small group of LGBT supporters joed a Women's Day march Bishkek has unleashed a storm of anger, wh one lawmaker warng agast turng Kyrgyzstan to "Gayistan." * kyrgyz gay *

What many nsir the first gay-pri march ever held Central Asia has unleashed a storm of ntroversy Kyrgyzstan, wh threats of vlence agast participants, unterprotts, and fiery parliamentary bate over whether to re civil society. "The men who do not want to have children and the girls who do not want to pour not only be cursed, they mt be beaten, " Kyrgyz parliament puty Jyldyz Mabekova wrote on Facebook of the lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) supporters who took part the march the Kyrgyz pal, wh several of them rryg rabow flags. Acrdg to LGBT+ group Kyrgyz Indigo, the climate of homophobia and transphobia the untry enabl police officers to target LGBT+ people for extortn, as they fear beg outed to their fay and iends, who are likely to reproach and margalise them.

Equaly Caravan is a llaborative project between seven NGOs that serve at-risk social groups, members of which are often margalized and silenced wh Kyrgyz society: people wh disabili, gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenr people, reverg dg ers, sex workers, people livg wh HIV/AIDS and others. Members of the Kyrgyz Anti-AIDS Associatn and other lol groups were joed by ternatnal partners om anizatns cludg COC, the Dutch LGBT associatn that is the world’s olst gay groups and Genr Doc-M, an LGBT group Moldova. Wh s dited gay clubs and largely different populatn, the pal once served as a relatively safe haven for Kyrgyzstan’s LGBT 2014, the ernment lnched a seri of legal reforms that marked a dramatic shift away om the wtern valu that had earned Bishkek a reputatn as Central Asia’s most socially liberal Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, homosexual nduct is crimalised, rryg a maximum prison sentence of two and three years rpectively.

Turkmen people taed and charged wh sodomy are forced to unrgo examatns wh the purported objective of fdg “proof” of homosexual suatn is not much better Kazakhstan, where many LGBT people choose to nceal their sexual orientatn or genr inty for fear of reprisal. The third readg is expected the fall before parliamentary electns schled for wh the ‘foreign agents’ law that passed s first readg earlier this month, the so-lled ‘anti-gay propaganda’ law is seen by human rights anizatns as a ser step backwards for a untry long praised as a bean of civil society the Kyrgyz law was first proposed March 2014, and rembl a Rsian law, passed 2013 that bans the “propaganda of nontradnal sexual relatns to mors” and impos heavy f on dividuals who do. ’” In addn, social prsure on members of the LGBT muny have been on the rise– May anti-gay natnalists crashed a gatherg held to mark Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, while a report om Human Rights Watch last year chronicled the torture of gay men by police October, the proposed law passed s first readg 79 to 7.

KYRGYZSTAN MAN HAS ‘GAY’ RVED TO STOMACH HOMOPHOBIC ATTACK

Kyrgyzstan prents a difficult challenge for homosexual people. It is polilly unstable wh a recent history of vlence among major ethnic groups; is mostly ral wh a populatn that is 80% Mlim and tn levels are low. Corptn is mon which rults wispread poverty. In such an environment any chance for tolerance of gays is slim spe the fact that same-sex activy was crimalized 1998, before the breakdown of the Soviet lers Kyrgyzstan. * kyrgyz gay *

Several gay men also reported sexual vlence by police officers, cludg rape, group rape, and attempts to sert a stick, a hammer, or an electric shock vice to their rectums, as well as gratuo touchg durg a search or beg forced to undrs ont of police. Anna Kirey, a lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) rights rearcher at HRW, said that "gay and bisexual men Kyrgyzstan already live fear due to wispread homophobic attus, and the police are makg a nightmarish suatn even worse. Kyrgyzstan's Interr Mistry, meanwhile, has st doubt on the accuracy of the HRW report, sayg don't know "how much of the report is te and how much is not" and addg that was unaware of any plats of police abe agast homosexuals.

GAY LIFE KYRGYZSTAN

LGBT Rights Kyrgyzstan: homosexualy, gay marriage, gay adoptn, servg the ary, sexual orientatn discrimatn protectn, changg legal genr, donatg blood, age of nsent, and more. * kyrgyz gay *

Signifint human rights issu clud credible reports of: an arbrary killg by police; a high-profile disappearance; e of torture by law enforcement and secury servic; harsh and life-threateng prison ndns; arbrary arrt; ser problems wh the pennce of the judiciary; arbrary terference wh privacy; ser rtrictns on ee exprsn and media, cludg vlence and threats of vlence agast journalists and censorship; ser rtrictns on ter eedom; terference wh eedom of associatn cludg overly rtrictive laws on the fundg and operatn of NGOs and civil society anizatns; ser acts of ernment rptn; lack of vtigatn of and acuntabily for genr-based vlence; crim volvg vlence or threats of vlence targetg members of mory groups and lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer, and tersex persons; and the existence of the worst forms of child labor.

A few months earlier, the Kyrgyz parliament had troduced a bill that pied Rsia’s legislatn agast “gay propaganda”, wh addnal jail sentenc for people who “promote homosexual relatns” through the media, so we feared that the entire Congrs uld be shut down if the thori found out about . She provok trans women, films them and then asks for 400 soms [about 6 USD] to keep off social media, ” said Mohira, an activist who has also been volved wh queer leftist llective STAB – the School of Theory and Activism Bishkek, addg that the same journalist had leaked rmatn about the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, a closed event, to Kyrgyz natnalists, and wrote a slanro article about a film screeng hosted by STAB.

'ALL OF WILL BE VICTIMS AT SOME POT': WHY BISHKEK'S ONLY GAY CLUB CLOSED

Plans by LGBT activists to celebrate a day agast homophobia Kyrgyzstan were spoiled when their party at a trendy Bishkek rtrant was ed by natnalist, wannabe gay-weddg crashers. * kyrgyz gay *

They are also part of IGLA (Internatnal Gay & Lbian Associatn) Europe, but Mohira strs the importance of Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia beg grouped wh Eastern Europe, as their recent history has more mon wh Ukrae or Belas, and pecially Rsia, than India or might be a step towards the social issu affectg the LGBTQI muny Kyrgyzstan, and the wir regn, beg better unrstood the Wt and, is hoped, receivg greater ternatnal support. Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Rsia is not known for beg a safe haven for the LGBT munyRsia is a notorly difficult place to be gay or transgenr, but 's bee a surprisg refuge for LGBT people Kyrgyzstan, who say life is far harr at home, wr Katie Arnold knew the ter was a dangero place to meet clients. "'Corrective rape is mon'Kyrgyzstan's LGBT muny has lived the shadows sce 2014, when the ernment drafted discrimatory legislatn that would ban the popularisatn of homosexual relatns and promotn of a homosexual liftyle.

Acrdg to ternatnal and lol groups, chang to Kyrgyzstan’s crimal 2019 helped to strengthen protectn agast torture and crease punishments for Orientatn and Genr IntyLbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) people ntue to face ill-treatment, extortn, and discrimatn by state and non-state actors. The third readg is expected the fall before parliamentary electns schled for wh the ‘foreign agents’ law that passed s first readg earlier this month, the so-lled ‘anti-gay propaganda’ law is seen by human rights anizatns as a ser step backwards for a untry long praised as a bean of civil society the Kyrgyz law was first proposed March 2014, and rembl, passed 2013 that bans the “propaganda of nontradnal sexual relatns to mors” and impos heavy f on dividuals who do. ’” In addn, social prsure on members of the LGBT muny have been on the rise– May anti-gay natnalists crashed a gatherg held to mark Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, while a report om last year chronicled the torture of gay men by police October, the proposed law passed s first readg 79 to 7.

KYRGYZ ANTI-GAY PROPAGANDA LAW MOV FORWARD

A new report om Human Rights Watch has found that police Kyrgyzstan have extorted, threatened, arbrarily taed, beaten, and sexually abed gay and bisexual men. * kyrgyz gay *

On Sunday eveng, vios of the activists appeared on YouTube acunt ‘Azamat A’, wh tl ‘Dispersal of the gays’ and ‘Kalys csh the fags’ anisers lled the police, and both weddg guts and members of Kalys were taken to Pervomaiskoe police statn. Human Rights First believ that the proposed propaganda law would vlate the human rights of Kyrgyzstan’s lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) muny, and has urged the Kyrgyz Parliament to prevent the bill’s passage.

This statement reprents a changg ti the regn toward greater regnn that all people should receive the same basic rights protectns regardls of their sexual orientatn or genr inty, ” said Human Rights First’s Shawn Gaylord. The anti-gay Kyrgyz bill, approved last week by the Parliament’s Human Rights Commtee, is moled after Rsia’s ban on “gay propaganda, ” enacted 2013, But the Kyrgyz bill is harsher than Rsia’s law, bee would apply to all typ of munitn, not jt statements ma the prence of mors.

KYRGYZ 'GAY PROPAGANDA' BILL CLEARS LEGISLATIVE HURDLE

Chengdu: Cha's permissive 'gay pal' refg to fold * kyrgyz gay *

Human Rights Watch has said that the anti-gay bill would vlate Kyrgyzstan’s nstutn as well as ternatnal human rights law on nondiscrimatn and is “blatantly discrimatory agast LGBT people and would ny cizens across Kyrgyzstan their fundamental rights. Ultra-natnalist polil movement “Kalys” nducted the send anti- LGBT, anti-NGO meetg ont of the Jogorku Kenh (the Parliament), mandg a law that prohibs gay propaganda, cricizg the Uned Stat for s fancial support of NGOs. Signifint human rights issu clud: e of torture by law enforcement and secury servic; harsh and life-threateng prison ndns; arbrary arrt; polil prisoners; problems wh the pennce of the judiciary; ser rtrictns on ee exprsn, the prs, and the ter, cludg vlence, threats of vlence, unjtified arrts or prosecutns agast journalists, censorship, and se blockg; refoulement of refuge to a untry where they would face a threat to their life or eedom; signifint acts of rptn; lack of vtigatn of and acuntabily for vlence agast women; traffickg persons; crim volvg vlence or threats of vlence targetg lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and tersex persons and impuny for genr based vlence; signifint rtrictns on workers’ eedom of associatn; and the existence of the worst forms of child labor.

In the aftermath of the March 8 Women’s March, attacked by ultranatnalists part due to mors that was a gay pri march, Member of Parliament Zhyldyz Mabekova published posts on social media llg for vlence agast LGBTI persons. They wear kimonos, an apparent tactil promise wh new moraly s creepg to Cha's "gay pal" across town, young women still lounge on leather sofas drkg beer at a lbian club, while a nearby bar is hostg an LGBTQ board game om the admistrative glare of Beijg, the smopolan southwtern cy, dubbed "Gaydu" by Che lennials, has long cherished s reputatn as a safe haven for a muny that fac stigma and wispread harassment elsewhere the activists now say the cy's permissive streak is unr threat, as the central Communist learship puts the squeeze on the few bastns of sexual eedom across the Chengdu's rilient LGBTQ muny is not ready to be forced to the closet.

KYRGYZSTAN’S NEW ANTI-GAY LAW IS EVEN WORSE THAN RSIA’S

"There is some tac acceptance by the thori, but is very lite, " said Matthew, an activist om the NGO Chengdu Rabow, who requted e of his first name recipe for survival, Matthew says, is "makg small progrs" rather than big polil and social statements that rattle Cha's hyper-sensive mood Chengdu started to sour October when the MC Club was closed after explic photos were posted onle and lol media reported that HIV fectns had been lked to sex parti allegedly takg place at the venue's the gay muny say a spike the number of domtic LGBTQ visors -- unable to travel overseas bee of the ronavis panmic -- drew unwanted attentn om cy thori. - Stolen pri -Cha's LGBTQ populatn still enunters discrimatn and lacks legal safeguards a untry that as recently as 2001 still classified beg gay as a mental marriage is still not legally regnised, spe mountg lls to troduce , pecially among the younger major obstacl block their progrs. To lols, Chengdu is the fal say the cy's gay-iendly ambience riv om s eclectic mix of ethnic mori and cultur -- as well as s handy distance om Beijg and the strictur of mastream cy's allure is "s openns, " said activist Matthew, whose office is ftooned wh rabow flags and posters readg "Be proud, Be yourself".

"Before was shut, the MC Club was packed wh about 1, 000 people each night, an activist told anythg-go reputatn is folkloric across the gay muny the cy of 16 gay man told AFP he received a sexual massage a sna at the premis and had prevly attend a party the dark where no cloth were allowed. - Tea and tolerance -Cha's first wily reported gay marriage took place Chengdu 2010 -- a symbolic ceremony between two men as same-sex unns still have no legal, Cha's rabow muny remas the dark pared to many eer Asian bars ntacted by AFP refed on-the-rerd terviews and most terviewe cled to be intified. Teacher Ray, who reloted to Chengdu this year, said he was unfortable wh g out at home the northern cy of Xi' "everyone Chengdu knows I'm gay -- my boss, some of my stunt's parents, all of my iends" secret to survival is avoidg noisy social and polil advocy, says Hongwei, a member of a Chengdu NGO, g a groups the cy stead foc on muny needs such as psychologil support and help for those g out, while some readily report planned events to thori to keep everythg above a trendy teahoe the cy centre, same-sex upl ntle together wicker chairs and sip tea, whout raisg any eyebrows.

Departg on a trip that the staff at his partment say was only supposed to last a week or two, he would vanish entirely, to the vast Che regn that, as the Uned Natns expert Gay McDougall said last summer, has now bee a “no rights zone” that “rembl a massive ternment mp. The UC Merced LGBTQ+ Pri Center provis an clive space for the Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans*, Two-Spir, Queer, Qutng, Asexual, Intersex, Pansexual, Omnisexual, same genr lovg people and ally stunts, faculty and staff and their tersectg inti to grow, succeed, build muny, experience affirmatn and empowerment while at UC Merced through the rourc, servic, programs, advocy, and events offered by the center. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clton troduced the era of Amerin promotn of LGBT rights abroad durg a historic speech at the Uned Natns Geneva, statg that “gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.

HRW SAYS KYRGYZ POLICE ABE GAY MEN

Whereas populatns the EU member stat of Wtern Europe boast acceptance rat for LGBT eedom of exprsn the 80th percentile, the member state and potential member state untri of Eastern and Southern Europe are still ght wh homophobic attus, averagg an approval ratg of 44% per a 2013 Pew Poll. EU member stat Greece, Latvia, Lhuania, Estonia, Cyps, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Poland, Slovenia, and Hungary all are bound by EU law to rpect LGBT rights spe the homophobic attus that are still prevalent their societi.

(54) Kazakhstani Member of Parliament (MP) Kairbek Suleymenov lled gay marriage “alien” to Kazakh tradnal valu, and MP Aldan Smayll went a step further, llg for legislatn to classify “amoral” homosexuals as “crimals agast humany. (58) (59) Rpondg to Germany’s threats of sanctns agast Belas’ human rights ab at a 2011 diplomatic vis to Msk, Belasian Print Alyaksandr Lashenko told openly-gay former German Foreign Mister Guido Wterwelle that was “better to be a dictator than a gay. The European Unn, s 2013 “Guil to Promote and Protect the Enjoyment of All Human Rights by Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, and Intersex Individuals, ” c ternatnal human rights law as s basis for promotg LGBT rights abroad and lays out s strategy to promote this terpretatn.

KYRGYZ MISTRY OF JTICE STAT ANTI-GAY LAW VLAT HUMAN RIGHTS

(86) In May 2014, the Fnish and Atrian Embassi, unr the aegis of the European Commissn, worked wh the Kosovo LGBT civil society group The Center for Social Emancipatn (QESh) to host a nference wh Kosovo ernment officials to discs issu of transphobia and homophobia Kosovo. (99) Ultimately, polil chang only go so far makg a real difference the liv of openly-LGBT dividuals, not to mentn the untls others who rema “closeted” or otherwise vulnerable due to the tense homophobia engraed society.

(101) While ternatnal actors may shift their approach to better bat public homophobia, Kosovo’s entrenchment wh the European sphere of fluence and strong mment to EU accsn suggt that LGBT legal protectns will ntue to advance irrpective of public sentiment.

KYRGYZSTAN ON THE VERGE OF ADOPTG HARSH ANTI-GAY LAW

Although homophobia was rampant throughout Kyrgyzstani societi, the ernment’s relatively tolerant attu toward LGBT issu led LGBT refuge om neighborg Central Asian stat to flee their untri and build new liv Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s pal. In 2012, the EU and French ernment partnered wh civil society anizatn Bir Düynö to screen the film I Am Mlim and Gay at a human rights film ftival; however, the Kyrgyz ernment stopped the screeng, cg a law prohibg “extremist acts.

CHENGDU: CHA'S PERMISSIVE 'GAY PAL' REFG TO FOLD

” (106) (107) Several months later, USAID sponsored an event at a night club Bishkek to mark the Internatnal Day agast Homophobia, providg a venue for lol human rights activists to llaborate on their rpective LGBT rights strategi. Subsequently, Actg Grand Mufti Maksat Hajji Toktomhev clared a fatwa—an Islamic legal pronouncement—agast homosexualy, upled wh a warng that the natnal ernment should beware of “public anizatns that dissemate social disrd.

Wtern lears n, however, improve the suatn for LGBT dividuals Kyrgyzstan and throughout Eurasia by weakeng the “tradnal valu” vers “Wtern valu” rhetoric has fueled through public promotn of LGBT rights tensely homophobic untri. ” Even Wtern untri, untls gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr, and otherwise queer dividuals live a state of self-nial not for fear of ernment persecutn or polil equaly, but for fear of a negative reactn by those around them or for a eply graed sense of shame.

Whout a full unrstandg of how to navigate societal homophobia, a topic bt unrstood by lol LGBT dividuals, ternatnal actors risk wastg funds and efforts through polici and programs that do not work or even n unterproductive to their goals. In June 2010, the Council of the European Unn adopted a “Toolk to Promote and Protect the Enjoyment of All Human Rights by Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr (LGBT) People, ” taskg EU reprentativ to work toward crimalizatn of homosexualy, promote LGBT equaly and non-discrimatn, and protect human rights fenrs s missns abroad. As early as June 2010, the Council of the European Unn adopted a “Toolk to Promote and Protect the Enjoyment of All Human Rights by Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr (LGBT) People, ” taskg EU reprentativ to work toward crimalizatn of homosexualy, promote LGBT equaly and non-discrimatn, and protect human rights fenrs s missns abroad.

HRW SAYS KYRGYZ POLICE ABE GAY MEN

For stance, as Rsia ntemplated an “an “Anti-Gay Propaganda” bill, Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, warned that such rtrictns on the eedom of exprsn for LGBT dividuals would vlate a fundamental prciple of the European Conventn on Human Rights, of which the Rsian Feratn is a signatory. The State of Utah prohibs the “advocy of homosexualy” public schools (see, Tle 53A Chapter 13 Sectn 101 of the State of Utah Crimal Co, available om:), and the State of Texas requir sex tn stctors to emphasize that “homosexualy is not a liftyle acceptable to the general public…” (see, Texas Health and Safety Co, Tle 2, Sectn H, Sec. Sce s tablishment, the WRPC has served as the pot of ceptn for many of the socially nservative Rsian polici that exist today, om the refal of the Rsian ernment to issue perms to gay pri paras 2006 to the draftg of the propaganda law.

Although LGBT rights are gag tractn Wtern Europe and Lat Ameri, the majory of the world remas tensely homophobic: 98% of Ghanaians, 95% of Egyptians, 93% of Indonians, and 85% of Pakistanis believe that homosexualy is morally unacceptable. More signifint, however, is Rsia’s e of back-channel public diplomacy, which polil alli of Rsian learship (such as Ukrae’s Viktor Medvedch, whose child is allegedly Put’s god-child) rally homophobic sentiments ways to benef the Rsian Feratn.

However, Zselyke Csaky of Freedom Hoe argu that even the vent of societal backlash, the EU’s promotn of LGBT rights EU member stat or aspirg EU member stat ultimately will addrs societal homophobia, cg Poland cizens’ electn of openly gay and transgenr policians durg the 2014 electn cycle as an example.

CHAPTER 11 - GAY AND LBIAN LERARY CULTURE THE 1950S

When a reprentative of Kyrgyzstan’s Commtee of Natnal Secury threatened human rights activist Tolekan Ismailova agast screeng “I Am Gay and Mlim” 2012, he utned that screeng the film would ce “relig hatred” and “set the scene for mass disorr.

Rabow Rage: Kyrgyz Rail Agast LGBT Communy After Central Asia's 'First' Gay-Pri March

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