DIY firebombers court case: anti-gay attackers effectively pardoned in Armenia

UPDATE 23 October 2013: Amnesty Granted to Brothers Accused of Bombing Gay-Friendly Bar DIY (+ comments section below)
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Here we are. DIY firebombers avoided imprisonment. They got conditional sentencing and a symbolic fine. Very mild court sentence for anti-gay attack in Armenia capital Yerevan.

«Պինցետ» փանք խմբի մենակատար Արմինե Օգանեզովայի (Ծոմակ) DIY բարը հրկիզած ազգայնական եղբայրներն այսօր դատապարտվել են 1 տարի 7 ամիս պայմանական ազատազրկման և 2 տարվա փորձաշրջանի: Այսօր Կենտրոն և Նորք Մարաշ վարչական շրջանների ընդհանուր իրավասության դատարանում Գագիկ Պողոսյանի նախագահությամբ կայացել է DIY բարի հրկիզման գործով արագացված դատավարությունը: Երևանի կենտրոնում՝ Փարպեցու փողոցում գտնվող DIY բարը նախորդ տարվա մայիսին մի քանի անգամ հարձակման էր ենթարկվել ազգայնական խմբավորման անդամների կողմից: Առաջին հարձակման ժամանակ իրանահայ եղբայրներ Արամեհ և Համբիկ Խաբազյանները պայթեցրել էին ակումբը` կոտրելով ապակին և բենզինով շիշը ներս նետելով, որից հետո ձերբակալվել էին: Ակումբին հասցվել էր 3.227.563 դրամի գույքային վնաս: Եղբայրներից մեկին ազատել էին ստորագրության դիմաց, մյուսի համար մեկ միլիոն դրամ գրավ էր վճարվել, իսկ նրա երաշխավորներն էին ՀՅԴ-ական պատգամավորներ Արծվիկ Մինասյանն ու Հրայր Կարապետյանը: [Epress.am]

They were merely charged under the Article 185 Part 3 of the Criminal Code with the intentional infliction of damage to property committed by arson, explosion or other publicly dangerous method. Not even aggravating circumstances. Not to mention that this was a classical example of hate crime. Crime that is still awaiting its definition in the Armenian criminal code.

 Now you know it's ok to attack gays, gay-friendly venues in Armenia. Maximum you will get is a conditional sentence and a symbolic fine. And, yes, don't forget asking MPs for support. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Very few in Armenia and Diaspora cared about this sentence or the court hearing. No much publicity or condemnations.

Many will think: ah, it doesn't concern me. Or worse: that they should have been formally pardoned or perhaps considered as heroes.

It’s exactly because of such mentality that the situation in Armenia is not moving forward. This is what I was referring to in my post that we fight against consequences rather than root cause of the problem(s).

@nkayserian How can I be happy or think of anything else when I know DIY firebombers are not sitting in jail for anti #gay attack. #Injustice #Armenia 

For now, I can sum-up that anti-gay attackers were effectively pardoned in Armenia. Congrats to ARF Dashnaktsutyun & ruling Republican party MPs for a victory of hate crime.

 

England follows France in celebrating equality and making gay marriage a reality. Congratulations!!

Here we are. Gay marriage became law in England and Wales. Scotland to follow soon with a separate legislation.

Congrats to British citizens and activists who made equal marriage a reality.

British PM David Cameron personally contributed to the cause by proposing the legislation in the first place. I do not support Tories, but here is what PM tweeted today:

@David_Cameron: After a long parliamentary process gay marriage became law tonight - something I believe we can be proud of as a country. 

Respects!!

The other day, a symbol of Paris - Eiffel tower turned rainbow for the occasion of French National Day - Bastille day. Liberté, égalité, fraternité ["Liberty, equality, fraternity (brotherhood)].

Ironically, some local Armenian and Russian homophobes decided to show solidarity with French homophobes (against passing of gay marriage law in France) on... Bastille Day. They have no idea what this day is all about. This is how out of touch with contemporary (and historic) realities these people are. This is how irrelevant they became.

 

Back to the main topic of this blog post.

Now that gay marriage became a reality in Britain, I should reclaim my traditional Armenian roots and start looking for husband ;))

And talking about traditions.

“Belgium used to belong to the countries in Europe with a very conservative attitude towards gays until the mid-1990s and then became one of the most progressive countries regarding gay rights within only 10 years.” [source]

FYI Armenia.

P.S. I devote this post to very dear friends of mine who got married recently. They know who they are. x

Anuk Beluga: Georgian artist's "painting activism"

Re-introducing Georgian artist, feminist, activist Anuk Beluga. Selected works below via her blog. You may find more of her exciting works by Google-ing her name.

Last year I posted about Anuk Beluga's activist video "Painting activism", tackling the issues of gender identity, homophobia, religion, freedom:  "F*ck gender", "Down with the Patriarch": activist video from Georgia

Relevant and current, as ever.

AGLA NY sets up “Emergency fund” and scholarship for LGBT people in Armenia and Diaspora

Some thirty guests came together on May 23rd at the home of Veken Gueyekian and Hrag Vartanian in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to celebrate Armenian gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered unity and to raise money for specific organisational goals.

Specifically, the benefit targeted three areas, Chairman and AGLA NY board member Christopher Atamian outlined: "We’re beginning a small 'Emergency Fund' to help LGBT people in need both in the Republic of Armenia and the diaspora—for example to help rebuild a bar like DIY which was firebombed in a recent hate crime, or to help with legal fees for LGBT people in need.” A second aim was simply to raise funds to help with the everyday expenses of running the organization and the many meetings, conferences and events such as New York's PRIDE March that it participates in. One of the night's guest speakers Maria Mähl, a Human Rights Advocate who currently works at the UN on women's security and peace building and SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) rights, commented on the importance of the work that AGLA NY does: “It is especially important now given the backlash against LGBT people that we have seen of late.”

A third and very exciting goal of the benefit was the creation of the George Stambolian Memorial Scholarship for students for LGBT students or those of Armenian origin.  Stambolian was a beloved professor of French literature at Wellesley College, one of the founders of LGBT Literature and the editor of the famed Men on Men writing series. Stambolian passed away from AIDS in 1991. The guests were truly lucky to have one of Stambolian's own former students Nancy Agabian talk affectionately about him: "[He was] aware of and appreciated the paradoxes of life and of literature...[he] embodied them and worked for them in a meaningful way.” Agabian read two excerpts from her own books where she mentions Stambolian: Princess Freak and Me As Her Again.

Atamian was upbeat about the event, which raised close to $2,000: "There are so many established benefits already in New York and in the Armenian community….but everyone reacted beautifully and understood the importance of our organization and its activities." The organization’s board members plan to build on this success: "Every year we'll build on the previous one," Gueyekian noted, "It's a first very important step."

Anyone interested in making a tax-deductible donation to the organization as a whole or to any of its specific programs—such as the Emergency Fund or the Stambolian Scholarship—can do so at http://aglany.org or by contacting a board member directly.  

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George Stambolian was a scholar of French literature and became an early proponent of LGBT literature in academia and within the U.S. at large. Born in 1937 to an Armenian American family in Racine, Wisconsin, he attended Dartmouth College, then earned his PhD from the University of Wisconsin.  Soon after, he become an expert and beloved professor of French literature at Wellesley College, and a noted figure in the literary scene of New York City, where he lived.  In the late 1980s and early 90s, he edited the groundbreaking anthology series Men on Men and helped to establish LGBT literature as a genre and field of study during the gay rights movement.  Stambolian was known for his quick wit, wry sense of humor and his remarkable humility.  Like many in his generation, his life was cut short by AIDS, in 1991.  AGLA-NY honors his legacy by establishing a scholarship in his memory.

Nancy Agabian is an author and a professor at NYU and Queens College. Her memoir, Me as her again, was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award and a William Saroyan International Writing Prize.  Agabian has served as co-President of AGLA NY in 2005 and 2006 and currently sits on its Board of Trustees.  She was a student of George Stambolian at Wellesley College.

mOTHER Armenia (photo exhibit)

I like the way they put it: mOTHER Armenia. Great to see incredibly talented and free-minded group of Armenian women photographers and photojournalists presenting their works in Yerevan's centre for contemporary arts - NPAK.

Including in the exhibit are the works by my favourite Nazik Armenakyan, from her "Transgenders in Armenia" photo-project, documenting the lives of transgender or transvestite sex workers.

Transgenders are a big part of my project about LGBT people in Armenia. Photographing transgender sex workers was a shock at first— unreal or, more accurately, surreal. I was shaken: they weren’t just a found object in photographic terms. It was a phenomenon that contradicted and negated all my previously held notions of man and woman.

[Read the full interview with Nazik Armenakyan here: http://www.fotoevidence.com/nazik-armenakian]

Also presented is Anush Babjanyan with her "special women" / 'inlandish' project.

“I am a woman who is not accepted by the society,” out of all the women I photographed, none would say this or anything similar. Yet every time any of them walks along the street people look with amazement. And I would look at them just as everyone else. There was strange interest and respect I felt towards them, so I decided to get to know them closer, talk to them, and take their photo. (photo story)

Below is a video report from the exhibit by RFE/RL Armenia service (AM):