Published: 29 February 2016
Country: Armenia
During a popular TV show in Armenia, a gay man and his mother were brought to speak about discrimination based on sexual orientation. This gay man, according to PINK Armenia, suffered an open discrimination from other contributors on TV programme.
For instance, psychologist Mariam Mehrabyan who holds PhD of Psychological Sciences and who is Associate Professor, said that she can treat/cure the guest’s homosexuality. Lawyer Garik Galikyan, who is a member of the Chamber of Advocates of the Republic of Armenia and founder of Galikyan law office in Yerevan and its branch in the Netherlands, said: “Whenever I see them [LGBT people], I will smash them, trample them, and yes – they must be burnt…”.According to the video posted on YouTube, presenter of the show didn’t interrupt or challenged Galikyan’s views and openly expressed hatred.
New Generation Humanitarian NGO, as well as PINK Armenia, together with Anti-Discrimination Coalition has initiated a complaint against Galikyan to the Ethics Committee of the Chamber of Advocates in Armenia and they also called on psychological associations from around the world to make statements and voice their concerns on this matter.