Gay Albania News & Reports

Contents:

• GAY LIFE ALBANIA
• GAY LIFE ALBANIA IS DETERMED AND COURAGEO; AN INTERVIEW TIRANA
• HANGG OUT GAY ALBANIA – THE NOMADIC BOYS
• ALBANIA GAY TRAVEL
• BEG GAY ALBANIA: ‘KNOWG YOUR WORTH MAK EASIER’
• GAY LIFE, BEACH ALBANIA - ALBANIA FOM
• GAYLIFE ALBANIA - ALBANIA FOM
• ALBANIA GAY TRAVEL - LGBT RMATN AUGT 2023
• GAYS WHOUT BORRS
• GAY TIRANA
• GAY ALBANIA NEWS & REPORTS

GAY LIFE ALBANIA

Current issu ncerng human rights Albania clu domtic vlence, isolated s of torture, and police btaly, the general ndn of prisons, human and sex traffickg and gay rights. However, tradnal homophobic attus force Albanian gays and lbians to secrecy and toward the g of society.

(1) A gay traveler Albania posted this ment on the Lonely Pla Gay Thorn Tree fom: “Albania is overwhelmgly Islam so beg gay is not exactly an open and accepted thg.

GAY LIFE ALBANIA IS DETERMED AND COURAGEO; AN INTERVIEW TIRANA

(2) Acrdg to Gay Pri Inx, Albania a gay Pri march is legal, but not socially possible bee Albanian society is very tolerant of homosexualy.

There was no gay pri march Tirana, the pal cy of Albania, 2010. In 2012, another attempt has been ma to hold a gay Pri march and ftival the pal cy.

But the Prime MInister has nmned the homophobic attus and statements sayg, “They were “unacceptable” and “an excs. (3) On the webse Gays Whout Borrs this report was posted 2007 but is still valid 2012: ‘Homosexuals Face Ltle Choice But to Leave Albania or Put Up Wh Deep-rooted Homophobia’. (image right: “I’m gay and n be anyone; son, brother, father, grandson, iend, your lleague; I n view them”).

HANGG OUT GAY ALBANIA – THE NOMADIC BOYS

Repeated s the past have tght the homosexual muny that, a tradnal society like Albania, gog public wh their sexual orientatn means losg their jobs, riskg threats and possible rejectn by their fai. Though the Albanian Parliament legalized homosexual relatnships 1995, more than a later, gays and lbians are still heavily stigmatized, and a majory of them are choosg to leave, amidst fears that if their sexual orientatn is disvered, their safety will be endangered. [In Febary 2010, the Parliament of Albania unanimoly approved an all clive anti-discrimatn law which bans discrimatn on the grounds of var characteristics, cludg sexual orientatn and genr inty… “But attus toward homosexualy have not changed much, and they have to protect themselv.

ALBANIA GAY TRAVEL

In the past the majory of homosexuals leavg the untry tend to pass through the illegal smugglg rout that were such a faiar feature of the Balkans durg the 1990s.

There are gay and lbian clubs all over the world, even Arab untri which are historilly more tradnal than ours, and yet here we live fear” says S.

ALGA and AHGR have been tryg to brg to the public’s attentn the treatment of homosexuals Albania. Human rights reports on Albania nce that graed attus among the public leave Albanian gays and lbians on the g of society.

BEG GAY ALBANIA: ‘KNOWG YOUR WORTH MAK EASIER’

Acrdg to AHRG, Albanian homosexuals face “tolerance, physil and psychologil vlence – often om the police – and discrimatn the workplace. (1) A young lbian posted this lament: “I’m 16 years old and gay. It’s difficult to be openly gay Albania, Tirana ’s a paradise beg gay pared to the other ci of the untry.

“When I was 15 one of the guys who I n not name found out that I was gay and he tried to raped me twice wh another guy.

GAY LIFE, BEACH ALBANIA - ALBANIA FOM

If my fay know that I am gay first my brothers would try and kill me and I know I will no longer have a fay. I have a number of gay iends, and each time I vis my untry Kosovo, all of my iends thk is strange to associate wh gays and lbians. Homophobia may be fought and won through rmative work and posive exampl.

Legal actn: In December 2010, the Deputy Commissn for Labour, Social Affairs and Health, Tran Shehu, clared that “homosexualy should be treated by medil staff as hormonal disorr, as well as psychologil”. Shehu should avoid discrimatory remarks the future, which e an atmosphere of tensn and uniendls towards the LGBT [Lbian Gay Bisexual Transgenr] muny Albania. Gay-Straight Alliance Agast Discrimatn is an Albanian non-ernmental anizatn that envisns a ee, open and equal Albanian society that embrac diversy and is clive of people of all sexual orientatns and genr inti.

GAYLIFE ALBANIA - ALBANIA FOM

To achieve this visn, Alean striv to support and empower a visible and clive lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr muny while creasg public unrstandg, tn, and awarens of issu of sexual orientatn and genr inty. The onle group participants are people who are livg both si and outsi Albania, are gay and straight, many of whom may never e to a formal meetg of the anizatn, but all of whom support the ia of an Albania where all people, regardls of sexual orientatn or genr inty, n live eely.

Alean’s first llaborative events were the activi surroundg the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia 2009. Alean’s ongog programs revolve around a three-pronged approach of buildg and empowerg muny, public tn and advocy, and creatg visibily for lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr issu.

Activi of Alean have clud regular lectur on sexual orientatn and genr inty universy classrooms and at human rights events; equent and well-attend social events signed to build muny; public tn and visibily activi; and discsn groups where muny members n discs issu related to beg lbian, gay, bisexual, or transgenr Albania. Given the importance of media shapg public opn and perceptn, Alean has participated a variety of prt, rad and televisn terviews and discsns, while also regnizg the need for dividual Albanians who intify as lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr to ci their personal level of fort wh disclosg their inti. -Gay-Straight Alliance Agast Discrimatn: -Gay Pri Inx-Europe: -Pk Embassy: -Gay Albania Society: -Polil -Gay Albania Facebook: Albania Gay Boyz: -Gay Albania: -Gays Whout Borrs: -Gay Albanians Topix: HIV-AIDS: Also see: GlobalGayz Albania News & Reports.

ALBANIA GAY TRAVEL - LGBT RMATN AUGT 2023

A 2021 report by ILGA gay rights anisatn, which brg together over 600 groups om 54 untri Europe and Central Asia, said that discrimatn agast the LGBT populatn Albania had creased sce the start of the COVID-19 panmic. The pal cy is Tirana wh a most populatn of jt over 400, 000 cizens and is sentially the geographic extent of gay efforts at the prent time. It should be noted that gaydar gets ‘jammed’ this culture as men are not aaid to look at each other and touch and hold one another as iends; many do not shy away om eye ntact.

The untry general is not aggrsively homophobic like Serbia yet neher is very tolerant.

There is only slight rmatn and awarens about homosexualy the untry, pecially for middle-age and olr people who grew up unr the reprsive regime of Enver Hoxha (1908-1985; power 1944-85) who clamped a reprsive munist hold on every aspect of life here for more than 40 years. One man I spoke wh reflected that Albania 2012 was “50-50” for and agast homosexualy.

GAYS WHOUT BORRS

Speakg excellent English, Enida said Gay Pri Albania is small but on the move wh Alliance Agast Discrimatn and Pk Embassy (PE) both formed 2009 when the first events for IDAHO (Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia) took place Albania. Ct bee when the first public announcement was ma about PE beg supported by CRCAL the lol prs, wh ltle or no experience of reportg on LGBT issu, sensatnalized and exaggerated as a Gay Pri Ftival happeng. The source of negative reactns to homosexualy might be attributed to the ual villas, relign and polics.

But homophobic attus om the pulp are well known prent day Albanian culture. Even atheists n still be homophobic but time and mds and youth are changg, slowly.

GAY TIRANA

Homosexualy was an illegal act durg the Hoxha years but was crimalized 1995. Obvly this fluenced negative attus a general way for the better but still up agast the onle world of homophobia spread by numero live anti-gay groups and other homophobic eastern Europe untri onle (a legacy of the Soviet years that still today clgs to strong anti-gay attus persecutg and harassg LGBT activists who try to brg human and gay rights forward).

In the background of the chang the legal stat of homosexualy is Albania’s sire to eventually jo the European Unn. The Unn’s legal statut and ethil standards clearly forbid discrimatn agast any mori, cludg gays, which rankl ristant hardre tradnalists who n only thk of same-sex attractn through age-old scriptural prohibns. Enida went on to say that bee of the immatury of both PE onle and lack of healthy LGBT role mols, many youth thk beg gay means lookg for sex cludg lookg for foreign ‘sugar daddi’ to support them.

GAY ALBANIA NEWS & REPORTS

” Gay youth know ltle about the durabily and validy of gay relatnships so naturally they are cled to search only for sex.

Changg mdsets, pecially negative ias held by young gay people, tak time. The first gay ‘ftival’ for 2012 was actually a formal walk to the state ombudsman’s office for human rights to officially requt brgg a Rabow Flag to the Prime Mister’s office–a ‘flag para’, if you will.

Subsequent to the publishg of accurate and biased reportage the US embassy sponsored a sensivy trag for the media to teach them about homosexualy and rponsible unbiased reportg. Ksk tents were set up to offer rmatn on homosexualy, human rights and social servic.