Her Majesty's Government continues to pay close attention to the issue of LGBT rights. I raised the importance of diversity and inclusion in a speech to the National Assembly of Armenia in September 2017, referring to the record number of LBGT and female MPs in the House of Commons.
The British Embassy Yerevan has been active in supporting the LGBT community in Armenia. The British Ambassador and her team are in close contact with Armenian LGBT community representatives, have regularly hosted events for LGBT civil society organisations and spoken at conferences on LGBT issues to reiterate UK support for the universality of human rights. The British Embassy in Yerevan, along with other Embassies, has expressed grave concern over the upward trend in cases in Armenia where hate speech, including death threats, have been made against minorities and human rights defenders, particularly those promoting LGBT rights.
The UK, alongside partners, has called for hate speech to be condemned and for law enforcement agencies to take urgent steps to guarantee the physical safety of Armenian citizens and to investigate allegations against those suspected of perpetrating hate crimes.