GayBelarus (founded 2009) is a national LGBT rights organisation in Belarus. The organisation has branches in all regions of the Republic of Belarus: Brest, Grodno, Gomel, Vitebsk, Mogilev and Minsk.
Purpose
Objectives
Contribution to full LGBT human rights implementation provided by law of the Republic of Belarus (including the international agreements confirmed by the Republic of Belarus) Decreasing levels of homophobia and transphobia and increasing tolerance towards LGBT people Social and psychological support of LGBT people, their family members, and the surrounding community
Activities GayBelarus hosts the annual human rights forum Minsk Pride, as well as national LGBT conferences. It provides legal assistance and psychological care for members of the LGBT community. It operates the Jáhada (, literally Berry) a website providing information for queer people. The organisation regularly reports to international organisations on the state of LGBT issues in Belarus, submits information for the alternative Universal Periodic Review at the UN, and initiates strategic litigations concerning human rights violations violations towards LGBT people. The organisation also supports cultural activities, arranges film shows, LGBT parties, roundtables to discuss current and strategic issues, and other consolidation activities.
History
2009 GayBelarus was founded on 18 January 2009 with the goal of providing necessary aid and support for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people and their families and friends.
The Month against Homophobia The Belarusian campaign against homophobia was one of GayBelarus' first large-scale, public events. It began in Minsk, on April 17, 2009.Христианство и гомосексуальность обсудили на открытии месяца против гомофобии The campaign involved several events, the first of which was the premiere of Fish Cannot Fly, a documentary about LGBT Christians. This was followed by debates on faith, religion, Christianity, Protestantism, and fundamentalist churches.
As a result of the campaign, the Belarusian party The Greens (BPG) announced the establishment of the Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) rights. They were the first Belarusian party to have such a commission in their structure.
LiveJournal called the campaign the second most important cultural project in 2009.
Day of Silence In April 2009, human rights activists from GayBelarus, the Belarusian Initiative for Sexual and Gender Equality, with the support of the public association Young Social Democrats (Young Gramada), held a public Day of Silence in Minsk in the form of a silent flashmob. Participants taped their mouths shut and handed out information leaflets about what homophobia is and why society needs to deal with it. While handing out the leaflets, participants were approached by two police officers with a request to show them the flyers. After looking through the anti-homophobia leaflets for a few minutes, the policemen came to conclusion that the action can continue, but the protesters should peel the tape off their mouths.
5th National Belarusian LGBT Conference On September 26 2009, the "LGBT - movement and non-governmental institutions" conference was held in Minsk. It focused on cooperation with NGOs and civil society to overcome homophobia in Belarus. GayBelarus collaborated with the organisation GayRussia.Ru to initiate the event. The conference was attended by representatives of some political parties, as well as a wide range of NGOs and civil initiatives, including some anarchists. Speakers included:
Louis Georges Tin – Founder of IDAHO Sergey Androsenko – Head of GayBelarus Nikolai Alexeyev – Head of GayRussia.Ru Jean-Eric Holzapfel – Head of the European Commission in Belarus Tatiana Gotsura – Deputy Chairman of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee Tatiana Revyaka – representative of the Viasna Human Rights Centre Igor Borisov – Head of Narodnaya Hramada, the Belarusian Social Democratic Party's Core Values Commission Oleg Novikov – Head of The Greens Oleg Eremin – Head of the national NGO Vstrecha Katsiaryna Pytleva – First Musical Channel VJ Alexander Polujan – Head of Gay.By
Participants from more than 30 organisations took part in the event. The conference was also attended by several observers - diplomats from Sweden, France and Hungary, as well as a representative of the Swedish human rights organisation Civil Rights Defenders.
At the end of the conference, the participants were asked to vote on a resolution demanding that the President, Alexander Lukashenko, and the Government should amend Belarusian legislation. The participants asked to add the concepts of sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of illegal grounds for discrimination, to make amendments to the criminal law in order to legally prohibit incitement of hatred and hostility on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity, and to equal the human rights of the same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
Action in defence of Iranian convicts sentenced to death for sodomy On December 16, 2009, GayBelarus held a protest in Minsk in defence of gay Iranian convicts who were sentenced to death for sodomy.
Protestors picketed outside of the Iranian Embassy in Belarus. The picketing only lasted 15 minutes, as the participants managed to pass their petition directly to the Ambassador of Iran. Subsequently, the protestors, as well as a reporter for the independent newspaper Nasha Niva, were detained.Журналистку «Нашай Нівы» задержали в Минске при освещении уличной акции The reporter was released after getting her press card checked. Meanwhile, the protestors were charged for arranging or holding meetings, rallies, street processions, demonstrations, picketing, and other large-scale public actions.
2010
Monitoring of LGBT Discrimination
Monitoring discrimination towards LGBT people in Belarus from 2007 to 2009 was the first special-purpose complex study of the legal state of the Belarusian LGBT community. From 2010, GayBelarus carried out the monitoring with assistance from the Belarusian Initiative for Sexual and Gender Equality.
The monitoring was meant to inform the Belarusian public of the ways in which LGBT Belarusians' human rights are violated. The other goal was to develop recommendations for overcoming these violations so that queer Belarusians could fully enjoy their human rights. GayBelarus developed these recommendations for the Republic of Belarus and Belarusian NGOs, suggesting measures that should be taken to reduce homophobia in Belarus and increase the efficiency at which the state could guarantee rights and freedoms for all its citizens, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
GAY: GoodAsYou magazine launch On the night from 27 to 28 February 2010 a launch was held for the first edition of the Belarusian LGBT magazine GAY: GoodAsYou, whose Chief Editor was GayBelarus activist Sergei Praded. The magazine aimed to reveal the entire spectrum of gay people's lives, to show the diversity and richness of Belarusian gay and lesbian lives. The launch was held in a club in Minsk, and was attended by more than 200 people.
Meeting with BSU students On April 9, 2010, GayBelarus representatives and Slavic Gay Pride organisers held a meeting with Belarusian State University students from the Departments of Psychology and Journalism. During, the event, participants watched the movie "La mala educación" ("Bad Education") by Pedro Almodóvar. Among the experts at the meeting were human rights defender Siarhei Androsenka, culture expert Oleg Grubich, and psychologist Varvara Krasutskaya.На факультете журналистики БГУ состоялась встреча с гей-правозащитниками
Day of Silence in Minsk On April 25, 2010, GayBelarus activists marched along Nezavisimosti Avenue (Independence Avenue) from the Belarusian State Philharmonic building to Gorky Park (the central children's park), handing out leaflets with information about the dangers of homophobia in what was called "The Day of Silence". This took place alongside the Republic of Belarus's local council elections, which increased the probability of protesters being arrested. However, there were no incidents involving the authorities. The participants managed to hand out all of their flyers throughout the hour and a half event.
International Coming-Out Day On October 11, 2010, there was an event held in Minsk for International Coming-Out Day. The 10 people who took part in the event turned up with rainbow symbols, and passed along the central streets of Minsk. One of the participants was detained by the riot police (SWAT) on duty. The arrested activist was fined and detained for the night in the detention centre on Okrestsin Street in Minsk.
2011
Training workshop and debate club In February 2011, GayBelarus organized a training workshop called "Citizen and Public Order. Legal and psychological aspects," as well as a debate club "Gay Pride—pros and cons. Activism is . . .".В Минске прошел дебат-клуб "Гей-прайд за или против. Активизм – это..." Both were carried out in Minsk. Debaters discussed several key topics such as a Gay Pride in Minsk. The debates also included topics including the life of gays in Belarus, stereotypes about gay activists, the role of activists in the community, and the work that activists should do.
First authorized picket against homophobia On February 14 2011, a group of activists of the Belarusian LGBT community held the first authorized anti-homophobia rally in Belarus. People gathered near the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus. Due to the cold weather, the event only took place for 10–15 minutes. The participants were holding posters which said "To love a person you want is a human right", "Equal rights without a compromise", "Homophobia is a disgrace to the country" and "Belarus without homophobes".
East Bloc Love
In March 2011, Australian film director Logan Mucha filmed the documentary East Bloc Love, which featured GayBelarus and gay activist Sergey Yenin. The film premiered in 2011 at the Frameline LGBT Film Festival in San Francisco, and was later screened at a number of film festivals including Movies That Matter. The film won the prize for Best Documentary at the Merlinka Film Festival in Belgrade.
Film screenings in Vitebsk
Since April 2011, GayBelarus organised regular LGBT film screenings in Vitebsk. However, the coordinator was subjected to pressure by the local authorities and charged with organising of the so-called silent protests in Vitebsk. As a result, he stopped these weekly film screenings.
Information campaign in support of LGBT On May 17, 2011, activists from GayBelarus and the Young social democrats (Maladaya Hramada) intended to hold an information event where they wanted to disseminate leaflets about legalising gay relationships in Belarus.
The event was to begin near the House of Officers close to the Executive Office of the President of the Republic of Belarus—a traditional meeting point for gays and lesbians in Minsk. As the group of young people gathered and went towards Nezalezhnasti Avenue, they were surrounded by police officers in civilian clothes. Special forces were called, arriving 2–3 minutes later, and they detained 15 people.В Минске ОМОН разогнал акцию геев . LifeNews.Около администрации Лукашенко задержаны 20 гей-активистов, отмечавших день борьбы с гомофобией After two and a half hours, all detainees were freed without drawing any reports. Four complaints about the police officers’ actions were made by the detainees, including one regarding the unlawful taking of personal belongings.
Founding meeting (The first attempt to get registered)