AGLA France (Association des Gays et Lesbiennes Arméniens de France) ( en, Association of Gay and Lesbian Armenians of France, hy, Ֆրանսահայ Միասեռականների Ասոցիացիա) was a Paris-based advocacy group working to fight widespread

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

and among Armenians in France from 2001 to 2007.

Origins

Founded in December 2001 by gay refugees from Armenia, the group aimed at pressuring the Armenian government to remove its law against gay men, article 116 of the Armenian penal code.

Actions

In May 2003 AGLA France launched "ThePink", the first

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

online magazine in the

Armenian language Armenian ( classical: , reformed: , , ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is the official language of Armenia. Historically spoken in the Armenian Highlands, today Armenian is widely spoken t ...

. By promoting public awareness on such issues as homophobia,

coming out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

and

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

/STI prevention, AGLA sought to prepare the ground for the movement in favor of

LGBT rights in Armenia Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Armenia face legal and social challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents, due in part to the lack of laws prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gende ...

. In August 2003, President

Robert Kocharyan Robert Sedraki Kocharyan ( hy, Ռոբերտ Սեդրակի Քոչարյան ; born 31 August 1954) is an Armenian politician. He served as the President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from 1994 to 1997 and Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh from ...

ratified Armenia's new penal code which removes the former anti-gay article 116. In late 2004, Armen Avetisyan, leader of Armenian Aryan Union (AAU), an ultra-nationalist Armenian political party, announced that some senior Armenian officials were gay. That prompted heated debates in parliament that were broadcast over the public TV channel. Some members of Armenian Parliament stated that any member found to be gay should resign. AGLA France organized a protest to denounce the AAU's homophobic campaign and the denigration of gays by Armenian lawmakers and media outlets. AGLA France also picketed in front of the Armenian embassy in Paris. The association also wrote an open letter to the President of Armenia that was published a few days later in the newspaper "Haykakan Zhamanak". In 2005, AGLA France invited two young men from Armenia to participate in ILGA-Europe's annual conference which was held in Paris. A year later Menq/WFCE, the first gay-operated NGO to fight HIV/AIDS, was registered in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

. In 2006, two members of AGLA France celebrated an informal wedding ceremony in the

Etchmiadzin Cathedral Etchmiadzin Cathedral) or simply Etchmiadzin. Alternatively spelled as Echmiadzin, Ejmiatsin, and Edjmiadsin. ( hy, Էջմիածնի մայր տաճար, Ēǰmiatsni mayr tačar) is the mother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church, located i ...

(Holy See of the

Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

). An article published in the newspaper ''168 Zham'' (168 Hours) about this improvised marriage provoked a scandal and indignation at local conservative media outlets and among politicians and religious officials. AGLA France ceased its activities in 2007.

Notes

External links

ILGA-Europe's country information on Armenia

AGLA NY - Gay and Lesbian Armenians of New York (USA)

GALAS - Gay And Lesbian Armenian Society, Los Angeles (USA)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agla France Armenian diaspora in Europe Society of Armenia LGBT rights in France LGBT political advocacy groups in France Anti-homophobia LGBT culture in Paris

Origins

Actions

See also

Notes

External links