What Would GLAAD Say

February 8, 2008

A few weeks ago, Contact Club, a local English Training/Community Service Organization that Cho, Chris, and I work with here in Kyzylorda decided to have a Valentine’s Day Party/Show to advertise and raise some money for other Community Projects. The party is going to be in Kazak and Russian so more people will come and will have singing, dancing, and even a short Valentine’s Day play, a very loose adaptation of Romeo and Juliet written by some members of Contact Club. I am playing the Shaman who sends Romeo and his friend Mercutio off to the big city with good wishes and a pair of magic balloons that when popped, will make anyone who hates you fall in love with you instead. Inevitably, Romeo and Juliet fall in love, but in a surprise twist, Mercutio and Tibilt also get together and everyone lives happily ever after. At first, I was surprised by our local scriptwriters’ choice to include an alternative relationship, but as I became more familiar with the script I realized that it was not a politically correct as I thought. Whereas Romeo and Juliet fall in love the “old-fashioned way,” Tibilt and Mercutio only get together because of the magic balloons. It is almost as if to say that heterosexual love is natural and expected, but homosexual love is unnatural and only occurs due to “magic” or some other outside influence.

The play is otherwise very funny, and I may be reading too much into it, but it is also another reminder that Kazak culture has a ways to go in regards to gender issues and rights. I have talked earlier about how Kazakhstan is similar in many ways to a 1950’s America, and the Kazak attitude towards homosexuality is a prime example. While there is not much fear or hostility towards gays and bisexuals, there is no acceptance either. In fact, many Kazaks claim that there are absolutely no homosexuals in Kazakhstan. This is definitely part of the country’s Muslim culture that I will have to live with, but it is sometimes difficult to understand when one come from a country that is on the cusp of a major and long time coming breakthrough for civil rights with the likely election of either Barak Obama or Hilary Clinton and the gradual acceptance of alternative lifestyles both in society and under the law. Granted, this issue is not one that effects me personally, but I find myself wondering how volunteers working in Kazakhstan who are gay are dealing with living and working in a culture that likes to pretend they do not exist. How much “cultural bridge building” are they able to accomplish when they are not able to express a major aspect of their personality? Furthermore, I have bemoaned the fact that I will probably not get a date for the next couple of years, but I can only imagine what it must feel like to risk your job or even your safety just for asking someone out on a date. Kazakhstan definitely has a lot going for it, and as a Peace Corps volunteer I am proud of the fact that I am helping it to achieve that potential. I just hope that Kazakhstan does not follow America’s example and take fifty years to make any substantive change on this issue.