Talk:LGBT rights in Belarus

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Due to the sensitive nature of the topic, and the possibility of its growth in importance as homosexual rights deteriorate in Belarus, I have made every effort to reference sources where possible. The formatting for references may not be correct and may require fixing from someone experienced with that. Mr Curly 05:57, 29 September 2005 (UTC)


[edit] Things needing fact checking

[edit] Lukashenko's speech

This speech was not about homosexuality. Lukashenko was talking of people trafficking when taking of prostitution. Mail order bride websites for example. THe sexual perversion in question was implied to be pornography and a exploitation of Eastern European women by rich Western pornographers. Don't forget that it was Lukashenko who decriminalised homosexuality in the first place. I think that this speech is not applicable to this subject and, the implication of state homophobia is incorrect. This speech is certainly not credible as evidence.

[edit] Age of Consent

Needs to be some fact checking regarding the age of consent. The ILGA states "Sexual contacts for women in Belarus are conditionally considered legal in the age from 14 to 18. This is defined by court experts in sexual crime cases depending on the level of a girl’s sexual maturity. Sexual contacts for men are considered legal upon attaining majority only, or since 18." gaytimes.co.uk states something similar.

Whereas, http://www.avert.org/aofconsent.htm states 16 years for all m-f, m-m and f-f in their table.

[edit] Disco closure

ILGA states "In 1996 a gay discotheque named "Randez-vous" emerged in Minsk. Over the last years, the discotheque changed its premises four times, under the threat of persecution. The club was established by gays and lesbians aiming at AIDS prevention. The founders never approached the government claiming any official recognition. Club activists limited their activities to a free give-away of condoms in a narrow homosexual circle." is from

While this states "The country's only gay club, Oscar, was closed by the government in February 2000 because police said it "gathers abnormal people". However some mainstream clubs reportedly hold specific gay nights." is from

Are we to assume that Oscar (apparently being the "country's only gay club") and Randez-vous are the same thing?

[edit] Gay pride festival

It went ahead in 1999. In 2000 it encountered great difficulty as reflected in the article. 2004 it was banned. What of 2001, 02 and 03?

Mr Curly 05:57, 29 September 2005 (UTC)