Refworld | Beg Gay Azerbaijan

Contents:

• GAY LIFE AZERBAIJAN
• DOZENS OF GAYS REPORTED ARRTED IN AZERBAIJANI POLICE CRACKDOWN
• BEG GAY AZERBAIJAN
• HAJI GAYIB BATHHOE, BAKU
• AZERBAIJAN: FIRST EVER GAY PRI ‘MI RALLY’ HELD UNTRY PAL WH NO ARRTS OR HARASSMENT
• BAKU GAY TRAVEL
• AZERBAIJAN: ANTI-GAY CRACKDOWN
• AZERBAIJAN MOURNS TRAGIC KILLG OF GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST AND REPORTER
• GUI TO GAY FRIENDLY HOTELS BAKU AZERBAIJAN (2023 UPDATED)
• AZERBAIJAN WORST PLACE TO BE GAY EUROPE, FDS LGBTI X
• EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS BAKU
• FEATURE: THE TTH ABOUT GAY LIFE AZERBAIJAN OUTSI OF THE EUROVISN SONG CONTT
• EUROVISN 2012: AZERBAIJAN'S GAYS NOT WELE AT HOME
• FD GAY FRIENDLY HOTELS AZERBAIJAN

GAY LIFE AZERBAIJAN

Although homosexual acts between nsentg male adults were officially crimalized, reports about police ab agast gays, maly male prostut, persisted durg the last year. It has been observed that the state ntrolled media outlets e homosexualy as a tool to harass and discred crics of the ernment and opposn journalist.

Homosexualy Azerbaijan is an issue surround by nfn, ignorance, secrecy and a lack of nceptual unrstandg at the most basic level.

There is hardly any objective and rrect rmatn on the psychologil, soclogil and legal aspects of homosexualy Azerbaijan, wh the rult that the majory of society simply do not know what homosexualy is. “Comg out” as a gay, lbian, bisexual or transgenr person is therefore rare and dividual LGBT people are aaid of the nsequenc. Some, particular those who are fancially pennt and livg Baku, are able to lead a safe life as a LGBT person, as long as they ‘practice’ their homosexualy the private sphere.

DOZENS OF GAYS REPORTED ARRTED IN AZERBAIJANI POLICE CRACKDOWN

But not all is well for LGBT people Azerbaijan; is, spe some reforms and secularism, still a Mlim-based untry where homophobia has ep roots i the relign. Officials Azerbaijan sist gay visors are wele to the 2012 Eurovisn song ntt when the event, which has an enthiastic gay followg, is hosted the pal, Baku. “My brother has vowed to kill me, and then kill himself, ” says Babi Badalov (photo right), a radil gay Azeri artist who has recently been granted polil asylum France.

BEG GAY AZERBAIJAN

“Homosexualy here is seen as worse than prostutn, ” says Yadigyar Sadykov, a human rights activist om Mr Badalov’s native regn. “Durg Eurovisn, no-one will bother gay foreigners Baku, ” says Alekper Aliyev, a wrer and an thor of a ntroversial book about a gay relatnship between an Azeri and a man om Armenia, the untry’s historic enemy. “Recently there has been much ill-rmed speculatn by some expatriat about how we treat our homosexual muny, ” says Elnur Aslanov, a senr official om the printial admistratn.

Homosexualy is not well seen and public homosexual behavr not tolerated, although a uple of bars seem to work as meetg plac for the gay and lbian muny. As far as I n remember, an anizatn, official reprentativ of LGBT muny Azerbaijan, exists om 2006 – 2007 [this was ‘Azeri Gay Communy’].

We would like to have discsns about homosexualy an aquate, lite and rmed way universi and schools and mass media on the required level.

HAJI GAYIB BATHHOE, BAKU

Human rights groups have voiced severe ncern and sought ways to help after activists said dozens of gay people had been jailed followg raids by the thori Azerbaijan recent weeks. Javid Nabiyev, print of Nef LGBT Azerbaijan Alliance, said a Facebook vio that police had held tae for up to 30 days and forced them to give the nam and addrs of gay and transgenr acquatanc. "Everybody have fear that they might be arrted anytime on the street, " Nabiyev said English, referrg to members of the lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) muny the tightly ntrolled South Cs untry.

Lol activists said at least 50 gay and transsexual people had been taed police raids of private hom, subway statns, and LGBT-iendly clubs, pubs, and bars Baku over the past two weeks. Azerbaijan legalized homosexual activy 2000, but the former Soviet untry was still ranked the worst Europe for gay people a 2016 survey by the ternatnal advocy group ILGA. In 2015, the European Parliament voted to nmn the "timidatn and reprsn" of LGBT (lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr) people Azerbaijan after a strg of homophobic cints.

Brish gay-rights group Stonewall also ntend that the thori had sgled out gay and transsexual people, and said that some transsexual women had their heads forcibly shaven.

AZERBAIJAN: FIRST EVER GAY PRI ‘MI RALLY’ HELD UNTRY PAL WH NO ARRTS OR HARASSMENT

The arrts followed a crackdown on LGBT people the nearby Rsian republic of Chechnya, where media reports and activists say more than 100 gay men are believed to have been taed and tortured, and some s killed, earlier this year. Surround by gged wilrns of high mountas and immense seas the fledglg “gay life Azerbaijan” is also surround by Islamic homophobia and tradnal ‘fay valu’. Homophobia Azerbaijan is so wispread that the untry ranked as the worst place Europe for lbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people a recent review of 49 European untri by ILGA-Europe.

Acrdg to ILGA-Europe´s 2016 Rabow annual review and x published May, Azerbaijan fulfilled only five per cent of the anisatn´s standards for legal equaly and had a high cince of homophobic and transphobic vlence. In s plat, the anisatn noted that the World Health Organisatn (WHO) had removed homosexualy om s Internatnal Classifitn of Diseas 1990. Nef also plaed to the mistry of health, which rpond that Azerbaijan accepted the WHO's norms and that any so-lled treatment of homosexualy was prohibed.

On May 17, the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, the webse issued a statement clarifyg that the LGBT muny did not "seek special rights or privileg.

BAKU GAY TRAVEL

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The neart statns to Haji Gayib bathhoe: MetroIrisahar • L: 1 (2 m walk)Sahil • L: 1 (20 m walk)BIcherisheher m/st • L: 6 (5 m walk)Axundov Bağı • L: 6 (6 m walk)TraBaku Central Railway Statn (36 m walk). The worldwi directory wh lks to webs about gay bars, clubs, dance clubs, f, rtrants, snas, bath, gyms, hotels, gut ho, bed and breakfasts, apartments, rooms, acmodatn, tour guis, travel agenci, cisg, book shops, groups, anizatns, media, events, gay pris.

In what is believed to be the first ever pri celebratn Azerbaijan, a group of gay marchers recently parad a “mi rally” through the pal cy Baku, wh no arrts, reports of harassment, or vlence at the monstratn. Oxu news reports that the event, anised by gay rights activists Rlan Balux, took place “ a iendly atmosphere and whout cints” on Saturday.

AZERBAIJAN: ANTI-GAY CRACKDOWN

Gay rights mpaigner Peter Tatchell said LGBT Azerbaijan cizens suffer police harassment and btaly, blackmail, timidatn, bribery and vasns of privacy and have no legal protectn agast discrimatn. Here are a few other fantastic hotels for Baku gay travelers that are highly rated and perfectly loted for explorg the bt of the cy. (Berl) – Police Azerbaijan have nducted a vlent mpaign, arrtg and torturg men prumed to be gay or bisexual, as well as transgenr women, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch terviews wh released tae and lawyers nfirmed that sce mid-September, police Baku, Azerbaijan’s pal, have taed dozens of people on dub charg, beatg and g electric shocks on some of them to erce brib and rmatn about other gay men.

“The round-ups Azerbaijan f a faiar horrifyg narrative that explos so-lled tradnal valu to jtify vlence agast sexual and genr mori, ” said Graeme Reid, lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) rights director at Human Rights Watch.

AZERBAIJAN MOURNS TRAGIC KILLG OF GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST AND REPORTER

Human Rights Watch terviewed five gay men, three of whom had been taed durg the September 2017 round-ups, as well as human rights activists and lawyers reprentg dozens of tae var urts Baku. Lawyers Human Rights Watch spoke wh nfirmed the nam of 45 gay and bisexual men, and transgenr women, who were taed and sent by urts to up to 30 days’ admistrative tentn September, along wh at least 10 others who were fed and released immediately.

In addn, one of the lawyers said that while the official charge is listed as disobeyg police orrs, “In some wrten official materials at the police statns, I saw that police had wrten that the dividuals were gay or transgenr, and that they were arrted on siwalks as they were shoutg or arrangg sex work. On September 27, Ehsan Zahidov, spokman for the Internal Affairs Mistry, said that police were rpondg to plats om Baku rints that gay men were visible on the streets. While the protectn of public health is a legimate tert of the state, nnot jtify the arbrary tentn of dozens of gay men and transgenr women.

GUI TO GAY FRIENDLY HOTELS BAKU AZERBAIJAN (2023 UPDATED)

“Official jtifitns for this anti-gay crackdown are as bog and dangero as the charg police have ed to arrt people, ” Reid said. In s 2016 review of Azerbaijan, the UN Human Rights Commtee exprsed ncern about “discrimatn and vlence agast persons on the basis of their sexual orientatn and genr inty, cludg wh the fay and by police and prison officials…and extortn of money om lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr persons some police statns return for not disclosg their sexual orientatn or genr inty. One of the five gay men terviewed, “Ram, ” who, like others terviewed, is intified by a psdonym for their protectn, told Human Rights Watch: “On September 19, my iend received a Whatsapp msage that a gay guy, whom he did not know before, wanted to meet him to have sex.

“Elgiz, ” a 21-year-old gay man Baku told Human Rights Watch he was at his male partner’s apartment alone on September 20 when the landlord knocked on the door.

And “Taleh, ” a 26-year-old gay man said that on September 18, six pla-cloth officials mand to see his and his iends’ intifitn documents when they were stg central Baku’s Founta Square.

AZERBAIJAN WORST PLACE TO BE GAY EUROPE, FDS LGBTI X

Authori appear to have gathered signifint amounts of telligence regardg prumed gay and bisexual men, their sexual partners, and possible sex work clients – both through past raids and surveillance, and the tensified mpaign, rried out September 2017. From my phone, they reached some of my partners and some very rpected [wealthy] gay persons, and they began to blackmail them [on the premise that] they had an affair wh me.

EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS BAKU

When Elgiz and his partner were taken to the Organized Crime Un, he said, he regnized eight other gay men who were also held there. Before releasg him, Organized Crime Un officers orred Elgiz to work as an rmant: “I was orred to operate wh police as an rmer and regularly update police on gays, their gatherg areas, and intify rich gays.

FEATURE: THE TTH ABOUT GAY LIFE AZERBAIJAN OUTSI OF THE EUROVISN SONG CONTT

Azerbaijani thori have not nied that gay men and transgenr women Baku have been round up official raids begng mid-September. On September 27, Zahidov, the Internal Affairs Mistry spokman, said an terview wh EurasiaNet that police were rpondg to plats om rints Baku that gay men were visible on the streets: “People pla that such people walk among , walk our streets, and s our fés.

The murr of a proment Azerbaijani reporter and gay rights activist is a tragedy for the untry’s media and civil society, a media analyst said. Last year, the journalist chaed himself to the fence outsi the chief prosecutor’s office to prott a lack of actn agast threats to the gay muny.

EUROVISN 2012: AZERBAIJAN'S GAYS NOT WELE AT HOME

Friends of the journalist say he was harassed by his fay and others for his work and his sexual orientatn, cludg a blogger who lled for vlence agast gay people. Hate crim are a ser issue Azerbaijan, wh attacks, onle harassment and threats a risk, the umbrella gay rights anizatn ILGA-Europe says.

The Council of Europe last month adopted a rolutn on gay rights Azerbaijan and the Southern Cs, llg for better laws and polici to protect cizens’ rights. Homosexualy is legal the oil-rich, post-Soviet untry, but a survey released last year by a rights anisatn ranked Azerbaijan as the worst of 49 European untri which to be gay. Other officials have said the raids did not target LGBT people specifilly but were stead aimed at people engaged prostutn, and were lnched after plats om lol Guardian exchanged wrten msag wh three gay men who said they had been ught up the wave of arrts.

All three said they had iends currently tentn, and reported police rryg out sweeps of the cy searchg for people who “look gay”. “There are no gay clubs Azerbaijan, but there are some nightclubs that are nsired gay-iendly, and iends have told me that for the first time there are police outsi the clubs lookg for gay people to ta. He lled for a “thorough and pennt vtigatn” to the crackdown has echo of a roundup of gay men the southern Rsian regn of Chechnya this year, many of whom were taed and was not immediately clear what prompted the Baku raids, or what the thori’ end goal might be.

FD GAY FRIENDLY HOTELS AZERBAIJAN

The topic of homosexualy is taboo nservative Azerbaijani society, and last year’s ILGA-Europe Rabow Inx ranked the worst place Europe to be gay, based on the number of vlent homophobic attacks and discrimatory remarks by public 2014 a 20-year-old Azerbaijani gay rights activist, Isa Shakhmarli, hanged himself wh a rabow flag. Azerbaijan is not famo for beg particularly gay iendly but the major statns as Baku n easily fd a foreign cha hotel who is gay iendly hotels Baku.

Lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) people  Azerbaijan face legal and social challeng not experienced by non-LGBT rints.