You can now find it at http://kyrgyzlabrys.wordpress.com

On 8 October “Labrys” presented the brochure on homosexuality in Kyrgyzstan written for the first time in Kyrgyz language. The target audience was the Kyrgyz society in general, which, we thought, needed undistorted and clear information about homo and bisexuals, homophobia and discrimination. We also addressed the situation of homo and bisexuals in the rural areas of the country, where it is much harder for LGB to simply live, let alone to express themselves freely or to do as they please. Homosexuality-unfriendly traditions and religious dogmatism are especially strong in areas outside of the “liberal” capital, which forces LGB people there to suppress themselves in fear for their safety.

The press conference lasted for about thirty minutes, during which we managed to summarize the content of the brochure and to answer questions of journalists. Majority of them were information-oriented and neutral in nature, although there were a couple of journalists that insisted upon being passively aggressive. They asserted that the right of homosexuals for free expression of their selves was an offence to them. In other words – protecting rights of homosexual minority was, according to them, an infringement upon rights of the heterosexual majority, which felt morally insulted by the very presence of homosexuals in their vicinity.

The most interesting bit about the press-conference, however, came a little later – after everything was said and done and recorded. The news items that were produced from the information presented at the press-conference were all conveniently controversial, almost edited out of their original meaning. The main broadcasting channel in the Bishkek area, NTS, for example, focused on the theoretical assumption about the possibility of presence of people with homosexual behavior in the Kyrgyz parliament. This unassuming assumption, in the version of NTS, was turned into a confident statement – possibly with an aim at riling up the audience. Afterwards, NTS editors put a news item about Muslims and the holy Ramadan – an attempt at juxtaposing two opposing social views on liberties and rights of individuals. In addition to these news items, there were reports on websites of information agencies. While the agency journalists used the information given in the press-release correctly, the responses of internet readers were more than outraging. Some anonymous readers proposed that gays and lesbians should be dismembered for being unlike them, while others limited themselves by simply insulting the homosexual community.

ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE FOR LGBT PEOPLE IN KYRGYZSTAN
In the fall of 2006, Soros Foundation Kyrgyzstan and SHARP
commissioned qualitative research on the opportunities and
barriers to health care access for LGBT persons in Kyrgyzstan.
The report, "Access to Health Care for LGBT People in
Kyrgyzstan," explores possibilities for increasing LGBT access to
health services; maps current NGOs working on LGBT health and
human rights issues; highlights Kyrgyzstan's obligations to
provide health care to LGBT persons in accordance with
international standards and laws; and articulates recommendations
for the development of non-discriminatory health systems and
services to improve LGBT health access. English and Russian
versions of the report will be available in October at:
http://www.soros.org/initiatives/health/focus/sharp/articles_publications/sub_listing

Today we had a meeting with UNFPA consultants (read: sexual and reproductive health) about youth policy in Kyrgyzstan. ‘Labrys’ works mostly with young LBT people, therefore, we match the youth policy criteria, though we are not directly involved in formulating it at an official level. It was bit tough relating our issues of concern to more general youth issues. Yet mid-way through the discussion we finally figured out that actually the issues that lesbian and bisexual women are dealing with are very similar to those of other young women. These are sexual assault, unemployment, sexist attitudes among men towards them, family pressure to get married, pressure from society to conform with the uniform model of  being passed from natal family to husband’s family. The consultants had a lot of questions to ask and the meeting lasted for almost three hours.

The participants of the meeting came from very different backgrounds. From a civil servant to an activist religious Muslim woman wearing a head scarf. At first we were bit quiet and tested the grounds. But once we started speaking we felt that things that we said somehow bothered some of the participants. They listened quietly until Alex (transgender component coordinator) asked whether the new textbook on healthy lifestyles included information about homosexuality. There we got a response which gave a title to this entry. It started off from ‘I have to say this, I can’t stand it anymore’ and continued with ‘you speak about human rights but what about the rights of four million Muslims in this country for whom homosexuality is illegal and a sin. It’s a sin for me to sit next to you but I do that out of tolerance.’  Then another participant asked, ‘What’s there to learn about homosexuality for young boys and girls?’. At this point the consultants noted that Kyrgyzstan as they are looking at it is a very diverse country and it would be interesting to know how different identities are coexisting within this very complex society and that they are looking at Kyrgyz society from human rights point of view with respect to differences.

Overall, it was a good way to present our ideas and issues of concern, yet we realized that we need more preparation to fit within the local mild acceptance of violence, discrimination and certain practices as a norm. It felt as if we challenged the activists too much by our mere presence.    

As the end of official summer season is approaching, we can assure you that the actual summer weather does not seem to leave Bishkek. It is still +30 degrees and sunny. 

This summer turned out to be quite hectic for 'Labrys'. We continued the process of restructuring, had a change in staff and leadership. Labrys staff  presented at a roundtable of key importance,  attended five different types of educational activities and established new important contacts. 

More detailed information will be posted in the days to come.

Translation of the letter that one FTM from 'Labrys' received in response to his query about the possibilities to change documents. 

Ombudsman of the Kyrgyz Republic 

194 Moskovskaya St., Bishkek, 720010  

July 17, 2007

No. 35-13/2936 

Ms. A. XXXX (name taken out for confidentiality reasons)

Apt. 52, Bldg. 30

Vostok-5

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan 
 

Dear XXXX, 

Having reviewed your appeal, we inform you of the following. 

As a citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic, regardless of your sexual orientation, you have the right to acquire and to amend a passport or any other personal identity document in the interest of protecting and manifesting your rights and freedoms on the territory of the republic and beyond its borders. However, you do not have the right to change your surname or name to one of the opposite sex when acquiring or amending a passport.  

There is no law in Kyrgyzstan that governs the issuing and amending of a passport for people of nontraditional sexual orientations who have evinced a desire to change their surname or name to that of the opposite sex.  

The absence of an established procedure testifies that sex-change operations are not performed in Kyrgyzstan.  

On the grounds mentioned above, we recommend that you first undergo a sex-change operation in a country where such operations are performed. Then, having received a corresponding medical certificate showing the change of sex, you have the right to submit an application to the authorized passport agency of the Kyrgyz Republic to acquire (amend) a new passport with an amended surname and name of the opposite sex.  

In addition, according to the first clause of Article 28 of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, "Citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic have the right to work freely, to manage their own working capabilities, to choose [their] profession and line of work, and to [enjoy] security and safe and hygienic working conditions, as well as the right to compensation for labor and to social security no lower than the minimum living wage established by law." 

Accordingly, as a citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic, you have the right to enjoy such constitutional rights regardless of your sexual identity or orientation.  

If you encounter obstacles in obtaining work, you have the right to appeal to us for assistance. 

      Respectfully Yours, 

      T. Koshokov

      Deputy Ombudsman 
 

Please, find the texts here.  They are about 2 mb and will take some time to download.
Kyrgyz
Russian

This is a translation of an article from Vecherniy Bishkek published on 6 July 2007. 'Labrys' and two other organizations wrote open letters to the editor about the article. Texts in Russian coming soon.
Special thanks to K for translation.

The Joys of Gay Brotherhood and Film

Kyrgyz homosexuals will soon become the heroes of a documentary film that a Polish human rights activist intends to make in Bishkek. In her opinion, the republic's gays are able to live in peace and freedom, and she believes that our society demonstrates a high level of tolerance towards homosexual love.

A Gay Oasis in a Desert of Straight People

Gay people in Kyrgyzstan are united in an organization that boasts the romantic name Oasis and that receives financial support from a fairly large number of international organizations, including the Global Fund. For some reason, sponsors from Holland seem to be particularly concerned with the development of gay communities. Oasis maintains resource centers in Osh and in Kara-Balta, and the gay movement is growing and expanding – seed groups have also sprouted in Issyk-Kul and Jalalabad.

Homosexual men gather in the center of the Kyrgyz capital, in two nightclubs where women are not welcome. Not out of antipathy towards the female sex, but just to keep the ladies from becoming upset at the sight of a whole horde of attractive men who are, in a very particular sense, completely useless. This sometimes provokes an entirely disproportionate reaction.

Particularly despairing ladies have been known to throw themselves, fists flying, at the "traitors," causing actual physical harm, and to pull out clumps of hair from carefully styled hairdos. Male "naturals" (straight people, which is how gays refer to those who adhere to a traditional sexual orientation), incensed by a gay pair embracing, can also fly off the handle.

In order to avoid any displays of sexual extremism, our homosexuals, like those around the world, prefer to hang out with and relax in a very narrow circle.

After visiting a few such gatherings, Vecherka correspondents have reported to our readers several peculiarities of gay fiestas. At first glance, the spectacle is dumbfounding (especially when men began to passionately kiss each other), but you get used to it. Homosexuals dance well, especially those pretending to be women. I still can't forget one fellow from Osh – what a luxurious lady named Madina with a silicone chest he made! In general, everyone was very much like people everywhere, and it even began to strike me as incomprehensible that such an uproar should be made about these gays.

After each such article, the newspaper's editors were inundated with indignant phone calls. One true Muslim called down the immediate wrath of heaven upon our poor heads for purportedly propagandizing homosexuality, and we had to spend a long time explaining that there was no propaganda involved, that it was simply a statement of fact taken from real life and an entirely unambiguous study of an unorthodox phenomenon.

These are the kind of genetic jokes that Mother Nature plays on us, and no one is immune to them. An extra chromosome crawls out of left field, and it's game over. Whether you're a Muslim, a Jew, a Christian, or just a nudist, you're in the same boat with everyone else: off to the gay community with you.

A Measure of Democracy

Experts maintain that up to ten percent of any ethnic group is "condemned" to being gay. Several years ago, an international group called BOS ("A Quick Evaluation of the Situation") came up with an estimate of 35,000 homosexuals in Kyrgyzstan.

"Such a figure is entirely possible," said Vladimir Tyupin, the leader of Oasis. "Although as of today only 7,950 people are registered with our organization."

When asked where all the others are, Mr. Tyupin said, "Underground. Not every gay person can openly admit their orientation, since strong social prejudice is still very much alive. Closeted gays aren't to be envied – they are obliged to enter into traditional marriages, and then they suffer with their wives while feeling intensely dissatisfied. This leads to neuroses, nervous breakdowns, illnesses, etc. Our organization is intended to provide 'our' people with social and psychological help and to supply them with informative literature, condoms, etc."

No matter which way you look at it, the civilized world considers society's attitude towards sexual minorities one of the measures of democracy. Vladimir Tyupin confirms that in our country, everything is normal so far. The police don't especially target gays for harassment, people aren't fired for showing signs of being gay, nobody throws stones on the street, and the law criminalizing homosexuality has long since disappeared. And that all shows us in a good light. In Uzbekistan, for example, such a law is still on the books, and it is occasionally applied, although mostly to intimidate political enemies. In fact, a well-known journalist in Tashkent who was attempting to criticize the Karimov regime was charged with sodomy and jailed.

And anyway, our gays don't stick out very much. Their hairstyles and outfits are remarkably modest: no leather pants, dog collars, chains, or brightly-painted lips and eyes. An untrained straight person would be hard pressed to immediately tell if they were looking at a gay person. For example, I just recently discovered that part of Bishkek's Prospekt Erkindik, from the Russian Drama Theater to Toktogul Street, is a gay cruising ground. We walked up and down the street for two hours, but we couldn't pick a single person out of the loitering crowd as being definitely gay. They themselves, however, know each other instantly: they claim it's by a particular look in the eye that only initiates pick up on.

Parades Aren't Our Style

When the whole commotion surrounding the gay parade happened in Moscow and Luzhkov said that what he considers to be a profane outrage would take place in the capital only over his dead body, correspondents from the foreign press attempted to prod Oasis into a repeat of the incident in Russia: would there be a massive gay parade in Bishkek? Why aren't Kyrgyz gays taking to the streets? In reply, the head of Oasis patiently explained that our gays don't feel the need for such demonstrations, which are always either about pursuing political goals or wasting large sums of money that somebody donated. Here, he said, there are neither such political goals waiting to be reached nor such donations waiting to be spent.

A certain balance has been achieved in Bishkek between the straight community and sexual minorities, and it is not in anyone's interest to rock the boat.

There are some problems that are more pressing than others. According to the most recent voluntary study, the number of homosexuals known to Oasis to be infected with syphilis has grown to 26 people (there used to be 9). But that's not too bad, since syphilis can now be treated with a single tablet. The worst problem is the appearance of the first case of HIV infection. Gays run a higher risk of catching AIDS than any other social group, and the appearance of even a single case is already a serious danger signal.

In general, one has to wonder just who the Polish journalist is going to find to photograph in "gay" Bishkek, much less capture on videotape.

Details

Incidentally, "informational" literature of this sort is liable to throw any prude for a loop. The bright brochures are liberally sprinkled with photographs showing passionate gay lovers in elegant poses. With bait like that, any paragraph is an easy read, whether it's about sexually-transmitted diseases (information that straight people should memorize as well) or about safe sex (only with condoms – another universal survival law). The only thing not for a general audience is advice such as "how to find new colors in the game of love." Homosexual sex is a very specific affair that comes equipped with an entirely different class of "techniques" with names that fail to resonate in the straight ear: rimming, fisting, fellatio. But once you really try to understand it and begin to wrap your head around all information in the brochures, you finally just want to say, in a general's baritone, "well, I never – you lot are full of surprises!"

Olga Dyadyuchenko

From July 2007 this blog will be slowly transferring to http://kyrgyzlabrys.wordpress.com for technical convenience. You will also be able to access more features and edit content of the blog entries as well as see some of 'Labrys' publications and videos online. We are devoted to expanding our online presence.

Alex Mamytov from 'Labrys' is on his way to a training on video advocacy organized by WITNESS (http://www.witness.org/), we hope to increase the use of more multimedia options in our work.

As we are learning new media technical things, we are adding more and more small technical things to become reader-friendly.
The little icon below gives information about how many hits this blog receives.

A brochure in Russian and Kyrgyz languages talking about homosexuality in general and the lives of homosexual and bisexual people in Kyrgyzstan.

If you would like to receive a copy of brochure, please, write to kyrgyzlabrys@yahoo.com

Electronic copy is available here : http://kyrgyzlabrys.wordpress.com/files/2007/07/brochure.pdf

As we are learning to use internet and all the goodies available in it, we are making Labrys more new media-friendly. Watch our videos on YouTube.

'Labrys' uniting lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in Kyrgyzstan.




Labrys activities on video


Labrys working

From this issue and on we will be trying to have our information in both Russian and English due to numerous requests from the readers to do so. 

Хотим поделиться с Вами последними новостями о работе организации.

1. Новые сотрудники и журнал. Поменялся состав сотрудников. Над журналом теперь работают Галя С. и Аида. Очень советуем посмотреть на продукт. Будете приятно удивлены. Журнал есть в офисе и на дискотеках. Его также можно получить по почте, если вы вышлете нам свой адрес kyrgyzlabrys@yahoo.com Айжан исполняет обязанности офис-менеджера в проекте СОС.

2. Демократические преобразования в Лабрисе. Наконец-то началась подготовка к переходу "Лабриса" на систему общее собрание - правление-президент (председатель)-исполнительный директор-сотрудники.  Во-первых, теперь можно вступать в члены и членкини "Лабриса". И это дает Вам полное право участия в процессе принятия решений в "Лабрисе" (то есть, например, если Вы недовольны каким-то аспектом работы организации, Вы можете поднять этот вопрос на обсуждение среди членкинь общего собрания и принять меры). Общее собрание выбирает правление организации, которому поручает принимать самые важные решения. Правление выбирает директора, который или которая воплощает в жизнь. Сотрудники подчиняются директору и выполняют решения правления и общего собрания.

3. Шелтер продолжает работу до середины августа.

4. Визит СОС. В конце мая приезжали консультанты из СОС оценивать прогресс организации, особо довольны не были, но хвалили за некоторые моменты.

5. Тренинг по продвижению прав. На тренинг в середине мая приезжали активисты их других стран проекта СОС на тренинг по продвижению прав и лоббированию. Две организации из Украины (Женская Сеть (Киев) и Ассоциация Геев и Лесбиянок "ЛИГА" (Николаев)),  Гендерное Развитие (Баку) из Азербайджана, Фонд "Инклюзив" из Грузии, "Мы за гражданское общество!" из Армении и Гендер-Док-М из Молдовы.  Некоторые из Вас также имели возможность поговорить с Максимом Анмегикяном из Ilga-Europe на дискотеке.

6. Обучение сотрудников. Сотрудники "Лабриса" посетили семинары по «Улучшение практик финансового управления и администрирования НПО, развивающих программы в области ВИЧ/СПИД», организованных НПО "АнтиСПИД" и по финансовому учету от ХИВОСа. Работаем над улучшением наших финансовых систем.

7. Новая инициативная группа. "Лабрис" рекомендовал на финансирование в проект СОС организацию "Спейс" (Талас). Ребята работают с геями и МСМ (мужчины имеющие секс с мужчинами). Налаживаем коммуникацию и сотрудничество.

8. Семинары в Швеции. Сотрудники организации провели семинар о трансгендерах и презентации ЛГБТ-ситуации в Кыргызстане для шведских коллег в городах Гетеборг и Остерсунд.

9. Конференция ОБСЕ. "Лабрис" участвовал в конференции ОБСЕ по борьбе с дискриминацией и поощрению взаимного уважения и понимания. На этой конференции была обсуждена возможность включения дискриминации, основанной на сексуальной ориентации, гендерной идентичности и гендерного самовыражения как отдельной категории в анти-дискриминационной работе ОБСЕ.  Организация "Лабрис" принимала участие в сборе подписей и сама подписала декларацию, направленную на включение нашей тематики в работу ОБСЕ.

В сборе подписей принимали участие в Бухаресте - Алекс Мамытов, в Бишкеке - Аида и Алексей, в Гетеборге - Анна Кирей.  

Алекс Мамытов встретился с омбудсменом Казахстана и послом Кыргызстана в ОБСЕ по вопросам смены документов для транссексуалов. На данный момент "Лабрис" продвигает идею смены документов сразу после установления диагноза "транссексуализм". Такой указ уже принят в Казахстане.

10. Брошюра о гомосексуальности при поддержке фонда ASTRAEA готовится к выпуску. Это будет первая брошюра, рассказывающая о реалиях жизни гомо и бисексуальных людей в Кыргызстане.  

1. Vacancy: Transgender component Coordinator

Location: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Place: Lesbian, Bisexual Women’s and Transgender Organization “Labrys”

Deadline: 15 June 2007

Work period: 1 July – 31 December 2007 (with possibility of extension)

Work load: 20 hours a week

A young NGO working with lesbian and bisexual women and transgender people (LBT) in Kyrgyzstan is looking for an open-minded and flexible person to work as a part-time research assistant within ‘Elf’ project. “Labrys” has been officially working since January 2005. Its activities include working with general public on issues of sexual orientation and gender identity and empowerment of LBT community in Bishkek through providing a safe meeting place, publishing a journal, organizing events and trainings for LBT.  The project sponsored by Dutch donor HIVOS.

The transgender component of ‘Elf’ project is aimed at providing information on transitioning within post-Soviet context to transgender people and lobbying for transgender rights in Kyrgyzstan.

Profile:

• University Degree in Social Sciences (preferred)
• Experience in lobbying and advocacy
• Experience of working with vulnerable groups and open-mindedness
• Excellent communication skills
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and crisis situations, work over-time
• Working knowledge of Russian and English preferred

Responsibilities:

• Coordinates activities within transgender component (translation of materials, publishing of materials, publication of a brochure on gender identity, advocacy)
• Communicates with Ministry of Health and various human rights organizations and state bodies about ensuring the possibility of healthy transitioning in Kyrgyzstan
• Maintains communication with transgender people in Kyrgyzstan and abroad
• Provides consultation and information on transitioning to transgender people in Kyrgyzstan and abroad via email and in person

Women and transgender people are encouraged to apply.

To apply:

• send a cover letter highlighting your experience and your CV to kyrgyzlabrys@yahoo.com with “Transgender Component Coordinator” in the subject line

 2.

Vacancy: Research assistant

Location: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Place: Lesbian, Bisexual Women’s and Transgender Organization “Labrys”

Deadline: 15 June

Work period: 16 July – 16 September 2007

Work load: 20 hours a week

A young NGO working with lesbian and bisexual women and transgender people (LBT) in Kyrgyzstan is looking for an open-minded and flexible person to work as a part-time research assistant within ‘Elf’ project. “Labrys” has been officially working since January 2005. Its activities include working with general public on issues of sexual orientation and gender identity and empowerment of LBT community in Bishkek through providing a safe meeting place, publishing a journal, organizing events and trainings for LBT.  The project sponsored by Dutch donor HIVOS.

The research component of ‘Elf’ project is aimed to examine the situation of LBT people in Bishkek by using in-depth interviews and observations.

Profile:

• University Degree in Social Sciences (sociology preferred but not necessary)
• 2 years of experience of working with research projects in Kyrgyzstan or conducting an individual research project
• Experience of working with vulnerable groups and open-mindedness
• Training in qualitative research methods and data analysis
• Excellent interviewing skills
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and crisis situations, work over-time

Responsibilities:

• Assists research coordinator in designing the study
• Conducts in-depth interviews with LBT community members
• Transcribes the interviews
• Assists the research coordinator in producing research report

Women and transgender people are encouraged to apply.

To apply:

• send a cover letter highlighting your experience and your CV to kyrgyzlabrys@yahoo.com with “Research Assistant” in the subject line

Restructuring.
As 'Labrys' is proceeding with its work and getting more and more training on organizational development, we decided to restructure the organization to make its work more logical and goal-oriented.
Under the new structure there are two executive positions - Chair and Executive Director. The work of organization is structured around two main programs: 

Working with LBT (and maybe Asian gay men in the future) 
Information component
Support and consolidation component
Psycho-social component
Sexual Health component

Working with society
PR 
Advocacy

Each program has specific components and each component has a staff person responsible for it. The new structure should enable the staff to have a feeling of ownership in the organization.

Preparation for 17 May and project progress news.

Publications. Right now 'Labrys' team is busy with preparing publications for the 17 May (brochure about homosexuality) and putting together a new journal issue. Other issues are available upon request from Jika jikabz@yahoo.com who is responsible for LBT community information and the journal. We would need your postal address to send the journals. If you are on our list and have not received the journals, please, contact Vika Kartseva ('Labrys' Chair) at vikkar.z@mail.ru or kyrgyzlabrys@yahoo.com

Training. PRECIS Project with COC-Netherlands and partner organizations in the former Soviet Union has been actively involving all the staff members in different types of training. On 20-24 May Kyrgyzstan is hosting the advocacy training in the framework of this project. ILGA-Europe (www.ilga-europe.org ) is co-organizing this event.

Annual report. There was a visit from HIVOS to 'Labrys' in March and one of its outcomes is putting together an annual report about 'Labrys' work in 2006 which will be available by 30 April.  

Lobbying for gender marker change. 'Labrys' has taken commitment to further lobby the possibilities of changing the gender marker and name legally for transsexuals in Kyrgyzstan. As of now we are preparing a strategy for advocating through medical institutions. The way through political means would be very difficult as Kyrgyzstan is going through yet another political turmoil. Our transitioning hero (it's been one year since he received the diagnosis) has been to different courts and spoke to different judges. One advise to him was to go abroad to get a surgery (phalloplasty) that would make him a 'real man' (as judges defined man as somebody with a penis).  The judges' comments remain without written refusals, therefore, we cannot challenge them in court. One written document that we have is refusal to take up a court case due to not presenting a medical form of 'proper format' (which does not exist). 
As of now we are hoping to discuss the issue with medical professionals and hold seminars for them with medics from Kazakhstan present (for the legislation on changing gender marker in Kazakhstan see http://www.pfc.org.uk/files/Kazakhstan.pdf).

Cooperation with transgender activists in Russia.
'Labrys' has been in touch with Yaroslav who runs www.mucho-dyke.narod.ru website (one of the best FtM information sites in Russian language) and Agneta www.transsexuals.ru . We plan to spread our transgender information materials through these online networks.

Articles about presentation of LGBT Situation in Kyrgyzstan (in Swedish)

Amnesty International: http://www2.amnesty.se/ap.nsf/webbreportage/0A8C6EA631ECBE02C12572BB002807E4?opendocument
RFSL (Swedish National LGBT Organization) Newsletterhttp://konline.rfsl.se/oois?id=55&article_id=104097

Friendly event 'Queer Easter':
www.queereaster.net

Also listen to broadcast of an interview about transgender situation in Kyrgyzstan:
www.transgenderradio.de There will be two broadcasts on 6 May at 13:00 (German time) and 20 May at 13:00.

Since January 2007 'Labrys' has a new logo developed by Galina Sokolova, one of the staff members.
There were two options discussed and this one was chosen:





We are working on analyzing the obtained research results from the survey. 

Methods:

• Structured interview-questionnaire
• Administered by six different interviewers of different identities and from different ethnic groups
• Data collection July 2006 – January 2007
• 94 questionnaires collected, 9 incomplete
• Main themes: demographics, income, health, sexual practices and STI/HIV awareness, coming out, main needs and concerns, access to Labrys services

One of the Kyrgyz lesbian women aged 28 is going to follow her parents' demand to get married in March. Her girlfriend came to 'Labrys' with this story, the couple is planning to continue seeing each other but secretly. The 'bride's' parents are aware of their daughter's sexual orientation and that she has a partner. The couple had to separate officially. The parents chose the future husband for their daughter because she was of the age, not married and without children. It would be a shame for the family if she disagreed.

January activities.
During the January weeks  'Labrys' has been doing its usual activities: there was a disco and trainings along with preparing the issue number 8 of journal.  

Journal by post. 
Issue number 7 is out and sent out to partner organizations and individuals, if you have not received it but would like to, please, send your postal address to kyrgyzlabrys@yahoo.com .

Email news. 
Also we have been collecting emails of the people who would like to receive 'Labrys' news and information by email, we have about twenty emails so far. If you would like to be included in the email list, let us know. The emails with news will come approximately once in two weeks.

Transgender.
There was a trans* support group meeting where a decision was made that 'Labrys' can provide medical support only for those transsexuals who have obtained an official diagnosis of 'transsexualism'. Also one of the transbois had a hysterectomy (surgical removal of uterus) and is now working on a court case to be officially able to change documents. The case, unfortunately, will be an individual court case and not a precedent. 

Research data.
We have finished data collection from the needs assessment part of the research project, as of now there were 94 interviews made, 
9 respondents either stopped half way through the interview, we are waiting for emailed quesstionnaires from two respondents.

Translation of older 'Labrys ' journal articles into English.
Translations of articles in issues of 'Labrys' 1 and 2 are now available in English, thank you to Human Rights Watch for translation.

LABRYS ISSUE #4 (2005)

Page 5: Is homophobia a disease?

BY Olesya Kuschenkova - Public Organization of Psychologists “Dialog”

It is not a secret that humans by the their nature can be attracted, and quite often, to other humans. This attraction can have various forms and meanings. It can be anything: from a desire for communication with another person, a desire to be together and work together, to sexual attraction and even love. All these kinds of attraction do not have clear borders and can turn one into another.

One of the most common stereotypes of modern society is the belief that sexual and sensual attraction and love can and should happen only among humans of opposite sex. This is one of the so-called “social and cultural standards of sexual behavior.”

But there always people who, in spite of the established standards, are attracted to people of the same sex.  To them this attraction is natural and a part of their lives; just like attraction to the opposite sex is for “regular” people. This can be attraction of a man to a man and of a woman to a woman. There are even “interim” stages in this process, when one is attracted to men and women at the same time.

Although, as it is stated above, there is a spectrum of all kinds of attractions of human to human, usually, what society implies by “homosexualism” is the sexual attraction, for instance, a male’s desire to have sex with another male. This approach is too narrow and primitive; it is even humiliating. It is important to remember that attraction can be just of emotional and sensual character and it does not necessarily imply the presence of sexual relationships.

Homophobia is the word used to describe animosity and fear of some people towards homosexuals. In our society it demonstrates itself in various ways. Homosexuals are subjected to mocking, jokes and insults. For many narrow-minded people homosexuals are sick people, those who are contagious and capable of luring in others into their vicious lives.  It is surprising that the rest of the world is sure that homosexuals should be medically treated to become heterosexuals. In the commonly accepted perception, homophobia is either a fear of having a contact with homosexuals and for homosexuals it is disgust with themselves.

The most common kind of homophobia is the so-called “passive” or “latent” kind of it, when one does not have direct negative feelings about homosexuals, but subconsciously has hostility, which has been cultivated in his or her mentality since childhood.  A “passive” homophobe would not go “to beat up the fags” or publicly renounce gay people as “bastards”.  But his attitude towards gays is negative and it demonstrates itself when one forms his or her opinion about another person. And if someone would say something, which insults homosexuals’ dignity, this person would nod his or her head and agree. A “passive” homophobe, after finding out about sexual orientation of his friend, would subconsciously change his opinion about the friend and their relationship as friends could become colder.

Active homophobes are those who have a very clear, negative and irreconcilable attitude towards homosexuals. These are people who actively discuss the “nonstandard” orientation at any given opportunity, those who write extremely critical articles concerning this topic. These are people who are obsessed with homophobia. They are even ready to violate human rights just to “show it” to the homosexuals.

Olport, a psychologist, designed a table to measure degree of a prejudice. According to this table, every new level of the development is characterized by the strengthening of the preconceived ideas towards a particular group. In relation to gays the table looks this way:

Verbal denial (open verbal expression of repulsion and hatred towards homosexuals, dirty jokes, usage of degrading nicknames, such as “ faggot”).

Discrimination (a refusal to respect rights of homosexuals, for instance, in access to education, jobs or purchase of real estate, also a refusal to treat them equally to everybody else).

Physical violence (beatings, rapes and killings of homosexuals).

Fortunately, there are not that many people who belong to the last category, but the harm they cause has a huge impact.

Among others, there are following reasons for homophobia:

Emotional. Although lots of us say that they can picture how something feels for another person, we have very hard time truly understanding what others feel. By analogy we can explain and interpret lots of things that happen to others, but in the cases when we never had a similar experience we do not know what to do and cannot comprehend their feelings and emotions to the same degree. Possibly, if heterosexuals could understand same sex love and everything related to it, then they would not have such a negative attitude towards homosexuals. Then they would be able to accept existence of another category of people just on the basis of knowing that homosexuality is nothing but an expression of a creative and harmless love, the concept of which is acceptable to every human. Nonetheless, lots of heterosexuals dislike homosexuals.

Another source of homophobic reactions is culture or the public influence.  If one is born into a society where heterosexuals are dominant in all spheres of life, and if this attitude penetrates family life, mass media, religion and legislation, then biological tendencies of heterosexuals and their negative attitude towards homosexuals would be enforced by the society. Many social and cultural beliefs have been preserved for thousands of years. One of them is the negative attitude towards this issue. Condemnation of homosexual behavior is a part of European culture and people bring up their children with this attitude without even questioning it.

Another source of homophobia is a “group instinct”. This phenomenon, particularly common among teenagers, can be characterized by a fear to standout from a group of people, and by the fear of not being like everybody else, to express an independent idea or to act in a nonstandard way. One of stereotypes of this behavior is sexual orientation.  As at this age issues of sexuality are particularly intense (such as “teenagers’ hyper sexuality”) this problem becomes more significant.

Another source of homophobic reactions is lack of information and as a result, wrong ideas about sexual arousal of homosexuals. Sexual techniques of homosexuals are not different from the ones used by heterosexuals. Deep conservatism of heterosexuals can be explained by the fact that many people believe that any variations in sexual activity are abnormal; that as for homosexuals, as none of their ways of sexual stimulation are approved by the society, their sexual behavior is less restricted.

Another reason for prejudice towards homosexuals is the fact that they help other people to compensate for their own inadequacy or to solve internal conflicts. By doing so, the “attackers” distance themselves from their own unacceptable feelings and project them towards others, which is probably, a typical homophobic reaction.

In addition, presumptions towards other people, and to homosexuals in particular, help to maintain their ideas about world, if they are being questioned and the world it seems to be too complex or controversial.

The most important aspect in interacting with another person is to understand and accept him or her irrespective of their sexual orientation.

Page 6: Iren and Vika

By Sasha Sladkyi

Today we are talking to two charming, interesting and funny girls Iren and Vika. They have been together for 4 four years and they love each other very much

When did you realize that you liked girls?

Iren: Actually, I was seduced at the age of 14 by a girl who was 9 years older. We dated for a year and then she got married. From that day my life has been going downhill…

Vika: In general, I used to not know what it was all about. It started from my hand, to be precise, from my hand being stroked and touched. By the way, the other hand belonged to Iren… That is how all it happened.

What do your parents, friends and close ones think about it?

Iren: My family and all my friends know about me. They all have positive attitude towards it but my mother had to just put up with it. The hardest thing for me was to confess to my sister, who was very confused for a long time. Finally she understood and accepted me the way I was.

Vika: My family does not know about me. My mother thinks that I date guys. But if she finds out about me, than, of course, she will be absolutely against it. She is a very commanding person with conservative views. My friends, in general, know about it, but not all of them. Those, who know have a positive attitude and very happy for me.

How did you meet each other?

Iren: Our close mutual friend introduced us. She happened to be Vika’s neighbor. We used to sit in each other’s cars at night and drink alcohol… At that time both of us felt lonely. I was suffering from unhappy love for the second year. Actually, what happened was that we felt mutual attraction, which was a banal physiology…but later it miraculously turned into true and devoted love. I could not accept Vika’s courtship for a long time and could not fall for her, because she was just 15 years old. I did not want her to have the same experience. But, in the end I could not resist and I was conquered three days later.

Vika: During our first meeting I perceived Iren just like one of my friends. But one day, when we were hanging out in the car, she took my hand and I realized that I liked her. The next evening we had a long talk about it and Iren told me her secret…At first I got scared and refused. But I thought for a long time and understood that I needed her not just as a friend… At that time I was dating a boy and she managed to steal me from him.  I think that at first it was, probably, just my interest in same sex love, but now it developed into a true big feeling.

What do you have in common and what is really different about you two?

Iren: We both love kids a lot. We like discothèques. We like being alone, but it does not happen often due to a large number of friends. I just love party life and social mingling, but Vika does not like it that much. Also I really like sex and I taught her to like it too.

Vika: She is a minus and I am a plus. According to the laws of physics, minus and plus attract each other.

How often do you have fights and who starts them? Who is the first one to compromise?

Iren: We fight often.  I compromise first.

Vika: I don’t know.  It depends whose fault it was.

How do you split domestic chores? For instance, does Iren cook food and Vika does the dishes or the other way around?

Iren: I do all male chores in the house. I am also the breadwinner. I support her financially.

Vika: I do the dishes and cook food. I am the one who does the laundry too. But we help each other when possible.

What kind of music do you like? Do you have similar tastes in music?

Iren: We have very similar tastes in music. We love rock and popular music too. We like groups like Zemfira, Zvery, NTS. Just any nice and pleasant music. We also like classical music.

Vika: I do not have favorite groups. I like everything that sounds pleasant.

It is true that you’re going to get married and have a wedding? If so, what made you think about it?

Iren: One day we broke up for one month because of my attraction to other girls. However, I realized that there was nobody closer and more important to me than Vika and that I was ready for serious relationships. In general, I have been proposing to her since we started dating, but we still have not gotten around to it.

Vika: Our short break up made me think of serious relationships. I really want to live with her, wake up next to her in the mornings. I think that Iren is a part of me.

Do you like holidays?

Iren:  Of course, we love holidays. We usually celebrate them together and with our closest friends. We celebrate every half-year anniversary of our relationship and give each other presents.

Vika: We love holidays. I do not think that there are people who do not like them. We try to celebrate them together because, and it is a great thing, that then we get to sleep over at each other’s places.

What do you do during the weekdays?

Iren: I am in the 4th year at KNU where I am studying to become a banker. I also work a lot and, of course, get tired often.  However, I still try to pay as much attention to Vika as possible. I do my best to make sure that every day and every evening we spend together are special to her.

Vika: I do not work for now, but I am going to find employment soon. I graduated from PL N98 with a degree in telecommunications as an operator.

Do you have pets?

Iren: I love pets, and dogs in particular. But I cannot live with them under the same roof. When Vika and I will be living together, there will be just us and nobody else.

Vika: I love pets so much I just adore them. I used to have a little dog, but because of my nephew’s birth we had to give it away into good hands. When Iren and I will be living together, we will either have a Persian cat or a little dog.

What is your favorite food? Do you like cooking?

Iren: I just love shish kebabs and meat in general. I do not know how to cook. Although, may be I know just a little bit but I do not do cook.

Vika: I love mushroom pizza. I can cook everything, but I cook what if I feel like cooking and also if there is nothing to eat and I have to. I love good food.

You have been together for 4 years, which is a great achievement. Could you share with our readers some secrets of such a stable relationship?

Iren: I think that one should compromise more often. It is important to appreciate the best qualities of each other, such as mutuality, because I have never had such a mutual love. Also it is the strongest desire to see the other person till the end of your life.

Vika: Patience, the main thing, girlfriends, is patience. Sometimes you have to compromise, be able to resist saying things and be able to forgive your loved one. And to do whatever it takes for the person you love.

You recommendations to Labris and our readers

Iren:  First of all I would like to express my gratitude to the founders of this organization. Your magazine has been helping lots of people to understand themselves. It helped them to understand that being a lesbian is not a shortcoming and that they should not be ashamed of it. People have to believe in themselves and stay this way in spite of anything. I would like to recommend to your readers to take more active part in the work of Labris. I believe that if we unite we can achieve a lot.

Vika: I would like to join Iren’s opinion. I think she said it all and I have nothing to add.

Thank you for dropping by our office and for your time. It was such a pleasure to talk to both of you. Good luck with everything!</