Lawyer Akram Hasanov made LGBTQI+phobic statements

In a statement to Pravda.az, lawyer Akram Hasanov made phobic statements about LGBTQI+ people. He cited the laws on “prohibition of LGBT propaganda” adopted in a number of countries as an example and said that he advocates the application of similar restrictions in Azerbaijan.

In his statement, Hasanov presented the existence of LGBTQI+ people as a “problem for society”, called their open visibility “propaganda” and said that “it should be banned”. He also linked the fact that some famous people do not hide their LGBTQI+ identity with “disruption of society”.

Hasanov claimed that “normal people start looking for something in themselves as a result of propaganda”, recalled that homosexuality was considered a crime during the USSR, and accused international human rights conventions of “turning a blind eye to this issue”.

However, the concept of “LGBT propaganda” does not exist in international legal norms. In many countries, this term is seen as a political construct used to discriminate and censor LGBTQI+ people.

The European Convention on Human Rights, to which Azerbaijan is a party, prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and protects the right of individuals to express their identity.

Experts say that calls to restrict LGBTQI+ visibility conflict with the principles of freedom of expression, respect for private life, and equality, and have led to human rights setbacks in a number of countries.

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