Young people in Uzbekistan, just as in other countries, try to express themselves in different ways. In the cities of the country, you can meet emo, goths, rockers, anime and cosplayers, gamers, etc. But their outward differences shock the population of Uzbekistan, and many confuse them with the LGBTQ community. They are bullied, harassed, and kidnapped because of these differences.
CABAR.asia analytical platform investigated the reasons for this dislike of Alt people (“Alt” – Alternative) in Uzbekistan.
Bullying of Alt people in Tashkent
On May 19 this year in Tashkent unknown persons kidnapped a blogger and anime fan Miraziz Bazarov, who in his accounts on the social networks TikTok and Instagram tried to explain the difference between cosplayers (as fans of anime subculture call themselves) and LGBTQ people. He often criticized the current system and called for an end to the persecution of LGBTQ people.
It was reported that unidentified people forced the blogger into a car without license plates and took him away. Later it became known that Miraziz Bazarov was in the Tashkent Department of Internal Affairs, and the next day the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that the blogger was at his home.
This is not an isolated incident. Bazarov is serving a sentence of 3 years of imprisonment without the right to use the Internet since January 2022.
Prior to that, in March 2021, the blogger of the year was beaten in front of his house, as a result of which he suffered multiple fractures and injuries. The incident occurred after he called for anime and K-pop fans to gather in a Tashkent square, where a parallel protest against LGBTQ activists was taking place. In April of that year, Bazarov was placed under house arrest, which was extended until September.
This is not an isolated incident. Bazarov is currently serving a three-year prison sentence, with no Internet privileges, as of January 2022. He was convicted in a defamation case because of a video about school teachers, in which he says that children at school are taught by “losers and old slaves.” According to the court order, he was banned from using the Internet and all of his social media pages were deleted.
His lawyer, Sergey Mayorov, said in an interview with Fergana.agency that the case against his client was fabricated and was a deliberate action to discredit Bazarov because of his critical articles.
A cosplayer festival was supposed to take place in Tashkent in April of this year, but according to a Tashkent cosplayer, who requested anonymity, authorities did not allow the festival to take place.
“They did not give me a specific reason, but then I talked to a friend from Tashkent last week, and she said that everyone involved in the festival was taken to the police station, held there, asked various questions, and then they let me go”, said one representative of a youth subculture from Tashkent.
The page of Mahalla.Media, a website that positions itself as “an Uzbek digital media about civil society, civic activism and grassroots initiatives”, was also removed from Instagram. Miraziz Bazarov was an active contributor to the page. He was also rumored to be the founder of the site.
Three stories of Alt people. A hobby that will pass in time?
Zebo Eshmatova is 22 years old and she has been in love with anime since her early childhood. Outwardly it does not manifest itself in any way, but she is a true fan of the genre.
“Oh, my God! What beautiful drawing there was, not like in ordinary cartoons. The girls were slender, with long glossy hair, pale porcelain skin… And then it went on, I devoured the title after title, the openings and endings – I watched them all to the second, because they were a work of art,” she recalled.
She said she was so enthralled by Japanese cartoons that at age six she began studying Japanese on her own and then the culture of that country.
“How is it possible to love Japan and its culture so much that a person who had been forced and tormented to learn English for six years began to learn Japanese and its seemingly difficult writing (compared to English) on her own with pure enthusiasm and to learn it many times more productively? Isn’t that the power of love?” she says.
Zebo says her relatives have never hindered her hobby and she hasn’t had to hide anything from them.
“On the contrary, I would share with them my drawings of half-naked girls with colored hair and cat ears, and they would say with an ambiguous expression on their faces, ‘Well done. It’s beautiful. Why is her skirt so short?” Even when my mother came over from Russia and asked what to bring me, I asked for a volume of manga. Of course, she mumbled, saying, “maybe something normal you ask? But still brought and was not categorical, for which I am eternally grateful to her, “- she said.
Zebo Eshmatova’s mother believes that it is a hobby that will pass with time, when her daughter outgrows it.
But not everyone around her was so lenient. Her peers, who were not into anime, did not bully her, but they did not “shake her hand,” she said. No one openly humiliated her, but she felt the ridicule and banter, especially from men.
“I think if I were a guy, I would have had a hard time,” the girl says.
Her words are confirmed by Zubair Abdullayev, a 22-year-old boy from Andijan, who has been fond of rock since 2015 and is also an anime fan. He says that because of his long hair his classmates in college didn’t even approach him, suspecting him of all sins. And his family members are very religious and view his hobby negatively.
“For some reason people think that rock is listened to by Satanists. It scares people and they react aggressively to my outward differences. […] All the people older than me think it’s their duty to teach us, without even knowing what we are about! They just mock us, insulting our taste,” he says.
But Zubair believes there is a lot of meaning in rock and anime, even more than in other genres.
“There’s a cry of the soul! There’s more meaning in anime than 90% of the films that have been released since 2010! That’s my subjective opinion. […] I grew up to be who I am because of it all. And I can say thank you to all that,” he adds.
Another young subculture person, Inna Kolpakidi, a resident of Samarkand, said the lack of understanding of Uzbekistan’s subcultures stems from a lack of interest in them. She does not identify herself purely as a member of any subculture, saying she sees opportunities to realize her creative potential through unconventional clothing styles and revealing makeup.
She believes that the local population does not understand and does not accept the Alt people because people do not learn another culture.
“Subculture is a lifestyle. You look, you dress the way you want. “Alternative” community is very sensitive, as a delicate soul. Many are vulnerable, often introverted, all have trust issues. However, they are working on themselves, improving. Everyone has his own hobbies,” she said.
According to her, Alt people are creative people who think outside the box. Hence their desire to stand out and not be like everyone else. Inna said that because of her appearance, she was bullied in her hometown of Samarkand as a schoolgirl.
“At the same time I stood out only a little bit. For example, when I was in lyceum, I kept my uniform – white top, black bottom – but I diluted it with a tie with skulls, red checked sneakers, and a bright yellow and red backpack. Sometimes I wore black and white gaiters/mittens up to my elbows. This was not forbidden by the school rules. However, I had to face the fact that security would not let me in because of my bright, by their standards, shoes and backpack. A lot of people remembered me as emo and goth. Although I just combined all the styles I liked from different kinds of subcultures and walked the way I liked,” she recalls.
Her relatives didn’t react to her “non-conformity” in the best way, either.
“My mom is still more or less. But the others branded me a goth, tried to brainwash me that it was bad. In fact, I’m not a goth. I’m not a goth. I combine different subcultures in me. […] The images depend on my mood. Most of them are bold for many passersby and my acquaintances. Especially my makeup. […] Now my relatives have partially come to terms with the way I look. […] I would like to live in a place where no one pays attention to that,” she said.
Subcultures are always an element of confrontation with society
According to some experts from Uzbekistan, society in this country is becoming more and more orthodox. Therefore, the non-conformity of Alt people to the ideas of appearance, thinking, and way of life causes negativity among the majority of the population in the country.
Civic activist, blogger and musician Nikita Makarenko said that Uzbekistan has a traditionalist and conservative society. A variety of ideological attitudes that are inherently hostile to liberal value-oriented subcultures have been fused here in the cultural code, he said.
“People brought up in the Soviet spirit are hostile to them. Religious people are hostile. Pro-Russian-oriented people are hostile. Supporters of the official Uzbek ideological construct “manaviyat” – hostile. Young people with a near-religious orientation are hostile. Thieves’ notions, still strong in society, also leave no room for maneuver. And now imagine that in Uzbekistan all these constructs are often contained in one person”, he said.
But, he notes, the representatives of subcultures need to understand that subcultures are essentially created to oppose society and the establishment.
“Therefore, an element of confrontation with society is always present in such subcultures, and is sometimes their goal,” Makarenko says.
Timur Karpov, founder of 139 Documentary Center, also believes that society bulldozes Alt people because their way of life does not correspond to “traditional values.”
“We are brought up this way since childhood, binary. Anything new, unfamiliar, strange, it frightens and, accordingly, the first reaction will be aggression. We should also add serious problems with education and the environment in which people grow up. […] For such people it is difficult to distinguish colors, colors, everything that is not gray is LGBT. And this is superimposed on the brainwashing by Russian and Uzbek propaganda, as well as the trend of hatred toward the LGBT community as non-traditional,” he notes.
Inna Kolpakidi says she would like to change the way people in Uzbekistan think.
“Alt people are far from being stupid or dumb, as they are usually portrayed in society. They are multifaceted. Their worldview is always different from that of most people. Everyone’s character is different, but many find their way in life and follow it. It’s not easy for them, but this community is supportive, compassionate and genuinely happy for you,” she adds.
Main Photo: Amir Temur Square in Tashkent. Photo by fergananews.com