Trans-National Queer & Trans Solidarity: Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan

Spoken language of this program: English

So Roustayar, member of Amsterdam City Council for BIJ1, will host a live talk that creates an opportunity to exchange experiences between grassroots activists in the Netherlands and Central Asia, who are focused on queer and trans issues. The obstacles queer and trans people face in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will be highlighted. These states are highly invisible in the global mainstream media, or only given a chance to speak when it concerns oil or an excuse for the Western states to push sanctions and destabilize the neighbouring powers, says Haydar Mukhit – organizer of this event. Many activists from Central Asia have to appeal to mostly ‘white’ institutions in the west, so this event is a chance to push for more trans-national solidarity between grassroots activists and organizations, instead of going through traditional channels of NGOs and Euro-American media, which mostly serve strategic, geopolitical interests and forget about the struggles of queer and trans people. To take care of each other globally, we need to inform ourselves and devise strategies on how to help diminish the struggles marginalized people face all over the world.

The event is organized by Haydar Mukhit, a Kazakh artist based in the Netherlands.

Host So Roustayar will be joined by Altynay Kambekova from Feminita Kazakhstan, an organization protecting LBTQ women’s rights, and Sanjar Kurmanov, a trans activist and community organizer in Kyrgyzstan. We will talk about how COVID-19 and other issues are impacting queer and trans people living in these post-Soviet dictatorships in Central Asia, as well as discuss how help can be offered and improved trans-nationally.

This program is pre-registered. It is therefore mandatory to register in advance, which you can do through the link below.