Belarusian authorities are shutting down MAKEOUT, an NGO dealing with gender and LGBTQ+ community

February 14, BPN. Belarusian authorities are shutting down MAKEOUT, an NGO dealing with gender and LGBTQ+ community issues, its co-founder Mikalaj Ancipaŭ reported.

He wrote on his Facebook page: “Yesterday I received a letter about the liquidation of MAKEOUT in Belarus. Despite the fact that the organization has not been active for a long time, I waited for them to show up. They did.”

MAKEOUT is a Belarusian feminist anti-discrimination project on gender and sexuality aimed at increasing visibility and awareness as well as strengthening LGBTQ+ and other vulnerable groups facing discrimination based on sexual and gender identity.

According to the Legal Transformation Center Lawtrend, in 2020-2021 the number of organizations in the process of forced liquidation or those who made such a decision independently exceeded 800.

Belarus has introduced criminal liability for activities on behalf of liquidated organizations.