Recently, Yerevan removed the LGBT poster. The head of the Department of External Design and Advertisement in the Municipality of Yerevan, Araz Baghdasaryan said during the press conference that the poster had been removed, since there was no permission for its placement.
In response to the remark that after the removal discussions were held according to which the Municipality was discriminating the LGBT community, Araz Baghdasaryan commented, “It would be a discrimination if we allowed the unapproved, illegally placed stand or poster to remain there. This is our usual workflow. No matter what content the advertisement would have, if it does not receive a permission, if it is not approved, then it’s illegal”.
As the head of the Department assures, the advertising company or the client had not addressed the Municipality for approval.
Then Araz Baghdasaryan said, “I have two approaches to this question: the first is official-I work within the framework of the law. The second is personal-I don’t want to contribute to future conversations on this topic, since as an advertisement specialist I believe that our discussions advertise it more than 3 posters in the city would do. Therefore, I apologize, I will not touch upon this topic anymore”.
Nelli BABAYAN
