Dancg Boys and Gay Espas F--siècle Tashkent: A Sketch om a Queer History of Central Asia

Contents:

• GAY LIFE UZBEKISTAN
• ATTACK ON BLOGGER DRIV UZBEK GAY MUNY UNRGROUND
• GAY UZBEKISTAN TODAY
• DANCG BOYS AND GAY ESPAS F--SIèCLE TASHKENT: A SKETCH OM A QUEER HISTORY OF CENTRAL ASIA

GAY LIFE UZBEKISTAN

But the urse of nversatns and terviews ’s bee obv that this crimalisatn is wily ed to blackmail and threaten om prosecutn for their sexual orientatn, gay Uzbek men experience daily harassment om the public at large. The three stori show that spe danger and antagonism towards them, lbians and gay men Uzbekistan are no longer willg to “remake themselv”, as one person scribed . I once told everyone at work about : lleagu asked what I thought about gays and I said: “Well, what n I thk about gays when I’m one myself?

But I wouldn’t want to lk this to my sexual orientatn: I’m agree that people might not want to talk to me if I’m gay. But refg to work bee of that… I thk ’s more a qutn of the whole, ’s not that difficult to be gay Tashkent. If someone don’t unrstand what beg gay means, or they only know the stereotyp, I try to expla that we don’t choose our orientatn and that we n’t change .

We don’t have a separate subculture: you don’t ever fd people meetg up wh iends, bumpg to other gays and hangg out wh people jt bee they’re also gay.

ATTACK ON BLOGGER DRIV UZBEK GAY MUNY UNRGROUND

It’s also tertg that I’ve enuntered much more homophobia Mosw than Tashkent – I’ve never been lled a “paedo” here or been threatened, whereas Mosw ’s happened que often. As soon as I accepted myself I stopped beg aaid of other people, avoidg them or disguisg my gayns, although I never advertised or tried to show off.

But, on the other hand, I don’t want to overdo and sre people to thkg that gays have a really hard time our untry. Gay men Tashkent generally e social works to make ntact wh one another, but they all e nam and hi their inti, out of fear.

His whole extend fay followed his social media posts and they were hysterics about his homosexualy, and he eventually closed his acunt and left Uzbekistan bee he was tired of all.

GAY UZBEKISTAN TODAY

As for awarens raisg, I feel the need to expla homosexualy to people dividually, bee is not the same as paedophilia. But people this untry have no tert what homosexualy is and why there’s no such thg as homosexual propaganda – no one unrstands that if you’re not born a homosexual, you’re not gog to turn to one jt by gog on a uple of Gay paras.

And sex tn general is a disaster this untry – children don’t know where they e om, what “hetero-“ and “gay” mean and so girliend and I are thkg about how to fill this gap: how we n n a urse to expla the basic thgs to people. And if gay people won’t nfs, they beat them and torture them to the pot where they will start prayg for mercy and do everythg they ask.

DANCG BOYS AND GAY ESPAS F--SIèCLE TASHKENT: A SKETCH OM A QUEER HISTORY OF CENTRAL ASIA

That’s the tth, as some police officers even for the Uzbek public, gay men are often victims of rmal urts. “They beat me up bee I was gay”, or “I was ught and beaten up while I was havg sex wh another man’. I uld go reason they don’t want to repeal the article is, I thk, bee the powers that be are homophob - they have a distorted ia of and believe that we prent a threat to our untry.

Islam preach that there n be no mercy for homosexuals, only ath, and that by stong or beg thrown om the top of a high buildg. Killg a homosexual brgs a promise of Paradise, as a good ed and reward (both a spirual one after ath and a material one life). It will be a long time before “Gay Life Uzbekistan” and human rights take their rightful place natnal polici Uzbekistan.