Focus on Gay and Lesbian Rights
IRIN, January 11, 2005
BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN—Kyrgyzstan is
known as an island of gay tolerance in an otherwise oppressive region. Some
gay people come here from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, where homosexuality is
punishable by law, in search of a more favourable and accepting environment.
The number of gay and lesbian groups in the country is growing as a
consequence.
On Saturday a new support group called “Labrys” was
launched in the capital, Bishkek, to promote the rights of lesbians. The
Labrys, or double-bladed axe, comes from the goddess Demeter (Artemis). It has
become a symbol of lesbian and feminist strength and self-sufficiency. “It
will organise lesbians, provide them with psychological and legal help, and
work on establishing a more tolerant attitude towards lesbians in the
country,” Anna Dovgopol, leader of the group, funded by money from the
Netherlands, told IRIN.
The new organisation will publish a monthly magazine,
organise seminars on health issues, and open a telephone hot-line and resource
centre to offer advice and support. Counselling and cultural events will also
be offered. Lesbianism remains very much a taboo in this conservative Central
Asian nation. “If my family ever finds out that I belong to the group, I
will be in deep trouble,” one of the women at the launch, who refused to be
photographed, told IRIN.
THE REALITY
Although the attitude to gays and lesbians in Kyrgyzstan
is less hostile than in neighbouring states, people of non-traditional sexual
orientation, especially gay men, are one of the most oppressed and
discriminated groups in the country, according to recent research conducted by
Denis van der Veur for the Dutch HIVOS Fund.
Most gays and lesbians in the country live in the
capital, Bishkek, or in the northern part of the country, which is more
liberal than other regions. In Bishkek, according to the Oasis NGO, the only
organisation fighting to protect the rights of gay men, there are around
35,000 people of a different sexual orientation. The NGO officially works with
just 6,500 of them who are open about their sexual orientation. Others remain
undercover.
Those who decide to go public risk physical and verbal
abuse, possible loss of work and unwanted attention from the police and
authorities.
Veur, who conducted research with more than 50 gay men in
the capital, found that they “describe their environment in Kyrgyzstan as
negative, hostile and even violent. They refer to the prevalence of
discrimination in public places such as bars and restaurants, from where they
are often asked to leave.” Around 65 percent of men surveyed said they had
been physically or psychologically abused because of their sexual orientation.
“Homosexuals are still poorly informed about their
rights,” Vladimir Tyupin, the leader of Oasis, said. “Many of them do not
know that homosexuality is legal in Kyrgyzstan, and they often are ashamed to
ask for legal help. Although senior policemen seem to be understanding, it is
the lower ranks, the street patrol officers, who chase and abuse gay men in
Kyrgyzstan.”
Theoretically, no one can refuse a gay person a job due
to his or her sexual orientation. In reality, homosexuals are sacked under
some pretext when their sexuality is revealed, but the official reason for
their sacking does not mention their sexual orientation. A recent Oasis
opinion poll indicated that most employers in the region would not hire a gay
or lesbian if they were aware of the person’s sexual orientation.
The situation of homosexuals in prisons is especially
daunting as gay men are often openly victimised by inmates and the
authorities. Almost half of such people in custody are physically abused,
according to research.
LESBIANS ALSO FACE HOSTILITY AND
REJECTION
The attitude towards lesbians is less hostile then
towards homosexual men. Local tradition allows more freedom for public
displays of affection by women. Nevertheless, in Kyrgyzstan lesbians are less
visible than gay men and there are no figures for how many there are in the
country.
Elena, a gay woman, told IRIN that she had spent most of
her life in denial of her sexuality. “At some point I was fed up with
hiding, living someone else’s life... The most surprising was the reaction
from my close friends. Although they are modern [in many of their ways],
graduates who have travelled abroad, their reaction to my coming out was
shocking. It is a complete rejection.”
Despite the fact that the situation in Kyrgyzstan is
better than in other Central Asian counties, Elena said that she and most of
her friends dream about migrating to western Europe or the USA. “We want to
feel free to be who we are, to feel like normal people.” Lesbian activists
say there have been seven known cases so far in which homosexuals from
Kyrgyzstan received asylum abroad for “the violation of their human
rights” at home.
Dovgopol from Labrys recounted how, in one of the
city’s cafes, lesbians were refused service due to their sexual orientation
and were forced to leave. “They did not complain, because filing a complaint
would mean a public and political coming our for lesbians and none of them
were willing to do this. They were afraid to be openly lesbian in Kyrgyzstan.”
DOUBLE LIFE IN THE SOUTH
In future, gay rights organisations are planning to
expand their activities to other regions such as Osh and Jalalabat in the
south of Kyrgyzstan. These are conservative and traditional regions, where
most of the population is Muslim. According to Oasis, research among 2,500 gay
and lesbians in Osh city suggests that those of a different sexual orientation
have no choice but to lead a double life. Many gay men are forced to get
married and have children, and hide their sexuality from their family.
There are no support groups protecting the rights of
sexual minorities in the south, because it is almost impossible to find
someone to lead such an organisation. Many are afraid that participation in
such an organisation would ruin their career, and relations with their family
and friends.
For lesbians, according to Anna Dovgopol, it is equally
difficult: “The society in the provinces is so closed, the topic of
homosexuality remains taboo. For a lesbian there it is almost impossible to
find other gay people.”
CONDEMNATION FROM RELIGIOUS LEADERS
Religious leaders, for the most part, do not exhibit
tolerance towards gays and some have even appealed for proactive measures to
be taken against them. “I think we should unite our efforts and maybe start
punishing people for such behaviour. Thousands of Muslims will be punished by
Allah for not preventing, not stopping, lesbians and homosexuals,” said the
leader of Muslims in Kyrgyzstan, Mufti Lugmar azhi Guahunov.
The Russian Orthodox Church in Kyrgyzstan seems equally
hostile to sexual minorities. “Such tolerance washes out the essence of
absolute moral values. Of course, our church will not fight homosexuality with
weapons, but we will never tolerate it,” Igor Dronov, a senior priest of the
church in Bishkek, said.
LEGAL RECOGNITION
During the Soviet period, homosexuality was considered a
crime. Article 121 of the USSR penal code sentenced men for “sodomy” for
up to five years in jail. Officially, about 50,000 men were put away in Soviet
jails or sent to Gulags under such charges; the real figure is believed to be
much higher.
In Kyrgyzstan the ban on homosexuality was lifted in 1998
after concerted pressure from international human rights organisations.
However, the Kyrgyz constitution does not explicitly mention the right to
chose one’s own sexual orientation.
The Kyrgyz legal system does not appear to be changing to
take any further steps to secure the rights of gays and lesbians. It is too
early to raise the question of official gay marriages, and legal adoption for
same-sex couples in Kyrgyzstan is a long way off, activists say.
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