Azeri Transexuals (азербайджанские трансвиститы)

In 2000, the parliament here lifted a Soviet-era law that criminalized anal intercourse between men, previously punishable by up to seven years in prison. Lesbianism and non-anal sex between men were also specifically mentioned as crimes, and each could carry up to three years in jail. Though Azerbaijan gained its independence in 1991, following the collapse of the former Soviet Union, it took nearly a decade to repeal the old laws, and their demise had less to do with any cultural acceptance of homosexuality than it did with international politics.