About Us

Serving the Trans LGBIQ and sex worker community of Armenia since 2016

About us

Right Side NGO

Right Side Human Rights Defender NGO is the first and leading community-based organization for Trans and sex worker communities in Armenia and the region.

The organization was founded on January 25, 2016 by Trans activists and has since focused its efforts on protecting the rights and health of the Trans, LGBIQ, and sex worker communities, advocating for policy reform, and increasing community visibility and mobilization. The organization carries out advocacy on international platforms, representing the issues of the Trans and LGBIQ communities at the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the European Union etc. Right Side collaborates with local and international organizations, promoting many issues of the Trans LGBIQ community, which has contributed to significant progress in the field of protection of Trans and LGBIQ rights in Armenia. With the efforts of the organization, the name change procedure was revised in Armenia in 2018, marking significant progress in the protection of Trans rights. Over the past eight years, Right Side NGO has remained committed to empowering Trans and sex worker activists, along with other LGBIQ community members, by providing them with the knowledge, skills, and tools to protect their rights and advocate for social change. The organization provides community members with legal and psychological services, small grants, educational opportunities, and crisis social support.

Right Side is the proud voice of the communities it serves and is trusted by thousands of Trans, LGBIQ, and sex worker community members from Armenia and beyond, whose lives have been directly improved through the organization's vital work. In recognition of her innovative efforts to advance Trans rights, the Founder and President of Right Side NGO, Lilit Martirosyan, was awarded the Human Rights Tulip in 2020 by the Government of the Netherlands, which led to the establishment of the organization's community safe space in 2022, which hosts hundreds of Trans, LGBIQ and sex workers’ community members each month.