US ambassador in Armenia celebrates diversity in LGBT inclusive video blog: “Diversity is Strength”

Good to see the US ambassador Heffern stressing the importance of Diversity and devoting to the topic his latest video blog.

He speaks of importance of inclusivity and tolerance to minorities, inclusive religious, LGBT, and gender equality.

“Diversity is a source of our strength.”

“By being more inclusive and embracing differences among us, we all become more united and resilient”.

Referring to the 'American Dream', he speaks of importance of equal opportunities, regardless of race, colour, gender, religion, economic background and sexual preference.

“And tolerance of minorities, including religious and sexual minorities, is not only the right thing to do, it makes everyone stronger”.

He salutes champions of diversity in the US and pledges to continue working with Armenian partners having that same goal in mind.

“Բազմազանությունը ուժի աղբյուր է”, concludes the ambassador in Armenian.

[Video with Armenian subtitles.]
 

Anna Safaryan - Defender of Minorities Rights (Armenia Ombudsman Office)

*via Armenia Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) website

Anna Safaryan
Leading Specialist of Vulnerable Groups Protection and Cooperation with Non-Governmental Organizations

Equality is touchstone of justice; jointly both of them make the essence of freedom.

97% of people living in our country according to census data are Armenians by nationality. All national minorities together form only 3% of the population. But Armenia is a motherland of all its citizens, and all of them have equal rights.

The exceptional mission of Armenian Apostolic Church in the spiritual lives of our people is recognized by the State. At the same time the Constitution of our country provides free space to other religious organizations’ activities. No one should be discriminated for his national identity, religion, or sexual orientation. This is the real expression of democracy, pluralism, equality and freedom, which is fixed in the Constitution and is protected by us.

Defender of Minorities’ Rights

/emphasis mine/

Council of Europe issues non inclusive anti-discrimination report on Armenia amid rise in intolerance towards minorities

I have to say, despite Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) report on Armenia dubbed as a 'report against discrimination and intolerance', it almost exclusively touches ethnic/racial discrimination and religious intolerance and only in very vague terms refers to “intolerance” in general, without e.g. specific mention of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or other grounds. I do agree with the prominent Armenian human rights defender Mikael Danielyan that the report is pretty mild. I would also add that the report is not inclusive.

Danielyan says that intolerance towards religious and sexual minorities is on rise in Armenia but the authorities do nothing about it.

"Մեր զրույցի ժամանակ իրավապաշտպանը կարծիք հայտնեց, որ Հայաստանում թե՛ կրոնական, թե՛ սեռական փոքրամասնությունների նկատմամբ նկատելի է անհանդուրժողականության աճ, և իշխանությունները որևէ քայլ չեն անում այդ անհանդուրժողականությունը մեղմելու ուղղությամբ:"

The report mentions ridiculous hateful posters campaign by ultra-nationalist right-wing group Mek Azg (‘One Nation’) but only in relation to religious minorities.

For example, there has been an ongoing poster campaign calling on Armenians to engage - in their own buildings and on their own floors - in a struggle against the antinational and corruptive activities of the sects. [The posters in question are signed by an individual in the name of the “One Nation alliance of organisations.]

Here is an example of homophobic posters in Yerevan by the same group. Read my relevant blog post here.

*Links to press release and full report

Discrimination against gay Armenians: US State Department Human Rights Report 2007

The US State Department issued its annual Human Rights Report for 2007(http://www.state.gov/) today, March 11, 2008.

Although concerning Armenia (http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100546.htm) the report is limited to last year, and does not include the most recent developments, the report's findings are significant:

WASHINGTON, March 11, 2008 -- Armenia's record on human rights remained poor during 2007, according to the U.S. State Department's annual report on human rights around the world. First, the document said, parliamentary elections last spring didn't meet world standards. The report, issued today, also says security forces sometimes beat those they had arrested, and some arrests were made arbitrarily. The government also imposed restrictions on privacy, religious expression, the news media and freedom of assembly, the document says. Meanwhile, the report says, the Armenian government didn't enforce laws against violence against women, human trafficking and harassment of homosexuals.

R. G.

Below is an extract from the Report describing specifically discrimination against LGBT people in Armenia.

Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination

Persons who were openly gay were exempted from military service, purportedly because of concerns that they would be abused by fellow servicemen. However, the legal pretext for this exemption is predicated on a medical finding of gays possessing a mental disorder, which is stamped in their passports and can affect their future. Local observers noted that unlike in previous years, there were no reported cases of police harassment of homosexuals through blackmail, extortion, or violence. Nevertheless, societal attitudes and harassment towards homosexuality remained severe, and hampered homosexuals' access to medical care.

Many employers reportedly discriminated against potential employees by age, most commonly requiring that job applicants be between the ages of 18 and 30. After the age of 40, workers, particularly women, had little chance of finding jobs that were appropriate to their education or skills.

Gay Parade in Tbilisi?

***Breaking News update (24 July 2007): After all histeria and homophobia surrounding this event (see my comments below) which aimed at promoting Equality and Tolerance towards disadvantaged and minority groups, and which was, in fact, not "Gay Parade" at all, but rather broader event organised by Council of Europe in Georgia within their campaign "All Different - All Equal ", the event got cancelled by one of organisers and apparently will not go ahead. Very sad news, indeed...

Sounds too good to be true, isn’t it? I felt the same reading the news received via Kornelij Glas, in the first instance. Here is the story.

Rosbalt Russian news agency broke the news yesterday on upcoming Gay Parade in Tbilisi. I intentionally waited for some time (almost a day) before publishing this post, waiting for any confirmation from independent sources, other news or gay-related agencies or institutions. None so far…

News report was based on Georgian “Rustavi2 TV” report and suggested that there will be first-ever Gay Parade in Tbilisi on 29 July 2007. Based on TV report, Rosbalt stated that according to organisers of the Tbilisi parade, it will differ from similar Gay Pride events in other countries, without elaborating on details. Organisers aim at “stirring up not only sexual minorities, but also ethnic and religious minorities, promote their integration with the majority”. As indicated, it will be the first time ever when representatives of LGBT community will march through Tbilisi streets.

The route of the parade will begin from the State Philharmonic Hall in the centre of Tbilisi and will end up in one of city squares on the banks of the river Kura.

“Everyone is different – everyone is equal” – this will be the logo of the day, and many NGOs have already prepared various souvenirs, posters, T-shirts.

As common in case of many blog or news sites, this sort of news led to a sea of comments from ‘concern citizens’ full with homophobia, verbal abuse and ‘conspiracy theories’. I will not waste my time on reflecting those comments – same old s**t.

I still have some doubts about the authenticity of this information and the nature of the event. It seems to me a bit strange of having Gay Parade as a common event with ethnic and religious minorities, not because I do not wanna see it, quite the contrary, I think all minorities should join forces in their fight for equality and universal human rights for everyone. However, knowing reality and mentality of people there, I doubt that, say, Armenians or Azerbaijanis as “ethnic minority” (not as “sexual minority”) will march with gay Georgians, or that Muslim people as “religious minority” will join the event, unless they are gay. I fear that due to widespread homophobia in Georgian society, like everywhere else in the region, ethnic or religious minorities may find marching with LGBT people or being related to them as too much of negative publicity and trouble for them. Besides, many of representatives of organised ethnic or religious minority groups are homophobes themselves, and along with representatives of various groups from ‘majority’ promote hate and intolerance towards gay people.

I want to be proved wrong (I wish!) and if I am wrong, I will salute organisers of the event. Again, as I mentioned before, this news needs to be confirmed by other sources, and I will certainly keep an eye on all developments in neighbouring Georgia.

Even though homophobia is widespread in society as a whole, the attitude towards gay people in Georgia, especially Tbilisi, is more open-minded and gay scene is more developed than in surrounding countries, as pointed out by Spartacus International Gay Guide (2007). In fact, Georgia was the first country in South Caucasus to decriminalise gay male sex in 2000.

If this information is true and Gay Parade goes ahead, it will be the first most significant event (after decriminalisation of gay male sex) in terms of gay rights movement not only for Georgia, but also for the whole South Caucasus, including Armenia and Azerbaijan.