Labrys organisation poster – "Together we are a Trans* force". Photo courtesy of the author. All rights reserved.
In September 2014, I visited Kyrgyzstan for the first time, to speak at the PEN International Congress in the capital, Bishkek. We had to keep our panel, which argued for the repeal of “anti-LGBTQI” (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex) legislation that restricts the right to freedom of expression, secret. A few months earlier, the Kyrgyz parliament had introduced a bill that copied Russia’s legislation against “gay propaganda”, with additional jail sentences for people who “promote homosexual relations” through the media, so we feared that the entire Congress could be shut down if the authorities found out about it.
