LGBT organizations

There is no official organization in Belarus that represents the interests of gays and lesbians in Belarus. The Women's Organization (Jyana), which was officially registered and working on "gender questions." Jyana, which protected young women in the country, recently announced that it soon will close. The men's organization, Republican Youth (Vstrecha) is not an LGBT-organization, but conducts a great deal of work aimed at preventing HIV infection and AIDS among men who have sex with men. Any other organization or initiative is working outside the legal framework.

• Belarus Lambda League^[8][9]
• Belarusian initiative by sexual and gender equality gay.by - gay Resources and Information. This website is for sale!
• GayBelarus - LGBT Human Rights Project, the organizer of the Slavic Pride in May 2010 in Minsk
• Vstrecha ["Meeting"], located in Minsk, Главная - РМОО ВСТРЕЧА - САЙТ МУЖСКОГО ЗДОРОВЬЯ. The oldest gay group in Belarus, founded in the early 1990s. Activities include HIV/AIDS prevention and support groups.
• Gay Alliance Belarus was founded in 2008 and represents the interests of the LGBT community. Gay Alliance organized a national competition of Mister Gay Belarus and edits a national LGBT web site www.gayby.net and LGBT.BY.

Gay pride controversies

Violations of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly in Belarus were repeatedly condemned by the international community.^[10]

After previous failed efforts, in 1999 a gay pride festival was organised by the Belarusian League for Sexual Equality “Lambda” BLL and Forum Lambda, a magazine for Belarusian gays and lesbians. The festival program included a seminar for journalists on "lesbians and gay men in the media", conference on the rights of gays and lesbians in Belarus and in the world, the exhibition of photographs and films taken homosexuals, and the competitions “Mr. Gay Belarus” and “Transmission”. The festival was supported by the UN Development Programme, studio Tatyana, United Way Belarus, IREX, the Titanic Club, and guests from Ukraine. During one of the parties, the club was raided by riot police that frisked the contestants.

In 2000, the organisers of the festival encountered great difficulty in preparing for the event. According to Edward Tarletski, head of the organising committee, the radio station Radio BA which was to cover the event and grant its dancehall for evening events received an order from the presidential administration not to do so. Other radio stations reportedly refused support on the same grounds, and events at other venues also were canceled. Orthodox Church-related groups demonstrated in Minsk against the gay festival on 9 September, on the day before the festival was planned. The pride march through the city was banned by the city government 24 hours before it was due to take place, and authorities acted on the day to prevent festivities. Newspapers reported the outcome of the day. ^[11][12]

In 2001, the Belarus government allegedly prohibited the Belarus Gay Pride Festival. On 3 August 2001, unidentified vandals broke into and vandalised the flat of Lambda Belarus leader Andrei Babkin where fliers, posters and booklets of Gay Pride 2001 had been kept.

In 2002, days before Gay Pride 2002, Lambda Belarus leader Edward Tarletski was called to the Minsk police station where he was told that if a gay pride parade took place, "the police will not take any responsibility for possible disorder."

In 2004, an international gay and lesbian festival was forced to be canceled. The organizing committee of the final (Belarusian) phase of the 4th International Moonbow Human Rights & Homo Cultural Festival and the first stage of this year's ILGCN (International Lesbian & Gay Cultural Network) World Lesbian and Gay World Conference in August 2004 were forced to cancel the event in Minsk. This came after authorities frightened a club owner into withdrawing his promise to host the event. In addition, threatening phone calls from authorities said foreigners trying to attend the event for workshops and discussions "would be immediately expelled from the country in keeping with the article of intervention in domestic affairs of the Republic of Belarus."^[6][13]

On 27 October 2008, the same group asked permission to hold a protest in support of gay rights near the Russian Embassy in Minsk. Both events were not authorised. Because the country is currently not a member of the Council of Europe, Belarusian activists cannot appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. It is the same group which decided to organise with Russian LGBT activists a Slavic Pride which is planned to alternate between Moscow and Minsk every year.^[14]

In January 2009, an event titled "The Right to Love" was planned and designed to raise public awareness about homophobia and discrimination against LGBT people in Belarus. Authorization was denied. LGBT activist Roman Mandryk filed a complaint in the Court of the Central Borough of Gomel in response to this decision of the Gomel City Administration. In the text of the complaint, Mr. Mandryk claims that the decision of the Gomel City Administration violated his right to freedom of Assembly as guaranteed by Article 35 of the Constitution of Belarus. He adds that Regulation 299 itself is unconstitutional in that it imposes unreasonable burdens on those seeking to organize public gatherings. The organizers intend to pursue this claim until it is resolved and hope to be able to organize a gathering in 2010.^[15]

Month against Homophobia

The "Month against Homophobia" was a campaign by Belarusian LGBT activists from 17 April to 17 May 2009 in Minsk, Grodno and Luninets. It consisted of informational campaigns and events. The month was organized by Gayby.org, Gay.by, members of the League of Sexual Equality "Lambda", and Amnesty International (Belarus). More than 50 media outlets reported about the month's events. Belarusian media began to talk about gay and lesbian people.

The main aim of the Month against Homophobia was to resist any kind of physical, moral and symbolic violence to people with a different sexual orientation and gender identity, to show solidarity to LGBT in the world who are unable to fight for their rights, and to carry a wider campaign for human rights.^[16]

Anti-LGBT violence

There is no Belarusian law that refers specifically to perpetrators of crimes motivated by homophobia. In the Criminal Code, homosexuals are only singled out when they are the “subjects” of a crime (e.g., when they are the perpetrators), and not when they are “objects” (e.g., victims of a crime). Judicial and police organs do not express any eagerness to collect evidence about the homophobic motives of those who perpetrate crimes. Judges are not obliged to consider such motives as aggravating the circumstances of guilt, or to impose more severe punishments when homophobic motives are present. LGBT people are in danger to face discrimination and violence.^[17]

On 18 April 2001, a dead body of the pensioner Alexander Stephanovich, known in Minsk as a homosexual, was found in the yard of the apartment block where he lived. His body was stabbed all over with knives. On 16 May of the same year, Andrei Babkin, an activist with Lambda Belarus, was badly beaten and raped at the entrance to his flat. He was taken to the hospital with severe injuries.

On 2 July, the police in Minsk detained and badly beat Andrei Scherbakov, one of the founders of Lambda Belarus. The next day, Ivan Suchinski, the owner of the gay club Oskar was killed. The club had been closed by the authorities in February 2000, and Ivan brought civil claims because of the unfair actions of the police. On 13 November 2001 in Molodechno, Lambda Belarus leader Edward Tarletski was assaulted which resulted in a concussion and required seven days' hospitalization.

On 15 February 2002 in Zhlobin (Gomel Region), 34-year-old accountant Victor Kovyl was found dead in his parents’ flat. He was an openly gay man both at work and in public. The police refused to give the details of the murder to Kovyl's partner Alexander and one of the members of the police said to him: “It serves you right, sodomites (faggots)!”.

On 12 April 2002, an assault and beating of gay men took place outside the gay club “Babylon”. According to witnesses a group of skin heads (10 to 12 men) attacked three patrons before the police arrived. Among the victims was Edward Tarletski, editor-in-chief of gay magazine Forum Lambda and leader of Lambda Belarus. On 10 June in Kommunar, Buda-Kashalyova District, Gomel region, three unidentified men beat and raped local resident Dmitrii L., 18. The victim was taken to the hospital where he spent two weeks.

On the evening of 2 October 2002, Edward Tarletski was assaulted outside his flat entrance on his way home. Four unidentified men asked him if his name was Tarletski and started beating him. That night he was taken to the hospital. He had a broken shoulder and three smashed teeth.

In 2002, the Minsk police started a criminal case in connection with the murder of Mikhail M., 50, whose mutilated body was found in his flat on 17 November. According to the police this was the fifth murder of this kind committed in the capital of Belarus. However, the detectives fully denied the possibility of a serial killer.

On 18 February 2003 Tarletski was beaten again by unidentified persons near his house. Edward was taken to the hospital with a head injury and plenty of bruises on his body. On 29 March of the same year, a bouncer at the night club Budda-Bar in Minsk beat Yuliya Yukhnovetz, a volunteer for Minsk Pride, because she kissed a girl in the club hallway. She was taken to the hospital where she was diagnosed with an injured cranium.

On 28 May 2008, Edward Tarletski was attacked again by three youths in Minsk. Tarletski stated that he did not intend to report the attack to police because they would not do anything about the incident. He also said this attack was the third against him in five years.^[18]

At the mid of September 2008, two transgender men had been raped in Minsk. Victims did not report to the police; they were not sure that they would help them.^[19][20]

In prisons and correctional facilities, homosexuality is subject to speculation, blackmail and extortion. While in prison, gays and lesbians are largely unprotected. Reportedly, executing bodies often make use of prisoners’ sexual inclinations to receive needed data, and turnkeys often encourage prisoners to abuse homosexuals.

Police officers seek information of a personal nature about homosexual persons who are victims of violence. This information is of no relevance to the prosecution the perpetrators of the crimes against those victims. Police officers collect information of a personal nature as well as passport data and mugshots of homosexual persons who visit known gay cruising areas. The national NGO “Vstrecha” [“Meeting”] (HIV-prevention group for gay men) reported about those practices in Brest and Gomel. Police officers refuse to register cases of brutality committed against sexual minorities and do not conduct investigations that would seek criminal responsibility from the perpetrators of crimes motivated by homophobic prejudice. Lambda Belarus reported many cases of brutality against lesbians and gays and passive behaviour of police in all regions of the country. Police have conducted unprovoked actions in bars frequented by homosexuals. AILGBT-Belarus, “Vstrecha”, Lambda Belarus and lesbian group “YANA” reported about those practices in Gomel and Minsk.^[6]

Mental health

A high percentage of suicide is observed amongst gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people. Qualified psychological help generally is not available. In Minsk, the capital of Belarus, three universities – Belarus State University, Belarus Pedagogical University and European Humanities University – have full psychology courses in their curriculum but do not address the problems of sexual minorities.

Discrimination

Political figures' stances on LGBT rights

The open support of lesbians and gays is not a popular position for a political movement in Belarus. In July 2001, the Organising Committee of the 1st Belarusian Youth Congress, voted against allowing delegates of Lambda Belarus to participate. In March 2002, a number of Belarusian media published the statements of Young Front (the youth organisation of Belarusian Popular Front), which contained homophobic statements.^[6] Specifically, Young Front leader Paval Sieviaryniec published a letter where he called homosexuality “a death-worthy sin and perversion”. According to Sieviaryniec, the fact of the existence of homosexuals is “the result of spoiling and sinfulness in the world”.^{[citation needed]}

In another incident, Belarusian sexual minorities attempted to make a formal statement of solidarity with victims of the Chernobyl disaster. This attempt created a backlash, which led to an opposition youth leader, Zmitser Dashkevich, stating on the radio program "Freedom Night" that Belarus is no place for gays, and that homosexuals are sick people and that the opposition would not enter into a dialogue with them.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2004, President Lukashenko, in a speech before the Belarusian Security Council, said, "we have to show our society in the near future, what ‘they’ [the European Union and the United States] are doing here, how they are trying to turn our girls into prostitutes, how they are feeding our citizens with illicit drugs, how they are spreading sexual perversion here, which methods they are employing".^[6]

In 2018, minister of interior Igor Shunevich used abusive language on national television describing homosexuals.^[21] Human rights defenders called to open a criminal case for discriminatory statements, but the government didn't find any violations by Shunevich.^[22]