Portra Of a Young Gay Armenian Man

Contents:

• SUICI OF GAY COUPLE ROCKS ARMENIA
• THE REALY OF GAY ARMENIANS AND OUR LLECTIVE SHAME
• JAGUARS’ KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY US MEN’S PRO SPORTS
• ON LIVG AND DYG AS A GAY PERSON THE ARMENIAN CHURCH
• PORTRA OF A YOUNG GAY ARMENIAN MAN
• GAY MUNICH

SUICI OF GAY COUPLE ROCKS ARMENIA

In tradnal Ottoman practice, the termology of “gay” and “straight” was largely absence om disurse, as explaed by scholar Serkan Görkemli. There, zenn equently perform (whout a sexual element) for straight-intified male dienc says filmmaker Mehmet Bay, whose 2012 feature Zenne Dancer explor the iendship between an Istanbul zenne dancer, a German photographer, and a gay “bear” om the nservative Urfa provce. Back when Bay and his llaborator Caner Alper started rearchg zenne 2006, they saw as a “vanishg culture” – found only ral areas and a few unrground gay clubs Istanbul.

Even among Istanbul's sizable gay muny, for whom zenne dancg might have particular ronance, “people would rather watch drag shows or go-go boys. But the past half-, zenne dancg Istanbul has gone mastream: bolstered by the media attentn paid to Bay and Alper's film as well as the succs of gay crossover clubs like Chanta: which ter their zenne shows to a largely heterosexual, female clientele.

When he was 15 or 16, a iend enuraged him to start dancg publicly, but the only work he uld fd was a seedy gay nightclub Istanbul's Aksaray district. Like many gay Turkish men, Segah found a gree of eedom Istanbul – wh s active, out gay muny – that do not necsarily exist outsi the cy.

THE REALY OF GAY ARMENIANS AND OUR LLECTIVE SHAME

While the Turkish ernment do not crimalize homosexualy – nor do provi LGBT dividuals wh any formal protectn om discrimatn – cultural attus toward homosexualy are largely negative; acrdg to a 2011 poll nducted as part of the World Valu Survey, a full 84 percent of Turks intified gays and lbians among their least sirable neighbors. And although Istanbul particular has beg creasgly welg to gays – Istanbul's annual Gay Pri para is the largt any majory-Mlim untry -- the risg thread of Islamism the Turkish ernment is slowg progrs for LGBT rights. In 2013, Turkey’s prime mister at the time, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, cricizg the adoptn of a Turko-Dutch boy by a Dutch lbian uple, publicly lled homosexualy a “sexual preference, which is ntrary to the culture of Islam.

The Turkish ary's approach to homosexualy reflects this cultural ambivalence. Out gay men are nsired exempt om mandatory ary service on the grounds of mental illns.

JAGUARS’ KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY US MEN’S PRO SPORTS

In practice, they are often forced to provi gradg pornographic imag of themselv or be subject to a rectal examatn to “prove” their homosexualy. “They realize [that I'm gay]”, he says but 's not somethg they ever openly talk about.

He rells only once beg heckled wh slurs by a homophobic dience member.

Gay Rights.

ON LIVG AND DYG AS A GAY PERSON THE ARMENIAN CHURCH

Suici of Gay Couple Rocks Armenia.

Armenia was rocked last week wh the suici of a young homosexual uple.

PORTRA OF A YOUNG GAY ARMENIAN MAN

Devastatg news #Armenia: this young gay uple posted their pictur & mted suici together by jumpg om Davashen bridge #Yerevan. Gay uple’s suici refoc attentn on homophobia.

Homophobia remas wispread Armenia, and members of the LGBTQ+ muny the untry regularly face discrimatn, harassment, and vlence. Pk Armenia, a proment LGBTQ+ rights group, said of the gay uple’s suici, “We nsir unacceptable to jtify the loss of human life.

Tbilisi Pri, another queer rights anizatn Geia, tweeted a public msage of support towards the young gay uple. Homophobia, hate & vlence have no place any society! In May 2017, a survey by the Pew Rearch Center Eastern European untri showed that nety-seven percent of Armenians believed that homosexualy should not be accepted by society.

GAY MUNICH

Reflectg on the tragedy, Mika Artyan, thor of Gay Armenia and Unzipped blogs, wrote on his blog, “It’s not a ‘good time’—we hear or say to ourselv. Even though homosexualy has been legal Armenia sce 2003, many keep their inty a secret out of fear of beg socially outst by their iends and fai.