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Queer East Europe

Resources for activists and organizers working on

Research links

Sodomy Laws of the World
Searchable archives of the international LGBT news journalist Rex Wockner up to 2002
More up-to-date archives of Rex Wockner's news column
ILGA World Legal Survey

This page can also be viewed here: http://www.QEASTEUROPE.tk

Resource Links List for Eastern Europe and Central Asia
PLEASE ACT NOW: Male homosexual acts are still illegal under Article 120 in Uzbekistan. WRITE E-MAILS AND FAXES to help release Ruslan Sharipov (arrested 26 May 2003 under article 120, serving 4 YEARS under house arrest, having been transferred from prison on the weekend of 14 March, 2004) . Read Eurasian Bridges March 2004 here -- a bulletin on 2003-2004 events in the Eastern Europe/ Central Asia region.
Non-gay women's groups listed here are known to be accepting toward lesbians and bisexual women. Copyright years (c.) are indicated for sites that are out of date; other sites are up to date as of March 2004. The information on the legality of homosexual acts is also up to date as of March 2004. If you are looking for funding sources for your LGBT organization outside the United States, click HERE for the IGLHRC International LGBT Funders' List. Some of the on-line resources used to research the country information below: * Sodomy Laws of the World http://www.sodomylaws.org/world/world.htm * Searchable archives of the international LGBT news journalist Rex Wockner up to 2002 http://www.wockner-news.com/ * More up-to-date archives of Rex Wockner's news column http://members.aol.com/wockner/ * ILGA World Legal Survey http://www.ilga.info/Information/Legal_survey/ilga_world_legal_survey%20introduction.htm * Rainbow Query (note: searches for whole words only) http://www.rainbowquery.com/ * Queer Resources Directory - World Resources http://www.qrd.org/qrd/world/ * Eastgarden Countries (c. 1998) http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/2144/countries.html * Homosexual Rights Around the World http://www.actwin.com/eatonohio/gay/world.htm
Links to general REGION-WIDE contact lists (with addresses / phone numbers) and other region-wide resources:
*AIDS GROUPS SOROS list of Eastern European / FSU groups working on AIDS and harm reduction issues *CULTURAL NETWORK ILGCN -International Lesbian & Gay Cultural Network: works in Eastern Europe, including Baltic and Balkan countries *ILGA MEMBER GROUPS ILGA member groups including Eastern Europe and Central Asia (c. Sept. 1999) Site for the European Regional Sector of ILGA - news & resources *ISLAM AND CENTRAL ASIA Links on Islam and homosexuality in the Middle East & Central Asia *LANGUAGE RESOURCES Translate.ru - a free on-line translator for translation of websites or text between Russian & English, Spanish, French, German, Italian. YourDictionary.com Slavic Language Resources - online dictionaries for the major Slavic languages. *LESBIAN FEMINIST RESOURCES Women's Infoteka: index by name of Lesbian and Feminist organizations of Eastern Europe (Also see the Infoteka homepage.) *NEWS The RFE/RL Newsline - Radio Free Europe daily news reports on developments in East/ SouthEast Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, SouthWest Asia, and the Middle East. Prima News - human rights news for Russia and the Former Soviet Union. *SLAVIC STUDIES Gay and Lesbian Slavists-- a scholarly community *TOURISM Central European Gay Network: Gay Guides *YOUTH IGLYO member groups (gay / lesbian youth groups) including Eastern Europe and Central Asia (c. 1996; the more updated site www.iglyo.org is not functioning as of April 2003)
Some CURRENT COUNTRY LINKS for Eastern Europe/ Central Asia: A-Z by country See below for links on these Eastern European & Central Asian countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosova,Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia-Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Also see a note on the former Yugoslavia and links to Balkan regional resources.
Albania Decriminalized homosexual acts Jan. 20, 1995. UNICEF 2002 AIDS assessment for Albania Armenia Decriminalized homosexual acts Jan. 9, 2003. Gay & Lesbian Armenian Society (Los Angeles) Association of Gay and Lesbian Armenians (France) News Item (towards bottom of page): Armenian Gays Reach Out (c. 1996) Azerbaijan Decriminalized homosexual acts May 2000. Sex in Azerbaijan (c. unknown date) ILGA Media Release, Lifting of Gay Sex Ban (c. 2000) Belarus Decriminalized homosexual acts in 1991, published changes 1996. Belarussian Gay and Lesbian Site APAGAY Gay and Lesbian Issues in Belarus (c. 2001) Bosnia-Herzegovina Decriminalized homosexual acts in the Federation (FBiH) in 1996. Decriminalized homosexual acts in Republika Serbska 1998. Has gender equality law since 2003 legally prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. "Q" - formerly Bosna 14 Septembar - for promotion & protection of culture, identites and human rights of queer persons Homo Klub Forum Queer Forum (new in 2003) Gay Bosnia (less political) Bulgaria Decriminalized homosexual acts fully in 2002. Gay Bulgaria (BulGayria) - also at this site. Gay Bulgarian organization Gemini (c. 2001) BG Lesbian- an unfinished site. Croatia Decriminalized homosexual acts in 1977. Added same sex civil unions and sexual orientation anti-discrimination protections to legal code July, 2003. Read the civil union law text HERE and anti-discrimination laws HERE. Kontra - a lesbian group - read about them in Enligh HERE. LORI - lesbian organization in Rijeka (see their "love is love" campaign billboards on this site) Queer Zagreb Iskorak - gay group in Zagreb. Gay Croatia Be Active Be Emancipated (B.a.B.e.) - a women's group that works on issues of sexuality Lesbian Information Center Gay Osijek - new in Dec. 2002! Women's Infoteka (also listed above in Lesbian Feminist Resource) Kontra lesbian activist group - hosted by Croatian Lesbian Site (news page, c.2001) Lesbian and Gay Men Action Croatia - LIGMA (c. 1999) Croatian LesBiGay (and Trans) site (c. 1998) Gay Rijeka - a short page (undated, maybe c. 1998) Gay Split and Dalmatia - tourist info. with out of date links page (c. unknown) Decki - gay on-line magazine. Czech Republic Decriminalized homosexual acts in 1961. Gay Guide Prague Feminist and Gender Studies Centrum Lesba.cz - Czech lesbian on-line magazine Estonia Decriminalized homosexual acts in 1990; other anti-gay laws repealed Sept. 2001. Estonian Gay Planet Gay and AIDS service groups Georgia, Republic of Decriminalized homosexual acts July 22, 1999; new law entered into force June 1, 2000. SodomyLaws.org summary on Georgia Hungary Decriminalized homosexual acts in 1961 ; other anti-gay laws repealed Sept. 2002. Gay Guide Budapest Hatter G/L Support Society Pride.hu - on-line gay magazine Kazakhstan Decriminalized homosexual acts in 1997. Kazakhstani gay chat Kosova - also Cosovo, Kosovo Under interim administration of the United Nations Mission in Kosova (UNMIK) since 10 June 1999. Antidiscrimination laws including sexual orientation protections were put into law in 2001: . Elysium and Sappho - a collaborative of gay and lesbian Kosovars. Kyrgyzstan Decriminalized homosexual acts Jan. 1, 1998. Article: Kyrgyzstan legalizes gay sex (c. 1998) Latvia Decriminalized homosexual acts in 1992. Gay Latvia - in April 2003 not functioning. Lithuania Decriminalized homosexual acts June 11, 1993; other anti-gay laws repealed Sept. 2000. Gay Lithuania LLL Sappho lesbian site(c. 1998) Macedonia Decriminalized homosexual acts in 1996. Center for Civil and Human Rights - Skopje-based LGBT rights organization. Activity Report on the Project Borders of Freedom and Choice: Homosexuality in the Republic of Macedonia by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights and the Center for Civil and Human Rights (c. 2002) Click here for the PDF of the final report. Gay Macedonia (unfinished site) (c.unknown date) Moldova (formerly Moldavia) Decriminalized homosexual acts June 15, 1995. Gay.md hosted by GenderDoc-M Gay Moldova Mongolia Unclear in law. “Satisfaction of immoral sexual needs" may still be illegal. Mongolian Resource and Information Site for Lesbians and Queer Community * new in 2004! * Gay to Mongolia travel agency (non-political, graphics-heavy) Article: Country Conditions per a UN Consultant (c. 2000, with Mongolia links list) ILGA Country Summary (c. March 2000) Poland Decriminalized homosexual acts in 1932. Gay Guide Warsaw Gejowo - online magazine ILGCN Poland Innastrona - online magazine Kampania Przeciw Homofobii Lambda Warsaw (a) - at Gejowo Lambda Warsaw (b) - a different site for the same group, with different information Polgay - social site with news Romania Decriminalized homosexual acts fully Feb. 2, 2002. ACCEPT - older G/L organization Attitude! - newer G/L organization Portalul Gay Cluj- site for Rainbow Group Cluj Romanian Action for Gay Men, Lesbians and Bisexuals (c.1998) Russian Federation Decriminalized homosexual acts partly 1993, fully January 1,1997 Gay.ru - most established site for LGBT news Labrys - the St. Petersburg lesbian organization (Replacing the old site http://labrys.gay.ru, which has some articles and other content of interest). Krug - a gay group in Murmansk; also see the RFSL site Gay Murmansk Krilija - gay activist organization in St. Petersburg LeDi-Park - a lesbian web portal, operating in cooperation with the bimonthly lesbian journal "Ostrov" (published since 1999). Check out Ledi-Park's links page for social group pages from all over Russia. KVIR - gay cultural magazine, new in 2003 Gay.ru-sponsored community center "Together" Gay Global's list of LGB Russian links - a list of social and political sites Russian Lesbian Feminist Resources (c. 2001) HS Association- Gay-Straight Alliance in St. Petersburg (c. 2001) Russian Queer World - in-country & diasporic resources and chat (c. 1997) Serbia-Montenegro - Also seeYugoslavia Serbia decriminalized homosexual acts in 1994. Montenegro decriminalized in the mid 1970s. - Decko "straight-friendly" gay online magazine Deve Belgrade Lesbian/ Gay Friendly Cultural Center Gay Serbia Labris Group for Lesbian Human Rights - based in Serbia but active all over the former Yugoslavia the Association for the Promotion of Human Rights of the Sexually Different "Pride" * new in 2003 * Gayten - Center for the Promotion of LGBT Human Rights (c. 2001) Slovakia Decriminalized homosexual acts in 1961. Ganymedes sexual minority organization Habio L/G social organization (c. 2001) Gay Slovakia (c. unknown date) Slovenia Decriminalized homosexual acts in 1976. Slovenian Queer Resources Directory Lesbo Magazine and a short history of SKUC - LL - the producers of Lesbo Magazine Out in Slovenia Tajikistan Male homosexual acts are still illegal under Article 125.1. Gay Tajikistan (c. 2000) Gay Middle East & Central Asia site with a section on Tajikistan Turkmenistan Homosexual acts are still illegal under Article 126.1. Gay Middle East & Central Asia site with a section on Turkmenistan Ukraine Decriminalized homosexual acts in 1991. Gay.org.ua - info center with gay guide and online library, including updated Nash Mir online magazine Gay.org.ua Lesbian Page Gay Ukraine International GlobalGayz page on the Ukraine - with assorted country links (c. 2002) Gay Kharkov (c. 2000) old site: Nash Mir "Our World" project and magazine (c. 1999) Uzbekistan Male homosexual acts are still illegal under Article 120. ACT NOW to help release Ruslan Sharipov (arrested under article 120) from jail. Gay Uzbekistan (in English) (under construction in 2004), also similar sites in Russian HERE, and HERE (apparently by the same individual). Gay Middle East & Central Asia site with a section on Uzbekistan (c. 2002) A Note on Yugoslavia As of Feb. 4, 2003, what was recently called "Yugoslavia" has been renamed "Serbia and Montenegro." Yugoslavia as a legal or national identifier has now formally ceased to exist. In terms of legal inheritance, in 1971 most criminal law legislative power was given over to the former Yugoslavia's six republics & two autonomous regions: Vojvodina & Montenegro decriminalized homosexual acts in the mid-70s. Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosova (Kosovo) & Slovenia have also all decriminalized. Slovenia, Croatia, and Kosova have adopted anti-discrimination provisions which include sexual orientation. All the former Yugoslav republics and Albania have begun the process of accession to the European Union (2004). Balkan Resources (see also the individual country links) Decko - Gay Yugoslavia (includes regional FRY links) Queeria Yugoslavia Balkan Lesbian Connections - for all of the Former Yugoslavia Autonomous Women's Center's list of links - to L/G web sites for the Former Yugoslavia. Also see the host organization's home page. Arkadija - the first gay Yugoslav organization, now defunct, had a lesbian working group (c. unknown date) -- site not functioning in April 2003.
If you have country-specific questions that are not answered at these sites, or an amendment to these links or country information, please send an e-mail.