Kyrgyzstan, Asia

Kyrgyzstan declared independence from the Soviet Union on August 31,1991. Political stability appears to be elusive, however, as various groups and factions allegedly linked to organized crime are jockeying for power. Three of the 75 members of Parliament elected in March 2005 were assassinated, and another member was assassinated on 10 May 2006 shortly after winning his murdered brother's seat in a by-election. All four are reputed to have been directly involved in major illegal business ventures. Current concerns in Kyrgyzstan include: privatization of state-owned enterprises, expansion of Western influence, inter-ethnic relations, and terrorism. Homosexuality is illegal. In April 2008 Bishkek police carried out a warrantless raid on the community center of an organization (Labrys) working for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in violation of the right to freedom of association. Nevertheless, Labrys continues to collaborate with governmental institutions on gender equality and progress of women on elimination of discrimination on bases of sexual orientation or gender identity of women and men in Kyrgyzstan.

 

News & Reports:

 

Central Asia’s first LGBTI pride march sparks protests

‘We have to beat the craziness out of them’ a member of Kyrgyzstan’s parliament wrote about LGBTI people There’s been threats, protests, and fiery debates in Kyrgyzstan’s parliament after a pro-LGBTI rally earlier this month. In what was believed to be one of the first public LGBTI pride events in Central Asia, 400 people took… Read more »

Exclusive: Police are ‘blackmailing gay and bisexual men’ in Kyrgyzstan

Police in Kyrgyzstan are using false nicknames on LGBT dating apps to entrap gay and bisexual men, an NGO activist has told PinkNews Nazik, an advocate for LGBT+ rights in Kyrgzstan, has been “beaten with a bottle” because she is a lesbian. “I know dozens of cases myself and I personally had to deal with… Read more »

Kyrgyzstan’s only gay nightclub closes under LGBT crackdown

The only LGBT night club in Kyrgyzstan’s capital city of Biskek has closed after governmental pressure to silence the presentation of LGBT people in a public arena. The nightclub, named London, nestled on the outskirts of the city has been frequented by LGBT partiers on a Saturday night for years. But after the landlord in… Read more »

Protest held in Kyrgyzstan in favour of law to ban ‘gay propaganda’

A protest took place in Kyrgyzstan at the weekend in favour of a proposed law to ban “gay propaganda”. The bill is similar to one introduced in Russia law last year, banning the “promotion of non-traditional sexual relationships”. The Interior Ministry told 24.kg news agency that around a hundred people attended the demonstration, which urged… Read more »

How to protest Russia-style anti-gay bill in Kyrgyzstan

LGBTI rights activists are seeking international support for their attempts to block a proposed Kyrgyz law that would be even harsher than Russia’s anti-“gay propaganda” law. Unlike the Russian law, the Kyrgyz proposal would provide for imprisonment for mentioning homosexuality or advocating LGBTI rights. Labrys, the LGBTI group in Kyrgyzstan, would be outlawed if the… Read more »

European Parliament urges Kyrgyzstan to drop anti-gay bill

Kyrgyzstan has been urged by the European Parliament to drop an anti-gay bill. The bill is similar to one introduced in Russia law last year, banning the “promotion of non-traditional sexual relationships”. The Kyrgyz bill outlaws the dissemination of information “aimed at forming positive attitudes toward non-traditional sexual relations.” Persons found guilty under this law… Read more »

Kyrgyzstan’s ‘Homosexual Propaganda’ Law Proposal Sparks Gay Community Fears

* Law has won first of three readings in parliament * Backers say it is needed to protect family values * Gay community says it is intimated, suffers beatings * Critics fear it will be used to muzzle civil society Bishkek (Reuters) – A draft law banning “homosexual propaganda” in Kyrgyzstan could be the last… Read more »

Kyrgyzstan: UN urges anti-gay draft law to be scrapped

The United Nations (UN) has today urged the Kyrgyz Parliament to withdraw the draft legislation that would discriminate against LGBT people in Kyrgyzstan. In June, the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan’s Human Rights Committee approved the bill banning the dissemination of information “aimed at forming positive attitudes toward non-traditional sexual relations.” Spokesperson for the Office of the… Read more »

Activists urge global LGBTI groups to help scuttle anti-gay law in Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan: Activists in Kyrgyzstan are pleading with international LGBTI communities to mobilize support for their efforts in scrapping an anti-gay propaganda law that makes any type of information on same-sex relations a crime punishable by fines and a jail sentence. In their recent communiqué to the global LGBTI community, the activists have proposed five ways… Read more »

Kyrgyzstan on the verge of adopting harsh anti-gay law

Kyrgyzstan is on the verge of aligning itself more closely with Russia by making it a crime to say anything positive about homosexuality, as well as by strengthening economic ties. The anti-gay Kyrgyz bill, approved last week by the Parliament’s Human Rights Committee, is modeled after Russia’s ban on “gay propaganda,” enacted in 2013, But… Read more »

Kyrgyzstan parliament passes anti-gay propaganda law

Kyrgyzstan: Kyrgyzstan’s parliament on June 17 has passed an anti-gay propaganda law that now makes any type of information on same-sex relations a crime punishable by fines and a jail sentence. Nicole Kiil-Nielsen of the European Parliament Delegation to Kyrgyzstan says it’s only been 16 years since Kyrgyzstan decriminalized same-sex relations. “It is unacceptable that… Read more »

Kyrgyzstan urged by human rights groups to scrap anti-gay bills

The parliament in Kyrgyzstan is being urged to reject legislation which would ban “foreign agents” and “homosexual propaganda”. The Human Rights Watch (HRC) states that the bills are intended to criminalise “homosexual propaganda”, and to force restrictions onto small charities, in moves which could marginalise minorities. Introduced this month, the bills could be put to… Read more »

Criminal relations

Rulers take a page out of Russia’s intolerant playbook Central Asia’s republics are no bastions of tolerance. But now even the most liberal of the region’s countries is moving to restrict gay life. Rulers in these ex-Soviet states seem to be inspired by Russia’s growing anti-Westernism. Kyrgyzstan is considered the region’s most open and democratic… Read more »

Kyrgyz Mufti Issues Fatwa Against Gays, Challenges HRW

Bishkek – Kyrgyzstan’s acting grand mufti, Maksat Hajji Toktomushev, has issued a fatwa against same-sex relations and challenged the findings of a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW). In a statement placed on the Kyrgyz Muslims’ Spiritual Directorate website on January 30, Toktomushev said Islam absolutely forbids same-sex relations. Homosexuality was decriminalized in Kyrgyzstan… Read more »

Kyrgyzstan: Report documents widespread physical and sexual abuse of gay men by police

A report by a leading human rights group has claimed that gay and bisexual men in Kyrgyzstan face extortion, beatings, illegal detentions and even rape from the police force. Although sex between men was decriminalised in the state in 1998, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released today found that gay men face regular oppression… Read more »

Police raped us with hammers and electric shocks, say Kyrgyzstan gays

Human Rights Watch have called on the country’s government to deal with the ‘nightmare’ for LGBTI people Gay men are reportedly facing extreme abuse by police, including at least one instance of ‘hammer rape’, in Kyrgyzstan. International charity Human Rights Watch is urging authorities in the Central Asian country to acknowledge the police brutality and… Read more »

Interview: Lack Of Data On Gay Men Impedes HIV Fight In Central Asia

In recent years, the countries of Central Asia have experienced some of the fastest growing rates of HIV infection in the world. One of the key populations at risk is men who have sex with men (MSM).owever, an acute lack of data on the health of that population — due in large part to intense… Read more »

Kyrgyzstan: Rights Activists Condemn Ban on Gay Muslim Documentary

Democratization activists in Kyrgyzstan are worrying about a roll-back of basic freedoms after a Bishkek court prohibited a film festival from screening a Dutch documentary about homosexual Muslim men. “I Am Gay and Muslim,” was scheduled to screen on September 28 at the sixth annual Bir Duino (“One World”) human rights documentary film festival in… Read more »

Gay Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan News & Reports 2011

Gay Middle East Web Site More information about Islam & Homosexuality al-fatiha-news Middle East Youth These Everyday Humiliations: Violence Against Lesbians, Bisexual Women, and Transgender Men Gay Islam discussion groups: Muslim Gay Men     LGBT muslim Queer Jihad           Bi-muslims Trans-muslims       Lesbian muslims 1 Gay Activists in Central Asia Train Professional Defenders 4/11 2 New Gender Marker… Read more »

Kyrgyzstan: Can a Gay Man Get a Fair Trial?

An appellate case involving a young homosexual man convicted of distributing pornographic films is shaping up as an important test for gay rights in Kyrgyzstan. Local rights activists contend that that the defendant, Mikhail Kudryashov, was entrapped and is a victim of gender-related bias at the hands of police and prosecutors. Kudryashov’s appeal is currently… Read more »

In Kyrgyzstan, under the law you can change your sex but receiving the right documents proves difficult

In Kyrgyzstan, the law allows sex reassignment, but it is difficult to re-execute the documents. On this December 8 at a roundtable in Bishkek to discuss the HIV epidemic in Kyrgyzstan, told members of the public organization “Indigo”, working with representatives of sexual minorities. According to them, unlike other countries in Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan… Read more »

LGBT Organization ‘Labrys’

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan – First Arts Festival against Homo-and Transphobia to be held in Bishkek 14 May 2009. For the first time in Kyrgyzstan an arts festival named ‘Rainbow Kyrgyzstan’ commemorating the International Day Against Homo- and Transphobia is to be held in Bishkek on 17-20 May. The festival was prepared and organized by Lesbian, Gay,… Read more »

Report claims trans men and lesbian women face rape and abuse in Kyrgyzstan

A leading human rights group has claimed that lesbian and bisexual women and transgender men face violent abuse, including rape, in Kyrgyzstan, both in family settings and from strangers on the street. Based on interviews, the Human Rights Watch report found evidence of beatings, forced marriages, and physical and psychological abuse. HRW wants the Kyrgyz… Read more »

Police storm international meeting for gay rights in Kyrgyzstan

Human rights groups have highlighted the plight of the LGBT community in Kyrgyzstan after a police raid on a leading gay rights group. Police forced their way into the premises of the LGBT group Labrys, which was in the midst of hosting a dinner for 30 domestic and international advocates. Members of the Kyrgyz Anti-AIDS… Read more »

Kyrgyzstani group publishes homosexuality information

The publication of a brochure about homosexuality in the central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan has drawn attention to the discrimination lesbian, trans and bisexual people in the country face. However, the head of Bishkek mosque condemned the publication. “If there is no reaction to it, then our society has truly sunken below the level of… Read more »

More Toddlers Infected With HIV In Kyrgyzstan Scandal

Bishkek – The latest cases involve children who are 2 and 3 years old and were found after an analysis of blood samples from the southern city of Osh where the outbreak occurred, Erkin Bakiev of the regional AIDS center said. Health Ministry officials in the former Soviet republic have accused medical staff of accidentally… Read more »

LBT Organization in Kyrgyzstan

Press conference about brochure on homosexuality in Kyrgyzstan On 8 October “Labrys” presented the brochure on homosexuality in Kyrgyzstan written for the first time in Kyrgyz language. The target audience was the Kyrgyz society in general, which, we thought, needed undistorted and clear information about homo and bisexuals, homophobia and discrimination. We also addressed the… Read more »

Kyrgyzstan lesbian community print information brochure

A social organisation for lesbian, trans and bisexual people in the central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan has taken its first steps toward wider acceptance by publishing a brochure about homosexuality. Representatives of Labris told a press conference in the capital Bishkek that Homosexuality: A Kyrgyzstan Reality has an initial print run of 1,000 copies, half… Read more »

Frugal Traveler: Into the Mountains of Kyrgyzstan

“Chut!” Bakut yelled as he yanked the horse’s bridle. “Move!” His cries echoed off the mountains around us, a threatening desert landscape I’d only ever seen in Wile E. Coyote cartoons. But the horse would not budge; it had found a safe spot on the perilously steep and sandy slope, and was not coming down… Read more »

LABRYS (lesbian organization) survives crisis in Kyrgyzstan

Since the elections the Central Asian republic has been in the news continuously. We have all seen the demonstrations and plundering in Bishkek and other cities. No one could imagine that the people of Kyrgyzstan would take the matter in their own hands. But what has been the effect of all this on our colleagues… Read more »

Kyrgyzstan: Focus on gay and lesbian rights

Bishkek – 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.… Read more »