In Yerevan, protestors demand resignation of British Ambassador to Armenia

On May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia, in Yerevan, activists held an action in protest against an LGBT flag raised by the British Embassy in Armenia. Armenian activists have treated that act of the British Embassy as agitation and demanded public apologies.

On May 19, in Yerevan, members of the public movement "For the Law" gathered in front of the British Embassy and demanded the resignation of Judith Margaret Farnworth, British Ambassador to Armenia. In their hands, the protestors were holding posters with slogans demanding to stop the LGBT propaganda.

The action was also attended by Ter-Kyuregh Talyan, the leader of the Katoghike Church.

The actions against LGBT and harassment of members of the LGBT community indicate serious human rights problems in Armenia. This opinion was voiced by Mamikon Ovsepyan, the leader of the public organization "Pink Armenia".

He has also noted that in the course of the action in Yerevan, people voiced a call to aggression, while "the leader of the church, propagating love for neighbours, took part in the action."

According to Lucy Kocharyan, a resident of Yerevan, the fact that Armenia occupies the 47th place in terms of ensuring the rights of sexual minorities "indicates lack of information for the local people." Lucy Kocharyan has noted that the local residents believe that homosexuality is a disease, which is really not the case.

On May 19, in connection with the week of struggle against homophobia and transphobia, the Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW) also reported the problems with rights of women of non-conventional sexual orientation in Armenia.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.