After the rainbow ban by Uefa for the Munich Allianz Arena, the rights of homosexuals and their interests were discussed – especially because of the EM host country Hungary. But in another EM country the situation for homosexuals and transsexuals is even worse.
The LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) and discrimination against homosexuals and sexual minorities in focus – in addition to the coronavirus. Be it the discussion about the rainbow lighting of the Allianz Arena in Munich, Manuel Neuer’s rainbow armband or the situation of gays and lesbians in Hungary.
Hungary in particular has been criticized for passing an anti-homosexual law. The law is intended to prohibit “advertising” for LGBT topics in media that are freely accessible to children and young people. This caused clear criticism of Prime Minister Viktor Orban from his colleagues in the other EU countries.
Before the last 16 match between the Netherlands and the Czech Republic in Budapest, security forces even removed the rainbow flags from Dutch fans ().
Homosexuality is taboo in Azerbaijan
But homosexuals and transsexuals do not only suffer from legal discrimination in the EM host country Hungary. In Azerbaijan, where the quarter-finals between the Czech Republic and Denmark will take place in the capital Baku on Saturday, the situation for LGBTQ people looks grim.
Sexual acts between people of the same sex are not prohibited in the Muslim-majority Azerbaijan. “However, homosexuality is rarely accepted socially and is subject to taboos. Intimate homosexual or heterosexual contact in public is easily misunderstood as a provocation and can provoke counter-reactions,” writes that.
The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (Ilga) ranks Azerbaijan last in one of 49 European countries. Hungary is in 27th place and Germany in 16th place. The front runner is therefore Malta. The Ilga evaluates, among other things, the fields of equality, discrimination, family as well as hate speech and hate crimes.
Death threats against gay couple
There are no anti-discrimination laws in Azerbaijan, same-sex marriages are prohibited, as is adoption by homosexual couples. However, people are allowed to change their gender and homosexuals can serve in the military. MSM (men who have sex with men) are also allowed to donate blood.
But everyday life looks anything but easy for gay and transsexual people in Azerbaijan. For example, Ilga reports in one of a gay couple who shared a post on social media. It then received death threats. The police did not want to help or initiate an investigation. The couple had to hide.
As another example, Ilga cites a media company that allegedly tried to discredit independent local politician Rabiyya Mammadova by claiming that she was a member and defender of sexual minorities. In addition, the parliamentarian Sabir Rustamkhanli compared homosexuality with an “incurable disease”.
Raids and tortures against homosexuals and transsexuals
Other incidents, according to Ilga: In May 2020, two homosexual men were attacked in Baku without a police investigation. A few weeks later, a trans woman and sex worker was stabbed by a customer. At the end of July, a trans woman with stab wounds was refused medical treatment and she was left bleeding from the hospital.
Also in July, the police arrested trans people on the grounds that they had promoted drug use. “The police shared their testimony, which was then disseminated through state media to discredit LGBTIQ people and create a negative public image,” Ilga said.
In previous years there was also violence against LGBTQ people. In 2017, the police in Azerbaijan arrested and tortured men who were presumably gay or bisexual, as well as transgender women, as reported. There were beatings and electric shocks. Government officials did not deny the arrests and instead tried to justify it on moral and health grounds.
Autocrat Ilham Aliyev suppresses criticism
“The raids in Azerbaijan fit a well-known horrific narrative that uses so-called traditional values to justify violence against sexual and gender minorities,” said Graeme Reid, head of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights at Human at the time Rights Watch.
In Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev has ruled authoritarian since 2003. His politics are directed not only against LGBTQ people, but also against critics: inside and against the opposition in general. The human rights organization Amnesty International accuses the regime of “harassing and imprisoning critics”, torturing and ill-treatment, banning or breaking up demonstrations, expelling non-governmental organizations and war crimes during the military conflict with neighboring Armenia around the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Aliyev is also accused of corruption and nepotism.
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