Azerbaijan gay

LGBT people routinely face violence and abuse by officials and their own families. Sergey Bagirov is a year-old gay man from Baku. For the past 20 years, he has had no contact with his parents. I was 14 years old.

Survivors always have an obligation to those who will face the same challenges. According to Human Rights Watch HRW , beginning in September, the Azerbaijani police force began a violent campaign against civilians presumed to be gay, bisexual, and transgender women. Lawyers representing the detainees report 83 men and transgender women were confirmed to be arrested. Most of the victims were publicly arrested at work, on the streets, or even at home, thereby exposing their sexuality to their co-workers, family members, and other community members.

Frequent homophobic hate crimes see country join Russia and Armenia at the bottom of leading human rights survey. The countries with the three lowest scores are all post-Soviet: Armenia , Russia and Azerbaijan. The review links the low score to the high number of homophobic and transphobic violent attacks, as well as discriminatory remarks made by political figures. They are killed, forced to live a double life, commit suicide or leave the country.

Officials in Azerbaijan insist gay visitors are welcome to the Eurovision song contest when the event, which has an enthusiastic gay following, is hosted in the capital, Baku. However, such assurances jar with those who have had first-hand experience of how homosexuals are treated in Azeri society. I don't think I will ever be able to speak to any of them again. Mr Badalov grew up in a remote area of Azerbaijan and moved to Baku when he was