Rainbow Forum: Armenian LGBTIQ activists defy war to hold annual celebration

Armenian activists gathered on the finish of October to debate methods to strengthen the nation’s LGBTIQ actions, six weeks after Azerbaijan’s 12 September assault on Armenia.

“We had been excited about cancelling the discussion board, particularly after September,” mentioned Lilit Avetisyan, chair of Pink Armenia – an NGO based 15 years in the past to help the neighborhood, shield human rights and advocate for public coverage adjustments round LGBT points.

Pink Armenia activists, like others preventing for human rights, really feel discouraged and hopeless because the battle continues. Azerbaijan’s September incursion was probably the most violent for the reason that Second Karabakh Warfare in 2020. Would Armenia actually take note of LGBTIQ points at this level of time? However, mentioned Avetisyan: “When is an acceptable time to speak about human rights?”

Ultimately, greater than 140 folks registered for Pink Armenia’s three-day Rainbow Discussion board within the capital, Yerevan. Supported by the Swedish authorities, it was the seventh annual discussion board, and it attracted consideration and much-needed expressions of help.

Garo Paylan, an ethnic Armenian member of Turkey’s parliament, made an impromptu go to to the discussion board on 30 October after assembly Armenia’s prime minister Nikol Pashinyan that day. “If Armenia needs to be a democratic nation, it ought to respect LGBTIQ rights,” he mentioned.

Armenia ranks low on the Rainbow Map, the annual benchmarking software utilized by the impartial NGO ILGA-Europe to rank 49 nations in Europe on their LGBTIQ equality legal guidelines and insurance policies. The rating, which considers a rustic’s authorized and coverage practices for LGBTIQ folks, ranges from 0% to 100%.

The 2022 Rainbow Map has Armenia at 8%, simply forward of Turkey (4%) and Azerbaijan (2%). That means there was little or no change in Armenia’s attitudes in the direction of LGBTIQ folks for the reason that peaceable, anti-government ‘Velvet Revolution’ protests of 2018. On the time, ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Europe nation rating confirmed Armenia virtually in final place – forty seventh out of 49, the identical as this yr.