Homophobic question on “Open Azerbaijan”

Zöhrab Ismayil presented LGBTQ+ rights as separate from fundamental human rights.

In a program broadcast on the Open Azerbaijan YouTube channel, journalist Zöhrab Ismayil addressed a homophobic question to lawyer Samed Rahimli. He framed the presence of LGBTQ+ rights on the international agenda as “pushing fundamental human rights into the background.”

According to Zöhrab Ismayil: “Before, the focus was on fundamental human rights, but then the issue shifted to very small things… For example, the LGBTQ concept—it was LGB at first, then LGBT, then LGBTQ, and then LGBTQ+. This process itself… We saw that some international organizations also, in a way, emphasized the rights of marginal groups and so on. So did fundamental human rights get pushed into the background?”

This approach is problematic and openly phobic for several reasons:

• Referring to LGBTQ+ rights as “small things” diminishes the existence and rights of LGBTQ+ people and trivializes the numerous problems they face. It ignores the reality of discrimination and violence that affects millions of lives daily.

• The rhetoric of “marginal groups” stigmatizes the LGBTQ+ community by framing them as outsiders to society and presenting their rights as illegitimate.

• Pitting LGBTQ+ rights against fundamental human rights is misleading: LGBTQ+ rights are part and parcel of fundamental human rights. Freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is a basic right for every individual.

Let us not forget that international institutions such as the European Court of Human Rights, the United Nations, and the World Health Organization have repeatedly stressed that LGBTQ+ rights are an inseparable part of universal human rights. Presenting them as “additional” or “minor” issues is simply repeating the language of homophobic discourse.

Such questions in public discussions only further target the LGBTQ+ community and reinforce existing phobia. This approach serves neither journalistic objectivity nor the true understanding of human rights.

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