The Kyrgyz people are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia. They are primarily found in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan. A Kyrgyz diaspora is also found in Russia, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan. They speak the Kyrgyz language, which is the official language of Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia, lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the capital and largest city of the country. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and China to the east and southeast. Ethnic Kyrgyz make up the majority of the country's 7 million people, followed by significant minorities of Uzbeks and Russians.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is an intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia consisting of six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan, formed in 2002. The Collective Security Treaty has its origins in the Soviet Armed Forces, which was replaced in 1992 by the United Armed Forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and was then itself replaced by the successor armed forces of the respective independent states.
Human rights in Kyrgyzstan improved after the ouster of President Askar Akayev in the 2005 Tulip Revolution and the installment of a more democratic government under Roza Otunbayeva. While the country is performing well compared to other states in Central Asia, many human rights violations still take place. While LGBT rights have been declining in recent years, freedom of press has been improving.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Sweden are regarded as some of the most progressive in Europe and the world. Same-sex sexual activity was legalized in 1944 and the age of consent was equalized to that of heterosexual activity in 1972. Sweden also became the first country in the world to allow transgender people to change their legal gender post-sex reassignment surgery in 1972, whilst transvestism was declassified as an illness in 2009. Legislation allowing legal gender changes without hormone replacement therapy and sex reassignment surgery was passed in 2013.
OutRight International (OutRight) is an LGBTIQ human rights non-governmental organization that addresses human rights violations and abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. OutRight International documents human rights discrimination and abuses based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics in partnership with activists, advocates, media, NGOs and allies on a local, regional, national and international level. OutRight International holds consultative status with ECOSOC.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT) in the Philippines face some legal challenges not faced by non-LGBT people, with numerous anti-discrimination legislations, bills and laws that are struggling to be passed on a national level to protect LGBT rights nationwide, with some parts of the country only existing on a local government level. LGBT individuals in the Philippines are often faced with disadvantages and difficulties in acquiring equal rights within the country. They also have a higher rate of suicide and suicide ideation compared to their heterosexual counterparts.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Kyrgyzstan face significant challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Kyrgyzstan, but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are ineligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples.
The first HIV/AIDS case in Malaysia made its debut in 1986. Since then, HIV/AIDS has become one of the country's most serious health and development challenges. As of 2020, the Ministry of Health estimated that 87 per cent of an estimated 92,063 people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Malaysia were aware of their status, 58 per cent of reported PLHIV received antiretroviral therapy, and 85 per cent of those on antiretroviral treatment became virally suppressed. Despite making positive progress, Malaysia still fell short of meeting the global 2020 HIV goals of 90-90-90, with a scorecard of 87-58-85.
Azimzhan Askarov was a Kyrgyzstani political activist who founded the group Vozduh in 2002 to investigate police brutality. Of ethnic Uzbek descent, during the 2010 South Kyrgyzstan ethnic clashes, which primarily targeted people of the Uzbek nationality, Askarov worked to document the violence.
The MSM blood donor controversy in the United Kingdom refers to the former deferral policy of men who have had sex with men (MSM) in the United Kingdom who wish to donate their blood to UK blood donation services. Since June 2021, there is no deferral period in all four home nations. This followed an announcement in December 2020 that blood donation policies specific to MSM would be scrapped in favour of personalised risk assessment based on sexual behaviour.
Humsafar Trust is an NGO in Mumbai that promotes LGBT rights. Founded by Ashok Row Kavi, Suhail Abbasi, and Sridhar Rangayan in 1994, it is one of the largest and most active of such organisations in India. It provides counselling, advocacy and healthcare to LGBT communities and has helped reduce violence, discrimination and stigma against them. Humsafar Trust is the convenor member of Integrated Network for Sexual Minorities (INFOSEM).
Intersex civil society organizations have existed since at least the mid-1980s. They include peer support groups and advocacy organizations active on health and medical issues, human rights, legal recognition, and peer and family support. Some groups, including the earliest, were open to people with specific intersex traits, while others are open to people with many different kinds of intersex traits.
The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice is an international charitable foundation based in the United States focused on issues related to LGBT and intersex rights for people of color. The organization provide grants to individuals and organizations, promotes philanthropy, and provides capacity building assistance.
Insight is a Ukrainian LGBTQI organization. Unlike most Ukrainian LGBT organizations focused on work with gay men and MSM, Insight’s priority is to help lesbians, bisexual women, transgender, queer and intersex people. Insight is one of the few public organizations in working with transgender people.
The United Nations Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is a United Nations Independent Expert appointed by the body's Human Rights Council under its special procedures mechanism. The Independent Expert's Mandate is to examine, monitor, advise, and publicly report on matters related to human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Tengir Ordo is a Tengrist neopagan religious movement established in 2005 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan with International Scientific Center of Tengrist Studies, but already previously incorporated as Tengir-Ordo Association for the Preservation of the National Heritage that in 2003 in Bishkek held the first international scientific symposium on Tengrism "Tengrism—the worldview of the Altaic peoples".
STAB is an institute located in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, which focuses on research, expression, and activism. STAB was established in 2012 and provides a platform for discussion and expression of many issues facing the people of Kyrgyzstan primarily through art and literature. STAB focuses on several key issues including Postcolonialism, gender, and sexuality, and has partnered with other activist groups like Labrys, a Bishkek LGBT organization. STAB holds theory critical to the process of its work, and its members spend much time conceptualizing before completing their work.
Sadyr Nurgojo uulu Japarov is a Kyrgyz politician who is currently serving as the president of Kyrgyzstan since 28 January 2021. He had previously served as the acting prime minister of Kyrgyzstan in the 2020 interim government following the resignation of President Sooronbay Jeenbekov. Japarov also became acting president of Kyrgyzstan after Jeenbekov's resignation but resigned himself on 14 November 2020 to run for the 2021 presidential election, where he was elected to succeed the acting president Talant Mamytov.
