Tag: Kyrgyzstan gay rights

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 »