LGBTQIA+ people in Azerbaijan face legal and social challenges not experienced by non-
LGBTQIA+
' 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 an ...
residents. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
since 1 September 2000.
Nonetheless, discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
and
gender identity
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...
are not banned in the country and same-sex marriage is not recognized.
Homosexuality is remained to being taboo subject in the Azerbaijani society as each year since 2015,
ILGA-Europe
ILGA-Europe is the European region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association. It is an advocacy group promoting the interests of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people, at the European level. I ...
has ranked Azerbaijan as the worst state (49 out of 49) in Europe for LGBTQIA+ rights protection, citing "a near total absence of legal protection" for LGBTQIA+ individuals.
In September 2017, reports emerged that at least 100 members of Baku's LGBTQIA+ community were arrested, ostensibly as part of a crackdown on prostitution. Activists reported that these detainees were subject to beatings, interrogation, forced medical examinations and blackmail.
LGBTQIA+ people face high rates of violence, harassment and discrimination.
History and legality of same-sex sexual activity
After declaring independence from the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
in 1918, the
Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic), or simply as Azerbaijan in Paris Peace Conference, 1919–1920,''Bulletin d'Information de l'Azerbaidjan'', No. I, September 1, 1919, pp. 6–7''125 H.C.Debs.'', 58., February 24, 1920, p. 1467. Caucasian Az ...
did not have laws against homosexuality. When Azerbaijan became a part of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
in 1920, it was subject to rarely enforced Soviet laws criminalizing the practice of sex between men. Despite
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
having decriminalized homosexuality in Soviet Russia (inexplicitly; the
Tsarist legal system was abolished, thus decriminalising sodomy), sexual intercourse between men (incorrectly termed
pederasty
Pederasty or paederasty ( or ) is a sexual relationship between an adult man and a pubescent or adolescent boy. The term ''pederasty'' is primarily used to refer to historical practices of certain cultures, particularly ancient Greece and anc ...
in the laws, rather than the technically accurate term
sodomy
Sodomy () or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal ( bestiality), but it may also mean any non- procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term ''sodo ...
) became a criminal offence in 1923 in the
Azerbaijan SSR
Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...
, punishable by up to five years in prison for consenting adults, or up to eight years if it involved force or threat.
Azerbaijan regained its independence in 1991, and in 2000 repealed the Soviet-era anti-sodomy law. A special edition of ''
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
'', the official newspaper of the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
, published on 28 May 2000, reported that the National Assembly had approved a new
criminal code
A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that migh ...
, and that
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Heydar Aliyev
Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev ( az, Һејдәр Әлирза оғлу Әлијев, italic=no, Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev, ; , ; 10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani politician who served as the third president of Aze ...
had signed a decree making it law beginning on 1 September 2000. Repeal of Article 121 was a requirement for Azerbaijan to join the
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
, which Azerbaijan did on 25 January 2001.
The
age of consent
The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is unable to legally claim ...
is now equal for both heterosexual and homosexual sex, at 16 years of age.
Azerbaijan's anti-LGBTQIA+ discrimination has stirred controversy in relation to international events hosted by Azerbaijan, with critics arguing that Azerbaijan should not be allowed to host international events due to its discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people.
Recognition of same-sex relationships
Same-sex couples are not legally recognised.
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
and
civil union
A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
s are not recognized or performed.
Adoption and family planning
Same-sex couples are not allowed to adopt children in Azerbaijan.
Military service
Azerbajian implements mandatory
military conscription
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...
for all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 35 to enlist in the military. There is no specific law that prohibits Lesbians, gays and bisexuals from serving in
Azerbajiani military, however they could be unfit to serve under the Articles 18/b and 17/b of the Regulation on Military Medical Examinations. Article 18, paragraph b of the Regulation on Military Medical Examinations, states a person is considered unfit or partially unfit for military service on the basis of personality disorders. In addition to Article 18/b, LGBTQIA+ enlistees are also categorized under Article 17/b, which indicates reactive psychoses and neurotic disorders.
Gender identity and expression
Azerbaijan possesses no legislation enabling transgender people to legally change their gender on official documents. However, transgender people are allowed to change their name so that it matches their gender identity.
Blood donation
It is unknown if
men who have sex with men
Men who have sex with men (MSM) are male persons who engage in sexual activity with members of the same sex. The term was created in the 1990s by epidemiology, epidemiologists to study the spread of disease among all men who have sex with men, r ...
are permitted to donate blood. By law, no groups are excluded from blood donation apart from HIV/AIDS infected persons.
Living conditions
![Baku vigil for Orlando 14 june 2016](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Baku_vigil_for_Orlando_14_june_2016.jpg)
Azerbaijan is largely a
secular country
A secular state is an idea pertaining to secularity, whereby a state is or purports to be officially neutral in matters of religion, supporting neither religion nor irreligion. A secular state claims to treat all its citizens equally regardl ...
with one of the least practicing majority-Muslim populations. The reason behind
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 ...
is mostly due to the lack of knowledge about it, as well as due to the "old traditions".
Families of homosexuals often cannot come to terms with the latter's sexuality, especially in rural areas.
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 ...
often results in violence or
ostracism
Ostracism ( el, ὀστρακισμός, ''ostrakismos'') was an Athenian democratic procedure in which any citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years. While some instances clearly expressed popular anger at the cit ...
by the family
patriarchs
The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate (bishop), primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholicism, Independent Catholic Chur ...
or forced heterosexual marriage.
[Western Media on Eurovision](_blank)
. Radio Liberty. 25 May 2012.
There were rumours of an LGBTQIA+ parade being organized in time for the
Eurovision Song Contest 2012
The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song " Running Scared" by the duo Ell & Nikki. It was the first time Azerb ...
, which was hosted by Azerbaijan. This caused disagreement in society due to homophobic views, but it did gain support from Azerbaijani human rights activists. The contests presence in Azerbaijan also caused diplomatic tensions with neighbouring
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. Iranian clerics Ayatollah
Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari
Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari ( fa, محمد مجتهد شبستری; born 1936 in Shabestar, Iran) is an Iranian philosopher, theologian, hermeneutist and former professor at University of Tehran. He is noted for his idea that "religion-in-itself" ...
and Ayatollah
Ja'far Sobhani
Grand Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani ( fa, جعفر سبحانی) (born 9 April 1929 in Tabriz) is an Iranian Twelver Shia marja, influential theologian and writer. Sobhani was a former member of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom and founder of I ...
condemned Azerbaijan for "anti-Islamic behaviour", claiming that Azerbaijan was going to host a gay parade. This led to protests in front of the Iranian embassy in Baku, where protesters carried slogans mocking the Iranian leaders.
Ali Hasanov
Ali Ali oglu Hasanov ( az, Əli Əli oğlu Həsənov; russian: link=no, Али Гасанов; born 1 January 1976, Baku) is an Azerbaijani artist, musician and filmmaker, participant of a number of art projects in Azerbaijan and abroad.
Ali H ...
, head of the public and political issues department in the Azerbaijani President's administration, said that gay parade claims were untrue, and warned Iran not to meddle in Azerbaijan's internal affairs. In response, Iran recalled its ambassador from Baku, while Azerbaijan demanded a formal apology from Iran for its statements in connection with Baku's hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest, and later also recalled its ambassador from
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
.
LGBTQIA+ people have gained more visibility in recent years, through various interviews, social media posts and films. For Pride Month in 2019, several Azerbaijani celebrities shared social media posts supporting LGBTQIA+ rights, including singer
Röya, stylist Anar Aghakishiyev and 2011 Eurovision winner
Eldar Gasimov
Eldar "Ell" Parviz oglu Gasimov ( az, Eldar Pərviz oğlu Qasımov; born 4 June 1989) is an Azerbaijani singer who successfully represented Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in the music duo Ell & Nikki with Nigar Jamal. He co-hosted ...
.
Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
since 1 September 2000.
Nonetheless, discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
and
gender identity
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...
is not banned in the country and same-sex marriage is not recognized.
Society
![Azerbaijan in LGBT Pride Germany](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Azerbaijan_in_LGBT_Pride_Germany.jpg)
As in most other post-Soviet era countries, Azerbaijan remains a place where homosexuality is an issue surrounded by confusion. There is hardly any objective or correct information on the psychological, sociological and legal aspects of homosexuality in Azerbaijan, with the result that the majority of the society simply does not know what homosexuality is.
"
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 ...
" as a
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
,
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
,
bisexual
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...
or
transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
person is therefore rare, and individual LGBT people are afraid of the consequences. Thus many lead double lives, with some feeling deeply ashamed about being gay.
Those who are financially independent and living in
Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
are able to lead a safe life as an LGBTQIA+ person, as long as they "practice" their homosexuality in their private sphere. There is a small LGBT movement, with three organizations advocating for LGBTQIA+ rights and protection.
Although homosexual acts between consenting male adults are officially decriminalized, reports about police abuses against gays, mainly male prostitutes, have persisted. While complaining of the violence against them, the victims preferred to remain anonymous fearing retaliation on the part of the police.
In 2019, in ''A v. Azerbaijan'', the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
called out the state for its 2017 raids in which over 80 LGBT people were detained, many tortured and abused by police.
In April 2019, Elina Hajiyeva, a 14-year-old girl from Baku, attempted suicide once more due to homophobic bullying at her school. Although her mother had reported the bullying to the principal, Sevinj Abbasova, neither she nor other teachers took any action against it. After the attempted suicide, the principal kept Hajiyeva in her office for an hour during which she attempted to have the half-conscious Hajiyeva admit to suicidal tendencies and place the blame on family difficulties rather than on bullying issues at the school. She did not call an ambulance or allow others to do so. Hajiyeva died in hospital two days later. The school director, deputy director and school psychologist were dismissed from office. Only the principal was prosecuted on account of negligence resulting in death, and leaving someone in danger. On 24 October 2019, the principal was sentenced by the Sabail District Court of Baku to 2 years and 2.5 months of restriction of liberty, which means movement surveillance, only requiring her to be home at 9:00 PM. She was also ordered to pay 18,500 AZN ($10,882) of monetary compensation to the parents.
The case sparked a nationwide social media campaign against bullying. 2011 Eurovision winner
Nigar Jamal
Nigar Aydin qizi Jamal (; az, Nigar Aydın qızı Camal (Mütəllibzadə), ; born 7 September 1980), sometimes known as Nikki Jamal, is an English-Azerbaijani singer. Born and raised in Baku, she has resided in London since 2005. She won the Eur ...
posted a video on
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
addressed to President
Ilham Aliyev
Ilham Heydar oghlu Aliyev ( az, İlham Heydər oğlu Əliyev, ; born 24 December 1961) is the fourth president of Azerbaijan, serving in the post since 31 October 2003.
The son and second child of the former Azerbaijani leader Heydar Aliyev, ...
asking government officials to take action. The Ministry of Education launched an action plan against bullying on 13 May, envisaging a number of tasks to ensure a "healthy environment in general education institutions", to improve school and family relations and to protect students from abuse. A hotline was also established.
In May 2019,
Azerbaijan Airlines
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
fired three employees for releasing personal information of a transgender passenger on social media, including a picture of her passport. In June 2019, five transgender women were physically assaulted by a group of 15 men in
Mardakan. Four of the attackers were arrested. In September 2019, a young gay man was beaten, raped and expelled from his village of
Yolçubəyli because of his sexuality. He reported the violence to police. Photos of his rape surfaced online.
Media
The first news website for LGBTQIA+ people in Azerbaijan was launched by Ruslan Balukhin on 25 May 2011
gay.az
The Azerbaijani Constitution guarantees freedom of expression for everyone by all forms of expressions.
The Azerbaijan Press Council was founded in 2003. The council deals with complaints according to the Press Code of Conduct. It is unknown if the council has assessed complaints of harassment made by state-controlled media using homosexuality as a tool to harass and discredit critics of the government.
Azerbaijan's human rights
NGO
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
s have been successful in raising awareness of the lives of Azeri LGBTQIA+ people.
The first LGBTQIA+ online magazine
Minority Magazine' was founded by Samad Ismayilov in December 2015. The magazine covers education, entertainment and current issues about LGBT people. The magazine started functioning as an NGO from August 2017.
Film
Samad Ismayilov, an LGBTQIA+ activist and the founder of ''Minority Magazine'', made a documentary movie about a transgender man from Azerbaijan named Sebastian. The film focuses on Sebastian's challenges, fears and dreams about the future. It was filmed in Ohio in the United States. The film made its debut in
Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
on 25 November 2017, with the support of the Dutch embassy. About 80 people came to watch the movie and participate at LGBTQIA+ discussions after the film.
Deniz Miray, who is trans rights activist and film critic, shot her "Bədənimə Günəş" in 2022 by talking about the challenges of LGBTQI+ individuals in Azerbaijan.
Literature and Academia
In 2009,
Ali Akbar wrote a scandalous book titled ''
Artush and Zaur
''Artush and Zaur'' () is a novel by Azerbaijani writer and journalist Ali Akbar (alias of Alakbar Aliyev) published in 2009. It narrates the love story of two fictional men: Artush Saroyan, an Armenian, and Zaur Jalilov, an Azerbaijani. The no ...
'', which focused on homosexual love between an
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
and
Azerbaijani. According to Akbar, being an Armenian and being gay are major taboos in Azeri society.
In 2014, Azerbaijani writer Orkhan Bahadirsoy published a novel about the love of two young men, ''It is a sin to love you''.
In 2020, Ramil Zamanov also published their thesis on 'Gender, ethnicity and peacebuilding' by dedicating two chapters to the queer rights and inclusion of the LGBTQI+ community in peace processes concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Also, Ramil started to write their PhD research on 'Queer masculinities in Azerbaijan' which will be published in 2024. Ramil also published articles on 'CHALLENGES OF GENDER STUDIES IN AZERBAIJAN' ; 'Understanding Intersectionality through LGBTQIA+/Queer Narratives in Azerbaijan'; 'LGBTQI+ Queer Experiences in the Context of Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict'.
Suicide of Isa Shahmarli
In January 2014, Isa Shahmarli, the openly gay founder of AZAD LGBT, died of suicide by hanging himself with a rainbow flag. At the time of his death, Shahmarli was unemployed, in debt, and estranged from his family who considered him "ill". Shahmarli left a note on Facebook blaming society for his death. He was discovered soon afterward by friends.
Shahmarli's suicide sparked an increase in LGBTQIA+ activism in Azerbaijan. The day of his death was marked as LGBTQIA+ Pride Day and was honored in 2015 with the release of several videos.
LGBTQIA+ organizations
As of 2015, there are three LGBT organizations in Azerbaijan:
* Gender and Development ( az, Gender və Tərəqqi İctimai Birliyi), created in 2007 and carries out local projects in collaboration with the
Ministry of Health.
* Nefes LGBT Azerbaijan Alliance ( az, Nəfəs LGBT Azərbaycan), established in 2012. It has implemented several projects, including part of an international survey and regularly holds talks with the
EU Delegation to Azerbaijan and other European embassies regarding the difficulties of LGBT people and their situation in Azerbaijan.
* AZAD LGBT, established in 2012 by Isa Shahmarli. AZAD concentrates on education and better media representation in Azerbaijan. In its first year, it ran several projects including organizing LGBT movie nights in the capital of Baku. These movie nights were attended by a local psychologist who participated in Q&As after the films.
In 2014, after Isa Shahmarli committed suicide, AZAD organized a series of photo and video projects.
In 2015, AZAD launched a website providing free online LGBT education tools.
*Q-Collective
Other online campaigns or magazines also exist.
Gay.az the first information portal for LGBT people in Azerbaijan
* Love Is Love, an online photo campaign designed to provide support to the LGBT community in Azerbaijan.
Reng in remembrance of Isa's birthday, including illustrated versions of several of Isa's writings
* ''Minority Magazine'', which covers education, entertainment and current issues about LGBT people
Human rights reports
2017 United States Department of State report
In 2017, the United States Department of State reported the following, concerning the status of LGBT rights in Azerbaijan:
*"The most significant human rights issues included unlawful or arbitrary killing; torture; harsh and sometimes life-threatening prison conditions;
arbitrary arrest
Arbitrary arrest and arbitrary detention are the arrest or detention of an individual in a case in which there is no likelihood or evidence that they committed a crime against legal statute, or in which there has been no proper due process of law ...
; lack of judicial independence; political prisoners; criminalization of libel; physical attacks on journalists, arbitrary interference with privacy; interference in the freedoms of expression, assembly, and association through intimidation, incarceration on questionable charges, and harsh physical abuse of selected activists, journalists, and secular and religious opposition figures, and blocking of websites; restrictions on freedom of movement for a growing number of journalists and activists; severe restrictions on political participation; and systemic government corruption; and police detention and torture, of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals; and worst forms of child labor, which the government made minimal efforts to eliminate."
*Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
"For example, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals detained in September stated police threatened them with rape, and in some cases raped them with truncheons. Most did not publicize such threats."
*Acts of Violence, Discrimination, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
"Antidiscrimination laws exist but do not specifically cover lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals.
In October media and human rights lawyers reported that since mid-September police had arrested and tortured 83 men presumed to be gay or bisexual as well as transgender women. Once in custody, police beat the detainees and subjected them to electric shocks to obtain bribes and information about other gay men (see section 1.c.). By 3 October, many of the detainees had been released, many after being sentenced to 20-45 days in jail, fined up to 200 manat ($117), or both. On 2 October, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Office of the Prosecutor General issued a joint statement that denied the arrests were based on gender identity or sexual orientation.
A local NGO reported there were numerous incidents of police brutality against individuals based on sexual orientation and noted that authorities did not investigate or punish those responsible. There were also reports of family-based violence against LGBTI individuals, hate speech against LGBTI persons, and hostile Facebook postings on personal online accounts. Activists reported that LGBTI individuals were regularly fired by employers if their sexual orientation/gender identity became known. One individual reported the military did not allow LGBTI individuals to serve and granted them deferment from conscription on the grounds of mental illness.
LGBTI individuals generally refused to file formal complaints of discrimination or mistreatment with law enforcement bodies due to fear of social stigma or retaliation. Activists reported police indifference to investigating crimes committed against members of the LGBTI community."
*Discrimination with Respect to Employment and Occupation
"Discrimination in employment and occupation also occurred with respect to sexual orientation. LGBTI individuals reported employers found other reasons to dismiss them because they could not legally dismiss someone because of their sexual orientation."
Summary table
See also
*
Human rights in Azerbaijan
International organizations have frequently alleged that Azerbaijan has violated human rights standards established in international law.
Human Rights Watch issued a 2013 report accusing Azerbaijan of imprisoning and harassing political activi ...
*
LGBT rights in Asia
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Asia are limited in comparison to many other areas of the world. Same-sex sexual activity is outlawed in at least twenty Asian countries. While at least eight countries have enacted protect ...
*
LGBT rights in Europe
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights are widely diverse in Europe per country. Nineteen out of the 33 countries that have legalised same-sex marriage worldwide are situated in Europe. A further eleven European countries have leg ...
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lgbt Rights in Azerbaijan
Society of Azerbaijan
Politics of Azerbaijan
LGBT in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
LGBT rights in Europe