In Armenia, opponents of sexual minorities protest against action "Cultural Diversity"

In response to an action in defence of sexual minorities "Cultural diversity", carried out by NGOs in Armenia, dozens of young people came out to the streets, chanting the slogan: 'No perversion at holy land!''.

On May 21, in Armenia, the NGOs "Public information and need for knowledge" and "Women's Resource Centre" held the action "Cultural Diversity" in support of sexual minorities. The opponents of the action, who came out to the streets of Yerevan, chanted the slogans: "No perversion at holy land!" and "Gays go to Baku!" The authors of the latter slogan explained that it was associated with the information that the gay pride parade was to be held in Baku during the international song contest "Eurovision". Official confirmation of this information is not available.

Defenders of Tegut Forest join "Cultural Diversity"

The participants of the action "Cultural Diversity" organized a procession through the central streets of Yerevan and completed it in the House of Artists, where the exhibition was to take place. The police managed to ensure access of the participants of the action to the building of the Union of Artists; however, they failed to enter the exhibition hall, since "their man with the keys to the door was not allowed into the building." The policemen led the participants of the action through the emergency exit.

"Should the police be not here, we will be immediately destroyed," said Maro Markosyan, the representative of the "Tufenkyan" Foundation, the participant of the action "Cultural Diversity".

The supporters of the action "Cultural Diversity" were joined by the defenders of Tegut Forest with their posters and symbols of Tegut.

"Actions in support of sexual minorities contradict concept of family as social unit"

During the procession, all attempts of the supporters of the action "Cultural Diversity" to attract attention of passers-by were suppressed by the opponents of the action.

"It's humiliating both for the Armenian nation and for other nations. I'm even ashamed to continue talking about that," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Marietta Babayan, a resident of Yerevan, who passed by the demonstrators.

Artem Sukiasyan, a resident of Yerevan, believes that the action of sexual minorities is aimed at weakening the state. "Family is the foundation of the state. These people are destroying our families," state the opponent of the action.

Vage Antanesyan urged the community "to prevent spread of perversion." He believes that everyone should fight it.

"I can't understand the relation between perversion and cultural diversity. In Armenia, there is a number of national minorities, which are free to develop their cultures. And the phenomenon that the participants of the action want to promote is just a perversion that destroys the family as a social unit," believes Armen Agayan, an opponent of the action.

Student Shushan Antonyan said: "There is no place for rotten European values in the Armenian society. We are not Europe, and we should not be a part of it. Why should I go out and face such abnormal phenomena? Private lives of these people are of no interest to me. They may do everything they want at their homes; however, we will not allow promoting their way of life in the society."

In Yerevan, club for sexual minorities attacked three times

The action "Cultural Diversity" has been organized in connection with the fact that in May, the "DIY" Rock Club located in the centre of Yerevan, which is considered to be the place for sexual minorities, was attacked three times.

On May 8, Iranian brothers of Armenian origin threw an explosive substance through the window to the club and set it on fire. The young men were detained; however, on May 15, they were released on bail of 1 million drams (2500 US dollars), which, according to Armine Oganezova, the club's owner, was paid by Artsvik Minasyan and Grair Karapetyan, members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) "Dashnaktsutyun".

On May 15, a group of several young people approached the club, burned the poster reading: "No fascism" and drew a swastika on the bar's door. According to Armine Oganezova, the club's owner, the young men fled, and only two of them were caught. At present, the investigation is underway.

In the evening of May 21, the "DIY" Bar was again attacked by unidentified young men. The club's owner called the police. According to the woman, at 9:00 p.m., a group of people broke the door of the club, invaded the building, broke chairs, tables, and spilled water.

According to the owner of the "DIY" Pub, she received threats starting from the very opening of the club from spring of 2011. Armine Oganezova sees the reason for such a reaction of society towards her in her presentation at the last year's gay pride parade held in Turkey.

Armine Oganezova believes that the ARF "Dashnaktsutyun" is involved in the attack committed on May 8. In his turn, Artsvik Minasyan, the MP from the ARF "Dashnaktsutyun", claims excessive politicization of the incident.

In social networks, users are divided into two camps. Some people accuse the club's owner of "gay propaganda, destructing the Armenian identity, and creating threats to national security", while other people, to the contrary, support "freedom" of Armine Oganezova and believe that her persecution violates human rights.

The human rights organization "Amnesty International" issued a statement regarding the cases of attacks on the "DIY" Bar. The statement points to the indifferent attitude of the authorities to the cases of attacks on the bar, where sexual minorities gather.