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Osservatorio Balcani e Caucasus, 14 August 2013
Armenian homophobia
Onnik Krikorian
Proposals to introduce legislation to ban the promotion of `non-traditional
sexual relations' in Armenia has concerned human rights activists in the
small former Soviet republic. The bill, posted on the website of the
Armenian Police, came a little over a month after Russian President
Vladimir Putin signed into force similar legislation to prohibit
`propaganda' that might cause the `distorted understanding' that gay and
heterosexual relations are `socially equivalent.' Fines of
up to $4,000 for
`propagating non-traditional sexual relationships' in order to protect the
`traditional Armenian family' against `phenomena alien to national
identity' were included.
`We live in Russia's shadow,' Mamikon Hovsepian, head of the PINK Armenia
NGO was quoted by media as saying.
A few days later, Radio Free Europe reported that the bill was withdrawn by
the police due to undisclosed `shortcomings' and because such issues are
`not a priority' for them at present. Others, such as prolific Armenian
LGBT blogger Mika Artyan, were not convinced. `I didn't even manage to
write a post on the already withdrawn gay propaganda bill, but will do so
post factum as this is not the end of story,' he tweeted. He also told
Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso that he believes only international media
coverage of the proposed legislation, as well as domestic ridicule,
prevented it from being taken further.
Alarming level of homophobia
Of concern to Artyan and other LGBT activists in Armenia is the alarming
level of homophobia in the country and the wider region. According to a
2011 household survey by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC) as
quoted by local media, 96 percent of Armenian respondents said they did not
approve of homosexuality. In neighboring Azerbaijan and Georgia that figure
was 84 and 87 percent respectively. But given events in Tbilisi, Georgia,
on 17 May when thousands of Orthodox believers disrupted an LGBT event to
mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO), that
will hardly come as any comfort.
Taken as a whole, the South Caucasus remains highly intolerant and
inherently homophobic.
But at least Georgian LGBT activists did attempt to hold such an event in
downtown Tbilisi. In Armenia, on the same day, a small group of activists
from PINK Armenia gathered in a park on the periphery of the city center to
release rainbow-colored balloons into the air. Photographs were posted on
their Facebook page only after the short flash mob was over, and likely for
good reason. A year earlier, although marking the 21 May International Day
for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, nationalists disrupted
an event staged by PINK Armenia and the Women's Resource Center in
downtown
Yerevan.
Endorsing anti-gay violence: the DIY issue
Police intervened, but did not prevent the counter-protesters, who alleged
the march was a cover for LGBT rights, from later heading for a
gay-friendly bar firebombed weeks earlier to wreck what little of the
premises remained. D.I.Y., a small basement bar, had been a relaxed hangout
for heterosexual and homosexual citizens and foreigners alike, but its
owner, Punk Rocker Tsomak Oganesova, had irked nationalists in Armenia
after attending a gay pride rally in Istanbul, Turkey. The firebombers,
caught in the act on CCTV, were bailed out by MPs from the nationalist
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF-D). The government also appeared to
support the crime.
`As an Armenian citizen and member of a national-conservative party, I find
the rebellion of the two young Armenian people against homosexuals, who
have created a den of perversion in our country and have a goal of
alienating society from its moral values, completely right and justified,'
ruling Republican Party Spokesperson and Vice President of the Armenian
National Assembly Eduard Sharmazanov told journalists. Despite endangering
the lives of residents of the apartment building above the bar, the
firebombers received moderate suspended sentences in July this year. =80=9CNow
you know it's ok to attack gays and gay-friendly venues in Armenia,' Artyan
wrote on his blog.
Alarmingly, none of this is likely to concern most citizens. In 2011, Pink
Armenia held its own poll and discovered that 71.5 percent of respondents
in Armenia supported the idea of the government actively campaigning
against homosexuality. In the same survey, 78.1 and 71.8 percent of
respondents also said they would cease from communicating with friends and
relatives if they discovered they were gay. Nearly 90 percent said they
wouldn't even use the same crockery if they suspected it had been used by a
member of the LGBT community beforehand. Education and raising awareness
might be key to changing perceptions, but even there the environment is
hostile.
No Parada in Armenia
In October last year, plans by the German Embassy to screen Parada, a film
about gay rights by Serbian film director SrÄ`an DragojeviÄ=87, were
cancelled
following protests. Those behind the demonstration had also organized the
disruption of last year's diversity march as well as International
Women's
Day events in previous years. This time, another target was Ruben Babayan,
Artistic Director of the Puppet Theatre, a venue for the film screening.
`This is a feature film, which has been shown at many festivals,' Babayan
told the media in response.
`By the same logic, I think you can ban the showing of films by Sergei
Parajanov [an ethnic Armenian cultural icon who was convicted of
homosexuality in the Soviet era],' he continued. `One should [...] decide -
either we turn this country into Iran and feel happy about that, or we just
come to the realization that there are things like tolerance, feature
films, and the arts.'
But although the Constitution provides for the protection of sexual
minorities, with homosexuality decriminalized in 2003 and the government
signing the United Nationals Declaration on Sexual Orientation and Gender
Identity five years later, there is no legislation that specifically
prohibits hate speech or protects members of the LGBT community from
discrimination. Indeed, argue activists such as Artyan, playing on the
phobias of the population can be convenient for the government in
distracting attention away from other problems. The proposed legislation
came in the wake of successful public protests to prevent a rise in bus
fares.
`Armenia decriminalized gay male sex only because of that requirement by
the Council of Europe,' he told Osservatorio, `but it was the last South
Caucasus state to do so even if the first to sign some other groundbreaking
documents in support of LGBT rights. The potential is there, [...] but change
will depend on the development of democracy and human rights in general.'
---
http://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Regions-and-countries/Armenia/Armenian-homophobia-140571
Armenian homophobia
Onnik Krikorian
Proposals to introduce legislation to ban the promotion of `non-traditional
sexual relations' in Armenia has concerned human rights activists in the
small former Soviet republic. The bill, posted on the website of the
Armenian Police, came a little over a month after Russian President
Vladimir Putin signed into force similar legislation to prohibit
`propaganda' that might cause the `distorted understanding' that gay and
heterosexual relations are `socially equivalent.' Fines of
up to $4,000 for
`propagating non-traditional sexual relationships' in order to protect the
`traditional Armenian family' against `phenomena alien to national
identity' were included.
`We live in Russia's shadow,' Mamikon Hovsepian, head of the PINK Armenia
NGO was quoted by media as saying.
A few days later, Radio Free Europe reported that the bill was withdrawn by
the police due to undisclosed `shortcomings' and because such issues are
`not a priority' for them at present. Others, such as prolific Armenian
LGBT blogger Mika Artyan, were not convinced. `I didn't even manage to
write a post on the already withdrawn gay propaganda bill, but will do so
post factum as this is not the end of story,' he tweeted. He also told
Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso that he believes only international media
coverage of the proposed legislation, as well as domestic ridicule,
prevented it from being taken further.
Alarming level of homophobia
Of concern to Artyan and other LGBT activists in Armenia is the alarming
level of homophobia in the country and the wider region. According to a
2011 household survey by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC) as
quoted by local media, 96 percent of Armenian respondents said they did not
approve of homosexuality. In neighboring Azerbaijan and Georgia that figure
was 84 and 87 percent respectively. But given events in Tbilisi, Georgia,
on 17 May when thousands of Orthodox believers disrupted an LGBT event to
mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO), that
will hardly come as any comfort.
Taken as a whole, the South Caucasus remains highly intolerant and
inherently homophobic.
But at least Georgian LGBT activists did attempt to hold such an event in
downtown Tbilisi. In Armenia, on the same day, a small group of activists
from PINK Armenia gathered in a park on the periphery of the city center to
release rainbow-colored balloons into the air. Photographs were posted on
their Facebook page only after the short flash mob was over, and likely for
good reason. A year earlier, although marking the 21 May International Day
for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, nationalists disrupted
an event staged by PINK Armenia and the Women's Resource Center in
downtown
Yerevan.
Endorsing anti-gay violence: the DIY issue
Police intervened, but did not prevent the counter-protesters, who alleged
the march was a cover for LGBT rights, from later heading for a
gay-friendly bar firebombed weeks earlier to wreck what little of the
premises remained. D.I.Y., a small basement bar, had been a relaxed hangout
for heterosexual and homosexual citizens and foreigners alike, but its
owner, Punk Rocker Tsomak Oganesova, had irked nationalists in Armenia
after attending a gay pride rally in Istanbul, Turkey. The firebombers,
caught in the act on CCTV, were bailed out by MPs from the nationalist
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF-D). The government also appeared to
support the crime.
`As an Armenian citizen and member of a national-conservative party, I find
the rebellion of the two young Armenian people against homosexuals, who
have created a den of perversion in our country and have a goal of
alienating society from its moral values, completely right and justified,'
ruling Republican Party Spokesperson and Vice President of the Armenian
National Assembly Eduard Sharmazanov told journalists. Despite endangering
the lives of residents of the apartment building above the bar, the
firebombers received moderate suspended sentences in July this year. =80=9CNow
you know it's ok to attack gays and gay-friendly venues in Armenia,' Artyan
wrote on his blog.
Alarmingly, none of this is likely to concern most citizens. In 2011, Pink
Armenia held its own poll and discovered that 71.5 percent of respondents
in Armenia supported the idea of the government actively campaigning
against homosexuality. In the same survey, 78.1 and 71.8 percent of
respondents also said they would cease from communicating with friends and
relatives if they discovered they were gay. Nearly 90 percent said they
wouldn't even use the same crockery if they suspected it had been used by a
member of the LGBT community beforehand. Education and raising awareness
might be key to changing perceptions, but even there the environment is
hostile.
No Parada in Armenia
In October last year, plans by the German Embassy to screen Parada, a film
about gay rights by Serbian film director SrÄ`an DragojeviÄ=87, were
cancelled
following protests. Those behind the demonstration had also organized the
disruption of last year's diversity march as well as International
Women's
Day events in previous years. This time, another target was Ruben Babayan,
Artistic Director of the Puppet Theatre, a venue for the film screening.
`This is a feature film, which has been shown at many festivals,' Babayan
told the media in response.
`By the same logic, I think you can ban the showing of films by Sergei
Parajanov [an ethnic Armenian cultural icon who was convicted of
homosexuality in the Soviet era],' he continued. `One should [...] decide -
either we turn this country into Iran and feel happy about that, or we just
come to the realization that there are things like tolerance, feature
films, and the arts.'
But although the Constitution provides for the protection of sexual
minorities, with homosexuality decriminalized in 2003 and the government
signing the United Nationals Declaration on Sexual Orientation and Gender
Identity five years later, there is no legislation that specifically
prohibits hate speech or protects members of the LGBT community from
discrimination. Indeed, argue activists such as Artyan, playing on the
phobias of the population can be convenient for the government in
distracting attention away from other problems. The proposed legislation
came in the wake of successful public protests to prevent a rise in bus
fares.
`Armenia decriminalized gay male sex only because of that requirement by
the Council of Europe,' he told Osservatorio, `but it was the last South
Caucasus state to do so even if the first to sign some other groundbreaking
documents in support of LGBT rights. The potential is there, [...] but change
will depend on the development of democracy and human rights in general.'
---
http://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Regions-and-countries/Armenia/Armenian-homophobia-140571