LGBT rights in Yarova

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Yarova are some of the most advanced in Eastern Artemia and in the world. has been lawful in Yarova since 20 June, 1962, when the Sodomy Law Revocation Act (Отмена анти-содомии закона) came into force upon the assent of President Eghian.

Yarova has frequently been referred to as one of the most gay-friendly countries in the world, with its largest cities featuring their own, and being named among the most gay-friendly cities in the world, as Chaykoboksarsk’s Belyymost neighbourhood, Cheskovsk’s Queer Village , Yumarapol’s Sayangorod and Shchyokhov’s Prokhor Street Queer Village. Since 1971, the Constitution of Yarova has guaranteed fundamental human rights to the LGBT community, as the Federal Declaration of Rights and Freedoms (Федеральная декларация прав и свобод) which applies to all s, “shall be interpreted in a manner consistent with the preservation and enhancement of the .” Every June and July, Yarova’s celebrates  in all major cities, with many political figures from the federal, oblast-level and municipal scenes.

A global survey conducted in May 2014 showed that up to 80% of Yarova’s general population (90% among Yarovars aged between 18 and 29 years) favoured of, which represented a staggering increase of 20% in  within just ten years. Thereafter, polls from June 2015 have shown an increase in the Yarovan population’s point of view, with a large majority of Yarovars supporting, which has been legally permitted since 2006, and therewith. The polls also show that 70% of Yarova’s population agree that “same-sex couples should have the same rights to adopt children as heterosexual couples do,” and 78% agreeing that “same-sex couples are just likely as other parents to successfully raise children.”

History
The history of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Yarova and its historical antecedents (the Vojiskiy Empire and Tsardom of Yarova) has largely been influenced by the political leanings of its rulers. Medieval Catholic-Protestant Western and Central Artemia had the largest influence on Yarovan attitudes towards homosexuality. Yarovan LGBT history was influenced by the ambivalent attitude of the Svogda Patriarchate Orthodox religiosity regarding sexuality.

In contrast to old Western and Central Artemia, ancient Yarova had an open attitude towards homosexuality. Homosexuality has been documented in Yarova for centuries. The earliest documented bans on homosexuality date to the early-mid 17th century. Yulian Susonev recorded during the reign of Tsar Yaroslav V, who began the process of the and modernisation of Yarova, that male homosexuals were put to death and also states that female homosexuals are also put to death by burning. Government attempts at preventing homosexual practices began in the 18th century, with Tsar Yaroslav VI prohibiting homosexual relations in the imperial armed forces in 1712 as a part of his efforts to modernise the country. In 1850, further laws were enacted criminalising certain sexual acts between two males, but an LGBT subculture developed in Yarovan cities during that century, with many significant Yarovars being openly homosexual or bisexual.

In 1926, the Second Civil War saw the overthrow of the Vojiskiy government and the subsequent foundation of the United Federated Districts, a moderate social democracy and republic. The old laws criminalising homosexuality were not carried by the Provisional Government, effectively legalising homosexual and transgender activity within Yarova, although it remained illegal in other former territories of the Vojiskiy Empire. Under the leadership of Vitaliy Simakin and Rusya Tarasovich, openly homosexual people were allowed to serve in government and the military. However, in 1931, the federal government under the leadership of Igor Biryu and the Christian Alliance Party recriminalised homosexual activity with punishments of up to five years’ hard labour. Following the successive Republican Party governments of Tarasovich, Yankovsky and Novoseltsev from 1936-1951, there was a gradual liberalisation of attitudes toward sexual issues in the United Federated Districts, but homosexual acts remained illegal. Nonetheless, same-sex relations were officially decriminalised with the Sodomy Law Revocation Act in 1962. Homosexual culture became increasingly visible thereafter, particularly following the end of the Khismatullin government and the inauguration of the brashly liberal president Vladimir Rodchenko in 1995.

According to several reports about the Tsardom of Yarova and Vojiskiy Empire, Western Artemian visitors were shocked or surprised how open and naturally the Yarovan people dealt with homosexuality. The Tiperyn royal diplomat Aike Drosse described in his report Notysjes oer Yarovyske Saken (Notes on Yarovan Affairs) his observations during his travels in Svogda and Chaykoboksarsk in 1534 and 1543. He noted that homosexuality was prevalent amongst all social classes, not exclusively the elite. The Thesparossian poet Perilokis Spinos, who visited Chaykoboksarsk in 1640 during the tumultuous reign of Tsar Yaroslav IV, was shocked not about the upheavals brought about the Plantation of the Dzyunakaz, but about the open homosexuality of the Yarovan peasantry. There are also reports of homosexual relationships between women, dating back to the era of the East Slavic confederation of Ljudia. Historians widely agree that Tsar Yaroslav VI’s efforts to Artemianise Yarova heavily imported homophobia to the country.