HOME | ARCHIVE | EMAIL US | TRAVEL SECTION
 

BELARUS

Belarusian Army Will Not Now Call-up Openly Gay Activist for Military Duty
 

MINSK – MOSCOW, January 12, 2009  (GayRussia.ru)–   The openly gay editor-in-chief of the largest Belarusian LGBT site Gay.by, Alexander Paluyan, will not now be conscripted into the Belarus army.

Even though the sexual orientation of the 23-year-old conscript was known by the personnel of the military department, they called on him to report to Mozyr military department, as GayRussia and UK Gay News jointly revealed last week.

Mr Paluyan was until recently considered as ineligible for military duties due to a health problem.

But after an amendment to the law as passed at the end of 2008 which declassified Mr Paluyan’s disease as ineligible to service in the army.

After the details Mr Paluyan’s military call-up into the army were made public in both the Belarusian and International LGBT media, as well as the appeal of the members of the Belarusian Initiative for Sexual and Gender Equality to the Mozyr City Council about the staging of a picket in front of the military department, the decision to suspend the conscription was made.

Additionally, activists had launched a campaign calling on the Ministry of Defence of Belarus to start a comprehensive anti homophobia campaign in the army.

“According to the legislation, you are ready for military service and will be put on the list of conscripts, though we will put a special mark that you cannot serve in the army of the basis of your way of life,” Mr. Paluyan was told by the military authorities.

In the majority of known cases in Belarus, when a conscript declares his homosexuality during the medical commission, he is ‘diagnosed’ with having a ‘psychiatric disease’ which de facto exempts him from serving in the army.

As a result, Mr Paluyan became the first known Belarusian citizen to be exempted from serving in the army – but not diagnosed as being mentally ill.

“Frankly speaking, I am happy with the result,” Mr. Paluyan said yesterday in an e-mail to GayRussia.

“It is good that everything was done on time and many thanks to everyone for support which I received from friends and colleagues.

“Without their help, I would now be wearing the military boots.

“I hope the military department will not change their decision,” he concluded
 

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTER FRIENDLY PAGE

Seed Newsvine  

Got an opinion on this article?  Leave your comment here.