Scandal: A Transgender Woman Spoke from the Parliament Podium, Zohrabyan Responded with Anger

From the podium of the National Assembly of Armenia, I address you as a transgender woman, but please accept me as a collective character. This was announced by Lilith Martirosyan, the president of the NGO "For the Right, Human Rights Defender," during the invited hearings on the topic of Human Rights in the National Assembly.

“As a member of the Armenian transgender community and the president of ‘For the Right, Human Rights Defender,’ I encompass those who have been tortured, raped, abducted, physically abused, burned, cremated, stabbed, subjected to assassination attempts, killed, emigrated, robbed, and subjected to stigmatization and discrimination in all areas of social, legal, healthcare, economic, and dignified life; I represent unemployed, poor, and morally abandoned Armenian transgender individuals,” she stated.

According to the president of the NGO, they documented 283 cases of torture against transgender women prior to 2018, of which only a minuscule number were accepted for investigation by the police and other law enforcement agencies.

“In my opinion, there are 283 criminals living beside you, and who knows if tomorrow the 284th will commit his crime,” she said.

The transgender woman also noted that human rights defenders who deal with their issues are also subjected to violence and persecution.

The meeting was chaired by Naira Zohrabyan, the president of the Standing Committee on Human Rights and Public Affairs, who expressed outrage, stating that they had no right to violate the agenda and raise such an issue from the podium of the National Assembly.

“We had three topics to discuss: judicial reforms, issues of people with disabilities, and child issues. Taking the opportunity and trying to raise a question from this podium that is not currently on our agenda, I consider this disrespectful behavior – firstly towards me as the chair of the committee, and secondly towards the parliament. No one is violating your rights; we have a clear agenda, and you have disrupted our agenda,” she said.

Following Naira Zohrabyan’s statement, applause erupted. Meanwhile, a group representing sexual minority issues loudly claimed that the MP was showing discriminatory behavior towards them.

“There is no issue of discrimination; when the question concerns you, we would invite you,” Naira Zohrabyan said angrily.

Video: Armdaily.am