The 19-year-old Azerbaijani man claims he awoke one morning in mid-August to the sound and feel of gasoline splashing on his body and his mother angrily screaming. Through a sleepy haze, he saw her burning a piece of paper. Suddenly, he alleged, his mother\u2019s intentions became clear; he was about to be burned to death for being homosexual.<\/p>\n
The story, recounted to EurasiaNet.org by the man, who calls himself Malik to protect his identity, forms part of a disturbing pattern of abuse and mistreatment of LGBT individuals in this Caspian-Sea country. For now, the government doesn\u2019t appear interested in trying to address the issue \u2014 even though the country currently chairs the Committee of Ministers of Europe\u2019s foremost human-rights body, the Council of Europe.<\/p>\n
Unlike in many Muslim societies, Azerbaijani law does not prohibit homosexuality, bisexuality or transgenderism. However, the level of disapproval that exists in this tightly knit society is high, and that places a heavy burden on LGBT Azerbaijanis, some say.<\/p>\n
In Malik\u2019s case, he claims his sister prevented his mother from setting him aflame. He alleges, though, that his mother scratched him to the point of drawing blood. Still in shock and physical pain from the experience, Malik says he lives now at a friend\u2019s place. He claims his mother knew of his homosexuality, though \u201cnever admitted that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen she got news about me attending an LGBT seminar in Baku, which was a public event, she realised it is impossible to deny the fact that I am homosexual,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was unbearable for her.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Azerbaijan\u2019s family-centric culture, disapproval from relatives can often hit hardest. \u201cFamily is the first fear of LGBT people,\u201d according to Javid Atilla Nebiyev, director of Nefes LGBT, one of a handful of non-governmental organisations in Baku focusing on LGBT issues. \u201cThat is the first, small community where LGBT people experience trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fifty-five-year-old Babi Badalov, an openly gay artist, left Azerbaijan for the United Kingdom eight years ago after his brother threatened to kill him for being homosexual. He blames such attitudes on the country\u2019s 71-year Soviet history, when LGBT issues were never addressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was taboo,\u201d said Badalov, who now lives in France. \u201cPeople did not even know that there were non-traditional sexual orientations and genders.\u201d<\/p>\n
While now Azerbaijanis \u201chave the freedom to know,\u201d he continued, the Soviet past continues to influence present opinions. \u201cExcept for some tolerant circles in the capital, Baku, [a non-heterosexual identity] is seen as something extremely abnormal, extremely disgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Consequently, \u201cfor his own safety,\u201d a gay man \u201cconstantly\u201d has to think about \u201cwhat to wear so that he does not look different,\u201d or otherwise attract attention, he claimed. Many Azerbaijanis often presume that men who wear an earring or unusually colourful clothing are homosexual.<\/p>\n
Defying such notions, Badalov said he opted for an earring.<\/p>\n
One 22-year-old transsexual Azerbaijani can identify with those difficulties. Although born a woman, Leyla, who asked to be identified only by her first name, dresses in men\u2019s clothes and considers herself male. She claims that her family sometimes hides her clothing, keeps her locked indoors and threatens her with death if she does not dress \u201clike a woman.\u201d<\/p>\n
A recent university graduate with a degree in education, Leyla says that she nonetheless dresses as a man when she applies for teaching positions. She did not detail how she distinguishes between male and female clothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt job interviews, they expect me to show up as a woman, but instead they see a woman dressed like a man,\u201d she claimed. \u201cI do not know what to answer when they ask why I dress like a man. I am turned down [for jobs] mostly because of that appearance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Azerbaijani legislation contains no protections against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, noted activist Nebiyev. He alleged that, as a result, some LGBT Azerbaijanis turn to jobs as \u201csex workers to earn their living.\u201d<\/p>\n
The topic generally is not one for any form of public discussion, including by imams. Allegations of homosexuality, however, have been used as part of smear campaigns against opposition leaders.<\/p>\n
Media and human-rights activists have paid relatively little attention to these problems. The Azerbaijani Commissioner for Human Rights\u2019 Office could not be reached for comment on LGBT abuse.<\/p>\n
For many, the Jan. 22 suicide of 20-year-old Isa Shahmarli, the head of the LGBT group Azad, illustrated the dangers involved in looking the other way. In a Facebook message before his death, Shahmarli blamed society at large for his suicide.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe ended his life because society wanted him to do so,\u201d said his former flatmate, Kamila Javadzadeh. \u201cHe was all alone, struggling to prove that nothing is wrong about being LGBT. But he failed to convince his own family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet one 32-year-old lesbian, who declined to give her name, stopped short of calling life in Azerbaijan as a LGBT person \u201ca tragedy.\u201d At least no public calls for violence against LGBT Azerbaijanis have been made, she explained. \u201cBut it is not OK at all,\u201d she emphasised. After years of confronting hostility, however, she simply no longer expects tolerance.<\/p>\n
This story originally appeared on EurasiaNet.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n