LGBT Rights

Between 2011 and 2013 alone 5,891 LGBT people left Armenia. This article will tell the first-hand story of lesbian, bisexual and transgender Armenian citizens who have moved to different EU countries.

The Heinrich Boell Foundation, within the framework of the 3-year EU-funded action, Solidarity Network for LGBTI in Armenia and Georgia, has produced a number of public service announcements (PSAs) in order to contribute to raising positive visibility on issues related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights.

On November 20, 2017, the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is marked annually in memory of trans* persons who have lost their lives to transphobic violence, the hbs South Caucasus Regional Office, held a round table meeting on issues of legal gender recognition (LGR) in Tbilisi.

On September 28, 2017, the Heinrich Boell Foundation South Caucasus Regional Office, together with its partners PINK and SWV organised a Wrap-up Stakeholder Meeting of the EU-funded Project “Solidarity Network for LGBTI in Armenia and Georgia”, which was being implemented since early 2015 in Aremnia and Georgia. հայերեն

On June 30, July 13, and July 14, the Heinrich Boell Foundation South Caucasus Regional Office, in cooperation with project partners, the Women's Initiatives Supporting Group (WISG) and the Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) held three LGBTI-focused public discussions in Gori, Kutaisi and Batumi.

On May 3, 2017, the Heinrich Boell Foundation, in cooperation with the Women's Initiatives Supporting Group & the Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center held public discussions "Homophobic Politics or Political Homophobia".

On March 10 the hbs South Caucasus in cooperation with WISG and EMC held a CSO Forum with the participation of civil society organisations and media representatives, where the project partners presented a long-term advocacy strategy document to combat homo/bi/transphobia in Georgia.

On November 7-11, 2016, the project staff of the cross-border EU-funded initiative Solidarity Network for LGBTI in Armenia and Georgia visited Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, to participate in a capacity building study tour aimed to transfer the experience of a similar EU-funded action Coming out! - Advocating promotion and protection of LGBT rights, implemented by the Heinrich Boell Foundation Bosnia and Herzegovina, in cooperation with the Sarajevo Open Center and CURE Foundation.

On October 25-28, 2016, the Heinrich Boell Foundation South Caucasus Regional Office, in cooperation with partners, hosted a group of activists, representatives of Armenian CSOs and LGBTI organizations in the scope of a capacity-building tour, which aimed to connect these actors with LGBTI organizations, other NGOs and equality body representatives in Georgia.

Baltic Pride week, whose principal slogan was "We Are People, Not Propaganda!", lasted from June 13 to 23 with the Pride March taking place on June 18 and a number of associated events conducted throughout principally organized by the Lithuanian National LGBT* Rights Organization (LGL).

“Every single time we gather and discuss the issues which are more than important nowadays for achieving equality and non-discrimination towards the LGBTI community and allies, I proudly understand one simple fact: Who, if not us? And, when, if not now?" – Arman Sahakyan, New Generation Humanitarian NGO, Armenia

LGBTI individuals and LGBTI human rights defenders in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia are facing huge challenges as LGBTI rights issues are currently shaped by EU, Russia, and South Caucasus geopolitical and economic interests. Could the European Neighbourhood Policy and other EU foreign policy initiatives contribute to the improvement of the LGBTI rights situation in the region?

On Dec. 8-11, 2015, the project partners from Armenia and Georgia within the EU-funded action Solidarity Network for LGBTI in Armenia and Georgia, and an LGBT activist from Azerbaijan participated in an annual event organized by the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Ms. Ulrike Lunacek, in cooperation with the Greens/EFA, the EP Intergroup on LGBTI Rights, and the HBS EU office.

(closed project) The Heinrich Böll Foundation South Caucasus Regional Office, with financial support of the EU, has initiated the implementation and overall supervision of a three-year action Solidarity Network for LGBTI in Armenia and Georgia, executed by a working group of NGOs - Women’s Initiatives Supporting Group (WISG), Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) in Georgia and Society Without Violence (SWV) and Public Information and Need of Knowledge (PINK) in Armenia.

Wie Nino Lejava, Büroleiterin unseres Regionalbüros Südkaukasus die Hetzjagd auf eine friedliche protestierende LGBTI-Gruppe im Mai erlebte und was sich seitdem in der georgischen Hauptstadt verändert hat, erzählt sie in diesem Interview.

In the history of the fight for LBGT rights in the South Caucasus, 17 May 2012 is a milestone. On this internationally recognized day, a group of activists took to the streets in the center of the capital Tbilisi for the first time to demonstrate for the rights of sexual minorities. The campaign had been registered with the mayor’s office. Police were present to protect the demonstrators. It did not take long before their service was necessary.

In Armenia, everyone is proud of Sergei Parajanov. He is characterized among the most original film directors of the 20th century and has as a result been recognized by colleagues in the same league as French director Jean-Luc Godard. The fact that Parajanov, who died in 1990, spent five years in prison during the Soviet era because he supposedly propagated homosexuality is mostly kept quiet, however. When people refer to this, it is immediately assumed that they do so in order to denigrate Parajanov.