Armenia gay marriage

I and many other gay Armenian adolescents felt very alone in that time, but the odar world moved quickly while the Armenian community struggled to catch up. The Republic of Armenia does not recognize any marriage/unions/partnerships between individuals of the same sex.

I want to close my eyes, believe that the last years in exile was just a side plot and pretend that our lives were never interrupted. When I realized I was looking at the actual final photos that the couple had posted before they died by suicide — one together, another of their rings — I could not control my tears.

I attend badarak most weeks, and just like everyone else there, I proclaim my faith in God by reciting the havadamk , confess my sins before communion, pray for my family, my peers, even my enemies as difficult as it is , and I mourn our dead relatives, friends and siblings in the homeland.

Because of this, same-sex marriages performed in other states are also not recognized. Some of them got married and even have children at this point. Despite the fact that basically everything else in my life is going better than it ever has, for the next few days I had crying fits multiple times a day — not just at home, but at work and on the subway.

Something reminds me of how truly alone I am in the one place I never thought I would feel alone. Just like we all have, because of the Genocide and the Artsakh War, I cried so much that at some point, I no longer knew if I was crying for the dead or for myself.

I am relatively detached from social media, but I recently logged into a platform to see if a college friend had given birth yet. In , it is no longer a shock to readers of the Weekly that there are gay, queer and LGBT Armenians. Armenia's parliament has rejected consideration of a bill seeking to expressly outlaw same-sex marriages in the Caucasus nation.

I do not want to start a revolt. I simply want to go to badarak , light my candle and say the same prayers in the same language as my great-grandparents and their parents in Western Armenia. The problem for them is, with fewer and fewer people participating in institutional religious life, why would one search for reasons to push someone out?

As my siblings, cousins and childhood friends have almost all one-by-one realized their own atheism, rejected institutional religion or simply lost interest, I have almost ironically grown even more institutionally religious and more individually spiritual. Same-sex marriage and civil unions are not legal in Armenia and the Constitution limits marriage to opposite-sex couples.

LGBT Rights in Armenia: homosexuality, gay marriage, gay adoption, serving in the military, sexual orientation discrimination protection, changing legal gender, donating blood, age of consent, and more. People started showing up to AYF Olympics with their significant other of the same gender.

I do not want to make a statement. Even though homosexuality is legal in Armenia, same-sex marriage is not recognized, and there are no comprehensive anti-discrimination laws. Societal norms also do not accept same-sex unions. I have remained a member of the Armenian church.

Locals may experience limitations in housing, employment, and other areas of life due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Same-sex couples cannot adopt children. Homosexuals cannot serve in the military. I want to commune with my people. Their names were Arsen and Tigran.

We adapted, and some of us developed friend groups. Gradually, our hushed conversations and anonymous chats turned to normal volume, within earshot of our parents, sometimes even with our parents. The world is small, the Armenian world is smaller and the queer Armenian world is even smaller still.

I think to 10 years ago, when I was just coming to terms with the fact that my attraction to men was never going to go away, and when I had exactly one other gay Armenian friend. But I do not want problems. Legally marriage is considered only union between a man and a woman.

I want to communicate with God the way I learned as a child. [14][15]. I had to take a walk. The Constitution of Armenia recognises marriage between men and women if they are at least 18 years of age under Article This article is gender-specific and does not recognise partnership or marriage between homosexuals.

Such was the case after the recent tragic deaths of Arsen and Tigran, a young couple in Armenia. Many of us, however, had the luxury of discussing these things with our friends at school or in anonymous chat rooms online.