Authorities in Armenia have not responded to the Weekly’s inquiries about the investigation. One investigating officer told him “gays are not allowed or loved in this country,” and that was why this happened in the first place. Since the incident, Varzhapetyan says he hasn’t learned much from the police investigation and that police officers have responded to him with vitriol. 23-year-old Vrezh “Max” Varzhapetyan (Photo retrieved from Facebook)ĭespite surveillance cameras in the area, the assailants have not yet been apprehended.
The men told him he had no right to call himself an Armenian and that he was not a man, but a “sister.” Varzhapetyan says he suffered a broken tooth and injuries to his mouth and nose. Before police could arrive, his assailants asked him if he was Armenian, and upon his response, beat him and threw him into the road.
The man, 23-year-old Yerevan resident Vrezh “Max” Varzhapetyan, a gay rights activist and Right Side NGO staff member, told the Armenian Weekly that on the evening of February 11, three men pursued him down the street, shouting profanities and homophobic slurs. A gay man was assaulted and beaten last week while walking down the street at night in Yerevan.
