Bishkek, kyrgyzstan gay club

Raids on brothels and prostitutes quickly subsided though, because unlike the LGBTQ community, analysts say, they have establishment defenders. In effect, being anti-Western and homophobic have become two ends of the same bone in a Kyrgyz version of dog-whistle politics. And while there were occasional attacks in the past, the LGBTQ community was mostly left to itself.

Although Kyrgyzstan is not the most LGBTQ friendly country in the world, Bishkek has a small but active gay community. Its founders, a vivacious lesbian couple who resemble bouncers in both build and demeanor, command a table at the entrance of the bar and survey each customer who passes through the door.

Local media outlets tied to the government and nationalist groups take a similar line, helping stoke an atmosphere of permissive victimization. There are nine men and women, from a mix of ethnic Kyrgyz, ethnic Russian and other backgrounds. Some people have been savagely assaulted, including one gay man we interviewed who was beaten unconscious and gang-raped this year.

Some popular spots include Metro Pub, which has live music on weekends, and Coyote Ugly, a Western-style bar with a lively atmosphere. A rare place of refuge for Kyrgyzstan's beleaguered LGBT community has been forced to vacate its venue once again, leaving gay club-goers wondering where they can go to be themselves.

For the LGBTQ community, this only serves to amplify their troubles. Kyrgyzstan’s only gay club has closed ahead of the probable passage of a law that would crackdown on LGBTQ life in the Central Asian republic. Russian TV channels, with their explicit anti-Western, homophobic bias, have a solid audience.

And since winning power in , President Almazbek Atambayev has cemented this shift away from the West towards Russia. LGBTQ activists have gone underground after the Bishkek office of one advocacy group was firebombed. Poor and landlocked, Kyrgyzstan has been a geopolitical and economic supplicant ever since it became independent after the collapse of the Soviet Union, always vulnerable to bigger powers.

The names of all the LGBTQ individuals have either been changed or not published, at their request, because of concerns for their safety. But still there is no sound of anyone coming to the door. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people in Kyrgyzstan face significant challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents.

But the Kremlin proved the greater force, unhappy at an American presence in its backyard, and successfully pressed Bishkek to close the base. For this inconspicuous car wash plays host to Bishkek's only LGBT club, called London. Two years ago, the Kyrgyz parliament followed the lead of its powerful near-neighbor Russia and introduced a series of amendments outlawing the promotion of same-sex relationships.

And no one knows if or when parliament will debate them again. Self-styled nationalist groups like Kyrk-Choro Kyrgyz Knights have been at the forefront of assaults on both the LGBTQ community and sex workers—with its leader claiming he has official backing. In the meantime, homophobic violence has risen.

Only after we phone him do we finally hear muffled sounds from inside of first one, then two heavy metal doors being unlocked. A journalist colleague and I had been invited for dinner at the home of Nika, a gay man who recently set up a small LGBTQ support group in Bishkek, the Kyrgyzstan capital.

London, which was inconspicuously nestled inside of a gas station, was shut down by the property’s owner after he discovered that it was being used as an. [1] Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan. These moves had enthusiastic support from powerful nationalist and religious constituencies at home—both Muslim and Orthodox Christian.

We knock again, hard. Bishkek has a vibrant nightlife scene, with many bars and clubs scattered throughout the city. Stalin has paid the price for his cartographic crimes in Kyrgyzstan, but Bishkek is still dotted with Lenin statues and streets named after other communist celebrities who were removed from other parts of the former Soviet bloc years ago.

While same-sex sexual activity has been legalised in Kyrgyzstan since , same-sex couples are not currently eligible for the same legal protections available to married heterosexual couples. Even so, the police have reportedly been using the anti-gay propaganda legislation to justify going after LGBTQ individuals and then extorting bribes.

The State Committee for National Security (SCNS) of Kyrgyzstan has shut down and sealed two nightclubs in Bishkek: "Kombinat Plur" and "Kats." They are accused of corrupting young people and promoting LGBT. While the US needed the Manas airbase outside Bishkek after to ferry troops in and out of Afghanistan, the Kyrgyz government tilted westwards.

Nika showed us into his living room where his other guests are already seated around a coffee table, while others help bring dishes from his kitchen next door. Until recently there were even several gay clubs in Bishkek.