Uzbekistan: Gay Men Face Abe, Prison | Human Rights Watch

Contents:

• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT
• UZBEKISTAN: GAY MEN FACE ABE, PRISON
• MURR IN TASHKENT: KILLG OF GAY MAN SPOTLIGHTS PLIGHT OF UZBEK LGBT COMMUNY
• DANCG BOYS AND GAY ESPAS F--SIèCLE TASHKENT: A SKETCH OM A QUEER HISTORY OF CENTRAL ASIA
• GAY UZBEKISTAN TODAY
• ATTACK ON BLOGGER DRIV UZBEK GAY MUNY UNRGROUND

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

Per Outsports, as of September 2022, there have only ever been 16 players NFL history to publicly e out as gay or bisexual. Per Outsports, Maxen is the “first publicly out male ach a major Amerin men’s pro sports league, ” wh WNBA ach Curt Miller, who publicly me out to the media as gay 2015, also a publicly out male ach an Amerin profsnal sports league.

GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT

His sensibily as a gay artist has shaped and elevated the magaze’s athetic, but he has to keep his creativy check lt Mx be seen as a magaze for gay men. But fish strong, as the nflict over Richie’s bathhoe project grows and Mx has to nsir whether ’s too risky for the magaze to speak to gay men, or even gay moments like this, the historil fictn feels not entirely historil.

In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that. “The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them, ” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer.

UZBEKISTAN: GAY MEN FACE ABE, PRISON

The nned cktail is named after a lloquialism given to the popular mixed drk (vodka and soda) orred at bars by the gay muny.

“Puttg a product wh the word gay the tle is reprentatn self, ” which he hop reclaims the word om the negativy ’s sometim associated wh. The two chatted about the limed amount of gay people wh , and wh Hodson burnt out om his tradnal day job tech, started the nned cktail. Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water.

MURR IN TASHKENT: KILLG OF GAY MAN SPOTLIGHTS PLIGHT OF UZBEK LGBT COMMUNY

“Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg. For now, Gay Water is sold largely onle (wh a few retailers) and four sugar-ee flavors — watermelon, lime, peach and grapeu — at lnch. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails, ” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN.

“There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns, ” Roth said. Of urse, other drks e the word “gay, ” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space. El primer mistro Reo Unido Rishi Sunak se disculpó en el Parlamento bráni por el tratamiento hacia ar veteranos que fueron expulsados l ejérco por pertenecer al lectivo hecho se produce spués la emisión un rme que reienda una disculpa públi y una pensación para las ví el año 2000, era ilegal ser gay en el ejérco bráni, nque la homosexualidad fue spenalizada en el país en rme dice que ant que se levantara la prohibición hubo relatos impactant homofobia, timidación, chantaje y agrn sexual.

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

(Berl) – Men Uzbekistan who engage nsensual same-sex sexual nduct face arbrary tentn, prosecutn, and imprisonment as well as homophobia, threats, and extortn, Human Rights Watch said today. “Article 120, and ab lked to , has placed gay and bisexual men Uzbekistan a eply vulnerable and margalized posn, leavg them wh almost no protectn om harassment by police and others, ” said Hugh Williamson, director of the Europe and Central Asia divisn at Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch terviewed ne gay men and lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) activists and reviewed other material, such as vios pictg and enuragg huiatn, sults, beatgs, or sexual abe of gay men that were posted onle and homophobic social media groups, such as TashGangs.

The men terviewed, who asked to rema anonymo, said that they faced arbrary arrts, threats, extortn, psychologil prsure, and physil attacks by both police and non-state actors for beg gay. In a Febary 2020 report, the Eurasian Coaln on Health, Rights, Genr and Sexual Diversy (ECOM), an alliance of nonernmental anizatns workg on LGBT issu, cg lol activists, documented that police Uzbekistan harassed gay men, tag and terrogatg several of them between Augt 15 and September 15, 2019.

GAY UZBEKISTAN TODAY

Media outlets Uzbekistan also reported on the shockg se of Shokir Shavkatov, a 25-year-old man who was found stabbed to ath his apartment September 2019, jt days after he me out as gay on his Instagram page. ” In December 2020, ne ternatnal human rights anizatns issued a statement llg on the Uzbek ernment to “stop punishg homosexualy and rpect the human rights of all. In s May 2020 nclns, the UN Human Rights Commtee lled on the Uzbek ernment to repeal Article 120 and exprsed ncerns about “ntug reports of discrimatn, harassment and vlence, cludg extortn, arbrary arrt, torture and sexual abe, agast lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr persons by State officials and private dividuals, cludg plac of privatn of liberty, and about the mandatory disclosure of private medil rmatn.

Human Rights Watch nducted a total of ne terviews wh gay men om Uzbekistan and Central Asian LGBT activists November 2020 and Febary 2021. Alisher hired a lawyer and reported the attack to the police but did not mentn the homophobic motive of the attack, fearg prosecutn unr article 120.

Usg obscene language, the man told Timur that “he hat ‘such people’ [gay men]” and that “Allah should extermate all ‘such’ people. He ntued threateng and puttg psychologil prsure on me by sayg that he would disclose my [sexual] orientatn to others, share our nversatns wh the police, and send my photos to homophobic onle groups that publish personal data of LGBT people and ll for retaliatn agast them.

ATTACK ON BLOGGER DRIV UZBEK GAY MUNY UNRGROUND

Two months later, however, Timur found a photo of himself an onle gay-datg group wh a warng that he was “HIV-posive, blackmailg, and extortg money om people.

After some time, Umid fled his parents’ home, but they ntued to ll him, threateng to report him to the police for beg gay unls he agreed to get married. I don’t thk this is jt a bunch of hooligans or homophob, looks like a gang that has refully planned each and every step, targetg me. Human rights groups have renewed lls for Uzbekistan to crimalize homosexualy, sayg is imperative for the Central Asian untry to make progrs toward honorg s ternatnal human rights mments.

Uzbekistan, a Mlim-majory natn of some 34 ln people, is the only former Soviet untry that hasn’t removed a Soviet-era law crimalizg homosexualy.