'Very Sry': Tajikistan's Registry Frightens Gays, Alarms Rights Activists

Contents:

• WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE GAY TAJIKISTAN
• GAY LIFE TAJIKSTAN
• 'VERY SRY': TAJIKISTAN'S REGISTRY FRIGHTENS GAYS, ALARMS RIGHTS ACTIVISTS
• GAY GUI OF DHANBE (CY)
• GAY GUI OF DHANBE
• GAY DATG DHANBE
• GAY FRIENDLY GYM DHANBE (CY)
• GAY DISTRICT DHANBE (CY)
• GAY CISG DHANBE (CY)
• GAY CENTER DHANBE (CY)
• JEWISH GAY DHANBE (CY)

WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE GAY TAJIKISTAN

Wispread homophobia and open police persecutn n make life dangero or out of the gay is no longer a crime Tajikistan, but police are reticent to addrs hate crim, cludg the murr of a gay man Dhanbe 2011.

"There's a reason Tajikistan's lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr muny (LGBT) remas one of the most closed and secretive parts of Tajik society.

Homophobia is wispread thanks to "tradnal attus and the strong fluence of Islam, " says Kiromidd Gulov, director of Equal Opportuni, a lol NGO tablished 2009 to help Tajikistan's LGBT muny wh legal, medil and moral support. ""Homosexualy is ntrary to nature, " said an official om the Mistry of Health, who spoke to on ndn of anonymy bee she is not thorized to speak to the prs.

GAY LIFE TAJIKSTAN

"Although [homosexualy] has been removed om the [ernment's] list of treatable illns, many doctors still see as a disease which n be treated wh medice. Whereas the Soviet Unn homosexualy was punishable by up to five years prison, Tajikistan was -crimalized 1998. Though Tajikistan's crimal do not prohib homosexualy and homosexual relatnships, LGBT dividuals are still sgled out for persecutn by some officials.

The paper lists regular s of blackmail, arbrary arrt and physil vlence agast LGBT dividuals, mostly gay 23-year-old office worker Said told his bt iend that he was gay, he did not realize the mistake he was makg. In 2011, after beg subjected to ntuo blackmail, a 20-year-old gay flight attendant, Ravshan Uzakov hanged himself, the BBC's Rsian language service reported. Police swiftly closed the se and labeled the attack a Parviz, there is only one solutn - the relative safety of Rsia, where hate crim agast homosexuals occur neverthels.

Whilst is tertg to explore a cy on your own, better still is to ntact our gay iendly gui for a personal sight to Tajikistan’s history and culture. Enclose here are three reports that offer analysis and overview of the challeng faced by LGBT activists and cizens their efforts to brg about an acceptable “GayLife Tajikstan”. ” Tajikistan’s lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr muny (LGBT) remas one of the most closed and secretive parts of Tajik society.

'VERY SRY': TAJIKISTAN'S REGISTRY FRIGHTENS GAYS, ALARMS RIGHTS ACTIVISTS

“Homosexualy is ntrary to nature, ” said an official om the Mistry of Health, who spoke to on ndn of anonymy bee she is not thorized to speak to the prs. “Although [homosexualy] has been removed om the [ernment’s] list of treatable illns, many doctors still see as a disease which n be treated wh medice.

Though Tajikistan’s crimal do not prohib homosexualy and homosexual relatnships, LGBT dividuals are still sgled out for persecutn by some officials.

GAY GUI OF DHANBE (CY)

In 2011, after beg subjected to ntuo blackmail, a 20-year-old gay flight attendant, Ravshan Uzakov hanged himself, the BBC’s Rsian language service reported. For Parviz, there is only one solutn – the relative safety of Rsia, where hate crim agast homosexuals occur neverthels.

A report last week om the Instute for War and Peace Reportg (IWPR) found that homophobia is enmic the central Asian former Soviet untry of Tajikistan.

GAY GUI OF DHANBE

In relatively more liberal neighborg Kyrgyzstan there are about a dozen gay rights anizatns the pal Bishkek, but Tajikistan only has one.

GAY DATG DHANBE

Human Rights Watch World Report 2012’s chapter on Tajikistan do not mentn LGBT rights at all, further evince that human rights groups are overlookg gay rights the regn. Homosexualy was crimalized Tajikistan 1998, but the director of Equal Opportuni, Kiromid Gulov, told the BBC that the way the majory of the public treat LGBT people has not changed.

‘In Tajikistan, spe the aboln of the article [agast homosexualy] the crimal , homophobia remas a very big problem.

Gays and lbians do not go to the police for fear of publicy and blackmail, ’ he said a BBC terview April last year.

GAY FRIENDLY GYM DHANBE (CY)

A jot report om Equal Opportuni and the Kyrgyzstan-based gay rights group Labrys said: ‘sexual and physil vlence agast gay and bisexual men perpetrated by the police… [ the rpective untri] is very mon, ” and that many gay people flee for Rsia or Kazakstan.

Efforts to advote the rights of the gay muny Tajikistan, cludg HIV/AIDS awarens, face an uphill battle given tradnal Islamic valu and a general tolerance towards homosexualy.

GAY DISTRICT DHANBE (CY)

In early 2003, a small survey measurg public opn was iated by the NGO, revealg a particularly negative attu towards gay people, wh some people sayg they should be killed.

Acrdg to the NGO worker, some gay Tajiks were forced to promisg posns by the police, who blackmailed them to disclosg the inty of other members of the MSM muny. Fiz, a 30-year-old gay man Dhanbe, was not surprised by the announcement om the Tajik Prosecutor-General’s Office that had piled a list of what says are 370 gay men and women the poor Central Asian natn.

Askg that his real name not be ed bee he fears stigatn by relativ and discrimatn om his employer, Fiz says the Prosecutor-General Office’s list is flawed, ntag the nam of nongays who have been wrongly labeled as homosexuals. “Those who are implementg this orr to build a list of gays Tajikistan jt want to satisfy the ernment and boss who have orred them to create this list, ” Fiz says. “They are tryg to tch homosexuals and force them to take medil examatns which they mt give blood for HIV tts, ” Fiz says.

GAY CISG DHANBE (CY)

Ined, rights activists say Tajikistan's gay muny is pecially vulnerable to extortn bee of fears that their sexual orientatn uld be publicly revealed wh negative nsequenc a untry of nservative, Mlim valu, where homosexualy is owned upon.

GAY CENTER DHANBE (CY)

Boris Dtrich, advocy director for the lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr rights program at Human Rights Watch, told RFE/RL that the registry is part of “a trend gog on which thori former Soviet republics are targetg gays.

JEWISH GAY DHANBE (CY)

“Homophobic state polici are spreadg” plac like Rsia’s Chechnya regn, Azerbaijan, and now Tajikistan, Dtrich told RFE/RL.

“It’s a very sry suatn when a ernment starts to register gays -- puttg them on a list and then, ually, forcg them to unrgo some kd of medil ttg, ” Dtrich said.