Russia censoring anything about LGBTQ people

[Leftsolidarity]

So as we should all know by now, there is stuff going on in Russia about censoring anything about LGBTQ issues.

What I wanted to discuss is the international issue on this.

I passed up signing a big petition to urge our (USA's) politicans to put pressure on Russia over this. It was hard for me to do as a queer male but I didn't feel comfortable telling US politicans to pressure Russian politicans whilst in the midst of troubles over Iran, Syria, etc. Russia has taken an anti-imperialist stance in relation to these countries recently and has been taking a lot of heat from Western countries for this. I felt like I would be stabbing an anti-imperialist ally in the back by signing that petition. I think that this issue might be best left up to the Russian people to settle themselves.

Of course I am 100% against the bill and I would assume we all are. (If you aren't then gtfo) That's not what I want this discussion to be about.

Would you have signed that petition?

How do you feel about the protests outside the Russian embassies being planned?

General thoughts?

[The Young Pioneer]

Well hey, Iran doesn't have any gays, maybe Russia's trying to do the same thing.:lol:

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Signing the bill wouldn't have done anything either way; whatever happens in Russia will ultimately be determined by the Russian activists and people. My experience on social-Imperialism is not perfect but you probably did the right thing.

[moulinrouge]

Is there a campaign against this law by the russian communist party?
I find it strange that a nation with such a large amount of communists is often so social conservative.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Saint Petersburg, long considered Russia’s most beautiful, artistic, and Western-leaning city, took a giant leap backward toward the Stone Age today with the passage of a bill (http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/02/29/st-petersburg-passes-gay-propaganda-law-2/) that imposes fines of up to 500,000 rubles (about $17,200) for the “promotion of homosexuality.” Russia’s second biggest city follow three others in the passage of the outrageously archaic legislation, which effectively makes it illegal to write books, publish articles, or speak in public about being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.
The Saint Petersburg City Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of the bill in its third and final reading, with 29 yays, five nays, and one abstention.
Before becoming law in the city, the bill must now be signed by regional governor Georgy Poltavchenko — but since Poltavchenko has previously expressed his view (http://www.thedailyactivist.com/civil-rights-st-petersburg/) that the legislation would “serve for the good of public morals,” his signature is all but a given.
Proponents of the bill have already said that if they were successful in Saint Petersburg, their next step will be to take it to the national stage.
Flash mobs (http://www.queerty.com/flash-mobs-at-russian-embassies-to-protest-anti-lgbt-law-in-st-petersburg-20120227/) took to the streets outside Russian embassies across the world earlier this week in efforts to stop the bill’s passage. Two AllOut.org petitions—one (http://www.allout.org/russia_silenced) directed to world leaders, the other (http://allout.org/stpetersburg-dont-go) to Poltavchenko himself and promising a global travel boycott of the city—have also sought to stop the legislation.


Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/its-official-gay-propaganda-to-be-illegal-in-russias-second-biggest-city-20120229/#ixzz1noB0K2m7

[Igor]

Is there a campaign against this law by the russian communist party?
I find it strange that a nation with such a large amount of communists is often so social conservative.

If there is a campaign by the Russian Communist Party regarding this law, it's probably for the law, I'm sad to say. The Russian Communist Party is notoriously conservative in social issues and is very much part of the establishment in modern Russian. They are in no way something any leftist should look up to, actual revolutionary movements are all illegal and forced to work underground.

Also, the title is misleading. This law is not implemented by the Russian duma or the Russian state. It's a bill passed by the St. Petersburg legislature and affects things only in St. Petersburg. In rest of Russia, LGBT rights are still pretty bad but there's still no legal grounds to censor you for promoting them.

[Ocean Seal]

Russia has taken an anti-imperialist stance in relation to these countries recently and has been taking a lot of heat from Western countries for this.

No it hasn't.



I felt like I would be stabbing an anti-imperialist ally in the back by signing that petition.

No it wouldn't. And I'm the furthest thing from being an ultra-left on this forum.



I think that this issue might be best left up to the Russian people to settle themselves.

It ultimately will be an issue decided by the Russian people themselves.



Would you have signed that petition?




I passed up signing a big petition to urge our (USA's) politicans to put pressure on Russia over this. It was hard for me to do as a queer male but I didn't feel comfortable telling US politicans to pressure Russian politicans whilst in the midst of troubles over Iran, Syria, etc.

I'm going to be honest, petitions for this kind of thing don't do shit, so don't beat yourself up over either option.



How do you feel about the protests outside the Russian embassies being planned?

Excellent solidarity against homophobia.

[Igor]

Forgot to second the notion that all leftists should immediately drop the idea of Russia being an anti-imperialist ally. It makes about as much sense as allying with the United States to combat Russian imperialism, because they are both imperialist powers. Just look at the Caucasian region and what Russia is doing there, for example. Why do you think American imperialism is somehow inherently worse than Russian? This is a really common problem with many leftists. Leftism is not anti-American, we shouldn't oppose them any more than any other capitalist regime in the world. Ruling class is ruling class, nationality has nothing to do with that.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

Leftsolidarity-Russia is an Imperialist state, no more no less. Russia was an empire in 1914. Calling Russia anti-Imperialist in 2012 would have been like calling Germany anti-Imperialist in 1914. Just because they challenge the dominant Imperial power in the world, it doesn't mean that they aren't Imperialists themselves!

When the Russian state does something shitty and discriminatory, don't let your illusion of their "anti-Imperialist" nature prevent you from criticizing it.

[Leftsolidarity]

When the Russian state does something shitty and discriminatory, don't let your illusion of their "anti-Imperialist" nature prevent you from criticizing it.

There is a difference between criticism that will advance our cause and criticism that will only serve to help harm a country that is working against the main imperialist country in the world. I also were stating how they have been in an anti-imperialist postition in relation to Iran and Syria recently. I do not hold back from criticizing this but this was more of a "how do we do it" kind of thing. I feel like asking US politicans to put on pressure is a bad way to go about it. Embassies seem like a good option though.

[Igor]

There is a difference between criticism that will advance our cause and criticism that will only serve to help harm a country that is working against the main imperialist country in the world. I also were stating how they have been in an anti-imperialist postition in relation to Iran and Syria recently. I do not hold back from criticizing this but this was more of a "how do we do it" kind of thing. I feel like asking US politicans to put on pressure is a bad way to go about it. Embassies seem like a good option though.

They're working against the main imperialist country to become the main imperialist country. Why the fuck should I help them in this by not harming them?

[Delenda Carthago]

Russia has taken an anti-imperialist stance in relation to these countries recently and has been taking a lot of heat from Western countries for this. I felt like I would be stabbing an anti-imperialist ally in the back by signing that petition.


Yeaah...not really.

[Leftsolidarity]

They're working against the main imperialist country to become the main imperialist country. Why the fuck should I help them in this by not harming them?

But they still are working against the main imperialist country that exists right now. Basically that argument boils down to, we shouldn't back any country challenging US imperialism if it isn't exactly the kind of country we want. This is what we have to work with. Whether they want to become the main imperialist country or not is really not important because they just aren't. The US is, though, and they have challenged the US on some key issues.

Don't take this as that I like Russia or anything like that but when a country takes an anti-imperialist stance on issues we should support that.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

But they still are working against the main imperialist country that exists right now. Basically that argument boils down to, we shouldn't back any country challenging US imperialism if it isn't exactly the kind of country we want. This is what we have to work with. Whether they want to become the main imperialist country or not is really not important because they just aren't. The US is, though, and they have challenged the US on some key issues.

Don't take this as that I like Russia or anything like that but when a country takes an anti-imperialist stance on issues we should support that.

Marcyism?... check out the PSL...?

[Leftsolidarity]

Marcyism?... check out the PSL...?

I'm a member of the WWP

[TheGodlessUtopian]

I'm a member of the WWP

Somewhat of a contradiction than... I don't recall Left Communists, that is the WWP's tendency?, that support Marcysim. Though I am ignorant in these matters so I may be incorrect.

[l'Enfermé]

Is there a campaign against this law by the russian communist party?
I find it strange that a nation with such a large amount of communists is often so social conservative.
The Russian Communists criminalized homosexuality under Stalin, modern "Communists" in Russia don't like homosexuals either...no one likes homosexuals in Russia outside of some nightclubs. Many oppose discrimination against LGBT people, but don't particularly support them. In Chechnya if you rape and kill a homosexual, our President(Kadyrov) will probably send you a medal instead of a life-sentence, and Chechnya is a part of the Russian Federation.

The ban in Leningrad is a ban on homosexual, bisexual, transgender and pedophile "propaganda"...do you see how they shoved pedophilia in there? As if it's some mental disorder(actually homosexuality was classified as a mental disorder until 1999).

Though, I guess the pedophilia thing applies to Priests...since they mostly molest male children...

Similar bans exist in Archangelks Oblast and Ryazan Oblast. It's not limited to Leningrad. Though I don't think both regions together have a population bigger than 2-3 million...Leningrad has 5 million.

And yes, I still call St. Petersburg "Leningrad". I don't like Peter the Great.

[Leftsolidarity]

Somewhat of a contradiction than... I don't recall Left Communists, that is the WWP's tendency?, that support Marcysim. Though I am ignorant in these matters so I may be incorrect.

No, Marcy founded the party. The WWP isn't a left communist organization. We are a Marxist-Leninist party.

[Leftsolidarity]

The Russian Communists criminalized homosexuality under Stalin, modern "Communists" in Russia don't like homosexuals either

I would like to point out, though, that one of the very first things that happened after the revolution was the legalization of homosexuality.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

No, Marcy founded the party. The WWP isn't a left communist organization. We are a Marxist-Leninist party.

Ah, okay... I was confusing your party with a different one.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Despite international protests but as widely expected, down came the word over the weekend that the governor of Russia’s second biggest city, Saint Petersburg, signed the infamous “gay propaganda” bill (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Russias-Saint-Petersburg-governor-signs-anti-gay-law/articleshow/12221968.cms) into law on March 7.http://queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com/wp/docs/2012/03/no-rainbow-flags-360x240.jpg (http://www.queerty.com/sht-gets-real-as-gay-propaganda-ban-gets-signed-into-law-in-st-petersburg-20120312/no-rainbow-flags/)
When it takes effect later this month, the law will make it a crime to “promote homosexuality” (http://www.queerty.com/its-official-gay-propaganda-to-be-illegal-in-russias-second-biggest-city-20120229/) to minors, with fines of anywhere from 5,000 rubles (about $170) for an individual offense to 100 times that for an organization.
“We had no doubt that this would be signed by the Kremlin-nominated governor,” responded leading Russian gay rights activist Maria Efremenkova, ”but we will fight against this discrimination.”
Because of the law’s unclear wording, no one is exactly sure yet what will be illegal nor how zealous officials will be about enforcement — but activists are already lining up to test the treacherous waters.
“The bill’s language is so vague and broad,” said Human Rights Watch (http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/03/02/russia-block-st-petersburg-s-homophobic-law) earlier this month, “that it could lead to a ban on displaying a rainbow flag or wearing a T-shirt with a gay-friendly logo, or even on holding LGBT-themed rallies in the city.”
Famed Russian gay freedom fighter Nikolai Alexeyev has made it quite clear that he will be among those protesting the law outside of Russian schools.
Yesterday Alexeyev also filed a suit (http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/gay-activist-sues-over-girl-remark/454396.html) against the bill’s author, Vitaly Milonov, for one million rubles (about $34,000), for calling him a “girl” in a Russian TV interview. In the offending clip, Milonov claimed that he didn’t know how old Alexeyev is, but “you don’t usually ask girls about this.”


Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/sht-gets-real-as-gay-propaganda-ban-gets-signed-into-law-in-st-petersburg-20120312/#ixzz1owCNzzgi

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Pride House at 2014 Winter Olympics Deemed Way Too Risky for Russian Sovereignty to Bear (http://www.queerty.com/russian-sovereignty-deemed-way-too-shaky-to-survive-the-explosive-power-of-an-olympic-pride-house-20120315/)

The homophobic news just keeps on pumping from Russia: Yesterday in the southwestern resort town of Sochi, home to the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics, the full text was released from an appeals court decision that last month upheld a ban on local gay rights groups from creating a Pride House, similar to those at Vancouver in 2010 and planned for the Summer Olympics this year in London (http://www.queerty.com/pride-house-london-unveiled-for-2012-summer-olympics-20111216/).
http://queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com/wp/docs/2012/03/sochi-cropped-360x304.jpg (http://www.queerty.com/russian-sovereignty-deemed-way-too-shaky-to-survive-the-explosive-power-of-an-olympic-pride-house-20120315/olympus-digital-camera-12/)The language of the court’s decision was shocking in its gay-hating bluntness (http://en.ria.ru/society/20120314/172165282.html): It said the Sochi Pride House’s goals “undermine public morals and are at odds with national policy on the family, motherhood and children.”
By putting forth “propaganda of nontraditional sexual orientation,” the Pervomai district court of Krasnodar further ruled, Pride House could have spawned a decrease in Russia’s already low birth rate, thereby “undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Russian Federation.”
And the court wasn’t finished. For good measure (http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/2012/03/14/russian-court-ruling-bans-lgbti-group-from-2014-winter-olympics/), it labeled the Pride House “extremist,” since — get this — its attempts to combat homophobia would “incite social and religious hatred.”
The Pride House’s simple aim had been to provide athletes and spectators of the Sochi Winter Olympics with “an objective source of information on the LGBT movement in Russia and the world.”
The February 2014 games in Sochi will be the first Olympics in the Russian Federation. The 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics were the first and last in the now defunct Soviet Union.
In other rampant Russian homophobia happenings this week, a Russian Orthodox Church official hailed Saint Petersburg’s new “gay gag” bill (http://www.queerty.com/sht-gets-real-as-gay-propaganda-ban-gets-signed-into-law-in-st-petersburg-20120312/) on Monday, and called for similar legislation to be adopted nationwide (http://www.care2.com/causes/russian-church-official-wants-national-gay-gag-rule.html) “without delay.”
“The law passed in Saint Petersburg will help protect children from information manipulations by minorities promoting sodomy,” said Dimitri Pershin, the church’s representative on family and youth issues, in an interview with the Russian news agency Interfax
Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/russian-sovereignty-deemed-way-too-shaky-to-survive-the-explosive-power-of-an-olympic-pride-house-20120315/#ixzz1pDuAJYrH

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Legislation similar to St. Petersburg’s anti-gay-propaganda law has been submitted to the lower house of Parliament, the Washington Post reports (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russias-parliament-to-consider-bill-against-gay-propaganda/2012/03/29/gIQA5uWXiS_story.html). Writes the Post:

The bill calls for fines of up to 500,000 rubles ($16,500) for “spreading homosexual propaganda” among minors…
The legislation also calls for an up to 1 million (http://www.queerty.com/as-widely-expected-russian-parliament-considers-national-ban-on-gay-propaganda-20120329/#) ruble ($33,000) fine for material promoting pedophilia.
What a vile little Santorum-esque addendum, placing homosexuality in the same unlawful basket as pedophilia.
Activists from AllOut.org had warned (http://www.queerty.com/watch-allout-tells-st-petersburg-governor-not-to-tarnish-tchaikovskys-legacy-with-anti-gay-bill-20120301/) that the passage of the bill in cosmopolitan St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, could pave the way for the nationalization of the anti-gay policy.
At this moment, we hope the people of Russia will take the time to watch AllOut’s moving video below, made in the run-up to the St. Petersburg ban, and urge their federal legislators not to take their country backward into history. They would do well to remind themselves of the pains and restrictions of their yesteryear—and, make no mistake, this is a step (http://www.queerty.com/as-widely-expected-russian-parliament-considers-national-ban-on-gay-propaganda-20120329/#) backward toward that.


Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/as-widely-expected-russian-parliament-considers-national-ban-on-gay-propaganda-20120329/#ixzz1qXSlAAek


P.S: See source for video

[l'Enfermé]

Maybe if the fucks in the Kremlin spent some of that oil revenue on projects that materially benefit the masses in the Russian Federation, then perhaps women there would feel secure enough to have more children?

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Maybe if the fucks in the Kremlin spent some of that oil revenue on projects that materially benefit the masses in the Russian Federation, then perhaps women there would feel secure enough to have more children?

I don't think it has to do with a low population. Case in point: there are many people in China, despite a low medium income, and yet working families still have children.

[Revolutionary_Marxist]

It's sad to see the new breed of Fascism coming to Russia, hopefully the "Gay Propaganda Bill" gets repealed.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

It's sad to see the new breed of Fascism coming to Russia, hopefully the "Gay Propaganda Bill" gets repealed.

So don't I. Such laws aren't fascist, per se, just ultra-conservative authoritarianism. Awful yes but Russia would need more ideological points to consider a brand of neo-fascism.

[Left Leanings]

It's sad to see the new breed of Fascism coming to Russia, hopefully the "Gay Propaganda Bill" gets repealed.


So don't I. Such laws aren't fascist, per se, just ultra-conservative authoritarianism. Awful yes but Russia would need more ideological points to consider a brand of neo-fascism.

I hope all LGBT people in Russia push against this, and get the legislation repealed.

It reminds me of the notorious Section 28, introduced by one of the Thatcher governments in Britain, in the 1980s, as part of her local government legislation. Some local councils had taken the step of educating kids in school about LGBT issues, to foster understanding and tolerance. Thatcher made it illegal. So far as I am aware, Section 28 has now been repealed.

EDIT:

One point I do remember about Russia, is when Peter Tatchell, the famous gay rights campaigner, went to Moscow to support a demonstration in favour of LGBT rights. He was attacked by some ultra-nationalists and neo-nazis. And the Russian police did sweet fuck all about it.

Here is the link to the story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/may/28/russia.gayrights

[TheGodlessUtopian]

LGBT Rights Group Challenges St. Petersburg "Propaganda" Law


By Brett Edward Stout (http://www.advocate.com/authors.aspx?searchterm=Advocate%20Contributors)
http://www.advocate.com/uploadedImages/ADVOCATE/NEWS/2011/2011-11/2011-11-16/st-petersburg-russia.jpg

The law banning so-called gay “propaganda” in the city of St. Petersburg has been challenged in the city’s court. The St. Petersburg-based LGBT advocacy group Coming Out says it filed a challenge to the law Monday on constitutional grounds.
The challenge sites the vagueness of the terms “propaganda,” “bisexualsm,” “transgenderism,” and “traditional and nontraditional family relationships.” By not defining these terms, it opens up the law to extraordinarily broad interpretation, they argue. So broad in fact, that the organization points out that technically even mentioning the existence of homosexuality could result in an up to $16,000 fine for individuals.
In a statement issued by the group, it also argues that while the law aims to protect children from homosexual “propaganda,” it actually opens many children up to increased social intolerance, teaches a lesson of inequality, and promotes hatred of difference.
Coming Out has called for a “Week Against Homophobia” in the city. Challenging the new law is the first step (http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2012/04/03/Gay_Rights_Group_Challenges_St__Petersburg_Propaga nda_Law/#) in the week-long campaign. “There is nothing immoral in the information that there are different sexual orientations and different families,” said Mikhail Belodedov, coordinator of the Week Against Homophobia. “That is why we don't mean to cut our activities in any way. We are not going to put up with the laws that are in contradiction to the knowledge of modern science and offend hundreds of thousands of St. Petersburg citizens.”
(RELATED: Our expose, titled “Russia’s Closet,” details the U.S. origins of the new antigay law in St Petersburg.) (http://www.advocate.com/Politics/Commentary/Russias_Closet_The_Politics_Behind_Russias_Ban_on_ Gay_Propaganda/)


Source: http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2012/04/03/Gay_Rights_Group_Challenges_St__Petersburg_Propaga nda_Law/

[TheGodlessUtopian]

http://queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com/wp/docs/2012/04/2012_04_06_17_29_spbarrestskiselevbigm.jpg (http://queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com/wp/docs/2012/04/2012_04_06_17_29_spbarrestskiselevbigm.jpg)
St. Petersburg flexed the muscle of its new anti-gay law (http://www.queerty.com/first-arrests-after-st-petersburgs-gay-ban-two-russian-activists-holding-gay-is-normal-signs-20120406/www.queerty.com/sht-gets-real-as-gay-propaganda-ban-gets-signed-into-law-in-st-petersburg-20120312)for the first time yesterday when two LGBT activists were arrested for holding signs that said “Gay Is Normal.” They weren’t not standing together or yelling chants, but “public promotion of homosexuality” is now illegal in the city, and the men could be subject to a fine of $170–$17,000.
Reports the St. Petersburg Times (http://www.sptimesrussia.com/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=35439):

Alexei Kiselyov and Kirill Nepomnyashy were arrested outside the Palace of Youth Creativity holding signs bearing the words, “Gay is normal,” police told Interfax. Police said the pair was conducting so-called one-man pickets — which do not require City Hall approval — meaning that they were not standing together or yelling slogans.
Under a St. Petersburg law that took effect last month, anyone found guilty of promoting homosexuality among minors is to be fined from 5,000 to 500 (http://www.queerty.com/first-arrests-after-st-petersburgs-gay-ban-two-russian-activists-holding-gay-is-normal-signs-20120406/#),000 rubles. The law has been condemned by domestic and international human rights advocates and gay activists, and by Western governments.
A hearing to determine whether they will be fined is set for today—we’ll update you when we hear the results.


Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/first-arrests-after-st-petersburgs-gay-ban-two-russian-activists-holding-gay-is-normal-signs-20120406/#ixzz1rI75m3tw

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[TheGodlessUtopian]

A straight Russian man who was the first to be arrested by the St. Petersburg police for violating their new ban on “homosexual propaganda” has been charged with “disobeying police orders” instead of breaking the gay ban. Reports gay-rights activist org AllOut, in a press release circulated to gay media outlets:

Sergey Kondrashov, a straight Russian man arrested two weeks ago for holding up a gay rights banner in Saint Petersburg, Russia, was today found guilty of “disobeying police orders” – and ultimately not charged under the city’s new “homosexual propaganda” law. The judge cited a lack of evidence, and protocols, in explaining the absence of the charge in her final decision. Kondrashov, an attorney, and other human and civil rights activists in Russia, say this is further proof of the new law’s un-enforceability – and un-constitutionality.
Kondrashov explains, “The courts are afraid of applying (http://www.queerty.com/straight-married-russian-man-arrested-for-homosexual-propaganda-now-cleared-of-violating-anti-gay-ban-20120423/#) this law and do not want to take responsibility for its further enforcement. The judge’s decision is illogical in a legal sense, and it lacks common sense.” When arrested, Sergey was holding up a banner that read : A dear family friend is lesbian. My wife and I love and respect her … and her family is just as equal as ours.
While it’s great to have straight allies in celebrities like Josh Hutcherson and Chris Evans, the real front-line work (http://www.queerty.com/straight-married-russian-man-arrested-for-homosexual-propaganda-now-cleared-of-violating-anti-gay-ban-20120423/#) of activists is perhaps more commendable. After all, the celebs have merely endorsed what increasingly becomes a cool and popular way of thinking, but these activists risk their well-being (and sometimes lives) for the international LGBT cause. Kudos to Sergey and kudos to the gay activists in Russia for bringing the country up to speed.
Check out AllOut’s “Stand With Sergey” petition here (http://www.allout.org/standwithsergey), which as of this publishing nearly 70,000 people have signed.


Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/straight-married-russian-man-arrested-for-homosexual-propaganda-now-cleared-of-violating-anti-gay-ban-20120423/#ixzz1sz5xzp60

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[TheGodlessUtopian]

Police in St. Petersburg, Russia, detained at least 17 LGBT-rights advocates today during a May Day celebration, the result of the city’s new gay-propaganda ban (http://www.queerty.com/our-plans-to-start-a-russian-gay-mag-called-st-petersboiz-are-totally-foiled-20120208/). A spokesperson for the activist group Coming Out said numerous protestors had been detained across the city after waving rainbow flags and charged with not cooperating with police. Earlier this month, two activists were the first to be arrested (http://www.queerty.com/first-arrests-after-st-petersburgs-gay-ban-two-russian-activists-holding-gay-is-normal-signs-20120406/) under the statute when they held signs stating “Gay is Normal” outside the Palace of Youth Creativity.
The law—which bans the presentation and promotion (http://www.queerty.com/russian-police-detain-gay-protestors-at-may-day-celebration-20120501/#) of LGBT material to minors—has been criticized by international observers as being unjust and vague, but similar measures are being considered across Russia.


Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/russian-police-detain-gay-protestors-at-may-day-celebration-20120501/#ixzz1tjMfq2oG

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[TheGodlessUtopian]

Nikolai Alexeyev has been at the forefront of the gay-rights movement in Russia for years. Now he’s the first to have been convicted under St. Petersburg’s new gay-propaganda law, which outlaws exposing minors to “deformed notions of social equality of traditional and nontraditional marital relations.” In April, Alexeyev was arrested for picketing St. Petersburg City Hall with a sign that read: “Homosexuality is not a perversion. Perversion is hockey on the grass and ballet on ice.”
He was found guilty on Friday and faces (http://www.queerty.com/nikolai-alexeyev-first-to-be-convicted-under-st-petersburgs-anti-gay-law-20120507/#) a fine of $167. (Fines can go as high as $16,700.) He tells the Los Angeles Times of his conviction:

“In a way I am glad they passed a guilty sentence and opened this Pandora’s box… Now we will fight this homophobic verdict in every court and go all the way to Strasbourg if need be to try and break this caveman mentality which throws Russia back to the dark ages,” he said referring to the European Court of Human Rights in France.
Several arrests were reported on May Day, a traditional day of activism in Russia and Europe, and at least two other people were arrested on April 4 for holding signs that said “Gay Is Normal.” (http://www.queerty.com/first-arrests-after-st-petersburgs-gay-ban-two-russian-activists-holding-gay-is-normal-signs-20120406/#ixzz1uA47uLvm)


Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/nikolai-alexeyev-first-to-be-convicted-under-st-petersburgs-anti-gay-law-20120507/#ixzz1uIPUxFgO

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[TheGodlessUtopian]

According to a poll taken by the All-Russian Center for the Study (http://www.queerty.com/study-half-of-russians-believe-the-media-makes-you-gay-20120521/#) of Public Opinion earlier this month, 47% of Russians believe homosexuality is caused by exposure to the media. In a press release Thursday, the state-run polling company claimed the respondents “said media and propaganda were the key factors contributing to development of a person’s non-traditional sexual orientation.”
Other factors some of 1,600 people polled attributed to causing homosexuality were the influence of friends (35%) and parents (33%), and a negative experience with a member of the opposite sex (16%).

According to [the Center], the public perception of gays and lesbians in Russia is worse than that of people of other ethnicity, faith or social status. The poll (http://www.queerty.com/study-half-of-russians-believe-the-media-makes-you-gay-20120521/#) found that 45% of those questioned feel negative about the need to communicate with homosexuals. About 38& said that people of non-traditional orientation do not provoke any special emotional reaction.
Homophobia is rampant through Russia: Pride parades have been disbanded in Moscow and St. Petersburg has passed a broad “gay-propaganda” ban, with other cities discussing similar ordinances.


Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/study-half-of-russians-believe-the-media-makes-you-gay-20120521/#ixzz1vX9w8gsv

.

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

Well hey, Iran doesn't have any gays, maybe Russia's trying to do the same thing.:lol:

That's nothing to joke about mate.

As for the bill itself, I support all actions being taken against the state of Russia whether they foreign or domestic. As for not signing petitions under the ground of anti-imperialism, I disagree. Why? Russia is, itself, a capitalist nation and engages in imperialism itself and has been and done so even when it was the former SU and even further, when it was under the yoke of the Tsar.

I would have no reservations against any and all action being taken against it.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Moscow Police Break Up Gay Protests, Detain 40

Demonstrators including well-known activist Nikolai Alexeyev were demanding the right to hold a gay pride parade.
BY Trudy Ring

May 27 2012 1:31 PM ET

http://www.advocate.com/sites/advocate.com/files/imagecache/stories/moscow_protestx400.jpg [/URL] [URL="http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2012/05/27/moscow-police-break-two-gay-protests-and-detain-40-participants#"]12 (http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2012/05/27/moscow-police-break-two-gay-protests-and-detain-40-participants#)

Police in Moscow detained about 40 people Sunday as a result of two pro-gay demonstrations, both met with Orthodox Christian counterprotests.
Gay activists assembled outside the city council building for a demonstration demanding the right to hold a pride parade, and some fights broke out between them and the counterprotesters, the Associated Press (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/moscow-police-detain-40-as-gay-activists-demand-right-to-hold-parade-face-christian-protest/2012/05/27/gJQArvQFuU_story.html) reports. After police ordered the crowds to disperse, the gay group tried to hold a second protest at City Hall. Police broke it up and pushed about 40 people into police buses. Most were gay activists, including the well-known advocate Nikolai Alexeyev, but some were from the Christian group.
Moscow authorities have repeatedly denied permission for gay pride parades. Former mayor Yuri Luzhkov called such events “satanic,” and current mayor Sergei Sobyanin has objected to them on the grounds that they would offend many Russians’ religious beliefs.
Alexeyev recently became the first person convicted under St. Petersburg’s new law against “gay propaganda” after he demonstrated at City Hall with a sign reading “Homosexuality is not a perversion.” The law essentially bans any public discussion of homosexuality, including pride parades, and the Russian parliament is considering a similar law that would cover the whole nation.



Source: http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2012/05/27/moscow-police-break-two-gay-protests-and-detain-40-participants

[TheRadicalAnarchist]

I wouldn't have signed it. Not because I support Russia, but because I find it highly hypocritical for the US to pressure Russia on this matter, being that we still discriminate against LGBTQ people.

[MuscularTophFan]

I wouldn't have signed it. Not because I support Russia, but because I find it highly hypocritical for the US to pressure Russia on this matter, being that we still discriminate against LGBTQ people.
So you wouldn't condemn Uganda if they tried to make homosexuality the death penalty or how about the Iranian homosexuals executed daily in Iran because that would be hypocritical right? I'm bisexual and from the USA and while gays are still discriminated by law here it's still one of the best countries on earth for any gay person to live. I have lived in Pennsylvania my whole live and I never once been discriminated against because of my sexual orientation. I think many gays would prefer living in America than living in say Zimbewe, North Korea, Iran, Uzbekistan, Russia, etc.

Basically what your saying is:

"USA doesn't have gay marriage legal in every single US state therefore I shouldn't speak out against countries that imprison and murder people for being gay."

[Leftsolidarity]

I dislike both of your arguments

[Comrade Trollface]

Hey what else is new? Stalin and his successors all sent queer men to forced labor camps and forced queer women into quack psychiatry hell. Here's the glorious legacy of Soviet LBGTQ policy in action. You can call this a return to form if anything.

[Leftsolidarity]

Hey what else is new? Stalin and his successors all sent queer men to forced labor camps and forced queer women into quack psychiatry hell. Here's the glorious legacy of Soviet LBGTQ policy in action. You can call this a return to form if anything.

Umm, first of all this is not the thread for more mindless anti-Stalin/USSR babble. Secondly, the USSR actually made milestones for the queer community.

[Comrade Trollface]

Far be it for me to put the current situation in Russia in its historical context if some half-baked Stalinoid objects:rolleyes:
Male homosexuality was considered criminal and punished by labor camp from 1933 onward (Article 121 of the Criminal Code)
Female homosexuality was medicalized and 'treated' by coercive hormone treatments.

This shit did not change until after the fall of the USSR. Some good stuff happened before 1933, but current attitudes are a direct legacy of Stalinism. So go soak your head.

And might I add that thanks to the nature of the fucking police state, a Soviet Stonewall would have looked something like the Tienanmen Sq massacre? So yeah.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

I hate to nickpick but the massacre at Tienanmen Sq never happened as proven by Wiki-Leaks.... just saying.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

We’re not sure what’s in the vodka in St. Petersburg, but authorities there have apparently approved a rally for Russia’s LGBT community, the news site RIA Novosti is reporting (http://en.ria.ru/society/20120704/174405460.html). Despite the law banning “the propaganda of homosexuality and pedophilia among minors” that went into effect in in March, organizer Yuri Gavrikov says the St. Petersburg City Hall has authorized an LGBT protest march and rally for Saturday at the Polyustrovo Park. Gavrikov hopes the event will raise local and global awareness about the civil rights of the LGBT community.
Of course Polyustrovo Park is far from the city’s center, and there can be no more than 1,000 protestors in attendance. Gee, no wonder the town fathers gave their blessing.


Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/st-petersburg-okays-gay-protest-despite-no-propaganda-law-20120705/#ixzz1zn9bhUyB

.

[electrostal]

Far be it for me to put the current situation in Russia in its historical context if some half-baked Stalinoid objectsTo blame Russia's homophobia on Stalin, in 2012, is nothing but ridiculous.
Because it all, of course, appeared one night in 1933 and, obviously, this Stalinist menace still haunts Russia even decades after '53.


I hate to nickpick but the massacre at Tienanmen Sq never happened as proven by Wiki-Leaks.... just saying.
What? WTF?

[Comrade Trollface]

I hate to nickpick but the massacre at Tienanmen Sq never happened as proven by Wiki-Leaks.... just saying.
Didn't those cables just prove that the soldiers opened fire on the demonstrators in another part of town though? Thats sort of different.

[Comrade Trollface]

To blame Russia's homophobia on Stalin, in 2012, is nothing but ridiculous.
Because it all, of course, appeared one night in 1933 and, obviously, this Stalinist menace still haunts Russia even decades after '53. I'm not just blaming Stalin- Stalin only instituted those monstrous fucking laws- which were even more monstrous because of the decade and a half of respite that Russian queers had between 1917 and 1933. Every post-Stalin leader of the USSR from Khrushchev to Gorbachev is to blame as well. Because they maintained Stalin's law on this matter.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Gay rights rallies in St. Petersburg were repeatedly broken up by Russian police over the weekend. According to SFGate (http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/8-gay-activists-arrested-in-St-Petersburg-3690306.php), three organizers of an LGBT rally were arrested in a park on Saturday, July 7. Later the same day, five more activists were held by authorities at another rally near the Smolny complex.
Rallies speaking out for gay rights are illegal in St. Petersburg, thanks to the ridiculous law forbidding the spreading of “homosexual propaganda to minors.” The city’s lawmakers must be sipping too much Smirnoff, since, despite the law, they at first approved one of the rallies (http://www.queerty.com/st-petersburg-okays-gay-protest-despite-no-propaganda-law-20120705/), before quickly canceling it (http://en.ria.ru/society/20120705/174422248.html). The rallies barely gathered crowds large enough for any public disruption: only the three arrested attended the first one; six attended the second.
Russia has been steadily tightening its anti-gay political shackles: Moscow recently banned gay Pride for 100 years (http://www.queerty.com/moscow-bans-gay-pride-parades-for-100-years-20120608/), right after arresting gay rights protesters (http://www.queerty.com/russian-police-arrest-40-at-gay-rights-protests-in-moscow-20120529/) in May.


Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/russian-police-senselessly-arrest-even-more-gay-activists-20120709/#ixzz20AOvV4lc

.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Representatives in the Ukrainian parliament have introduced a gay-propaganda ban (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hF0wmMKPOA8e8wb-Gp_hRSmKcAxw?docId=10c680fee7de4227b41ea8a83d94234 e) similar to the one already on the books in Saint Petersburg. If the legislation passes, “TV shows and movies sympathetically portraying homosexuals, such as Brokeback Mountain will be banned. So will gay pride parades,” reports the AP.
The bill, supported by President Viktor Yanukovych’s representative in parliament, would actually penalize the spread of pro-homosexual “propaganda” with fines and up to five years in prison. But even before the ban has been voted on, homophobic tensions are bubbling over: Two gay-rights activists have been assaulted in the past few months, and the first Pride parade in the Ukraine was canceled in May after threats of violence from anti-gay hooligans.
“Our goal is the preservation of the moral, spiritual and physical health of the nation,” said Pavlo Ungurian, one of the bill’s sponsors. “We must stop the propaganda, the positive description and the publicity … of this abnormal lifestyle.”
The United Nations Development Program called the ban is “state-supported discrimination” against the LGBT community and claimed it could exacerbate the spread of AIDS in the region. Hopefully the European Union will take a similarly hard line as Ukraine works to join its ranks.


Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/ukraine-parliament-considers-strict-anti-gay-propaganda-legislation-20120724/#ixzz21evJE3hH

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[TheGodlessUtopian]

t’s probably safe to say that today’s not a great day to be gay in Russia. First Pussy Riot gets found guilty (http://www.queerty.com/pussy-riot-found-guilty-of-hooliganism-20120817/) for their shenanigans/hooliganism/tomfoolery and now an appeal to strike down Moscow’s 100-year ban on pride parades (http://www.queerty.com/moscow-bans-gay-pride-parades-for-100-years-20120608/) gets rejected quicker than a bear in a twink bar. Nikolay Alexeyev, founder of Moscow Gay Pride, launched his appeal on the sequined heels of the June ban, but Moscow City Court decided to uphold the ban anyway, effectively ridding the city of any signs of fabulousness for a century.
“After an extended period, the city refused to issue permits for the rallies for this year and for all of the next 100 years,” Alexeyev said (http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/08/17/appeal-against-century-long-ban-on-gay-pride-in-moscow-is-refused/). “They cited possible riots, as well as public opinion which came out against it.”
Not one to give up, however, Alexeyev still plans to appeal to the European Court on Human Rights in Strasbourg.


Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/moscow-gay-pride-100-year-ban-upheld-20120817/#ixzz23wpAADOI





A Russian court has found three members of the the punk band Pussy Riot guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred,” after the rockers staged a protest performance in Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral earlier this year. The case against Maria Alekhina, Ekaterina Samutsevich and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has garnered international attention with fellow musicians including Madonna (http://www.queerty.com/madonna-gets-political-in-russia-shows-solidarity-with-st-petersburg-gays-jailed-rockers-20120809/), Paul McCartney and the Scissor Sisters showing their support, while human rights groups condemned their detainment .
The February 21 performance included references (http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/russian-pro-gay-punk-band-pussy-riot-found-guilty-hooliganism170812) to Russia’s persecuted LGBT community with the line “Gay pride sent to Siberia in chains.”
Though the trio, who are awaiting sentencing, was initially facing a seven-year sentence, prosecutors are aiming for a three-year prison term. The verdict (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/pussy-riot-found-guilty-hooliganism-363683) from the Russian court reads as follows:

“The Pussy Riot singers colluded under unestablished circumstances, for the purpose of offensively violating public peace in a sign of flagrant disrespect for citizens.
“Intending to make the planned actions public and ensure that they drew public response to draw the attention of the public to their illegal actions, and to communicate the expressed disrespect not only to the clergy and people in the church, but also to other citizens who were not present in the church at the time [of the punk prayer], but shared Orthodox traditions, Samutsevich, Tolokonnikova, Alyokhina, and their unidentified accomplice informed various media assistants and active bloggers on their action.”
And to see what all the international hubub is about, here’s the video of their political punk protest:


Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/pussy-riot-found-guilty-of-hooliganism-20120817/#ixzz23wpH1lhW



P.S: See the source for the video

[Crux]

I hate to nickpick but the massacre at Tienanmen Sq never happened as proven by Wiki-Leaks.... just saying.
Uh and according to a comrade of mine who was actually there they very much did so. Seriously?

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Uh and according to a comrade of mine who was actually there they very much did so. Seriously?

http://www.pslweb.org/liberationnews/news/wikileaks-no-massacre-in.html

Take this debate elsewhere and don't sidetrack this thread.

[Crux]

http://www.pslweb.org/liberationnews/news/wikileaks-no-massacre-in.html

Take this debate elsewhere and don't sidetrack this thread.
I take PSL about as seriously on this as I take the official CCP reports (they are strikingly similar). And I certainly take my comrade's eyewitness report quite a bit more seriously. But yeah, you're right. I didn't bring it here though.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

The international community continues to voice its outrage against the unfair judgement and jailing of punk-politico rockers Pussy Riot, who were sentenced (http://www.queerty.com/pussy-riot-found-guilty-of-hooliganism-20120817/) to two years in prison following a much-publicized protest-prayer against Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Following protests outside the Russian courthouse where three of the band’s members were sentenced, a group of hackers took their protest viral. The Wall Street Journal reports (http://blogs.wsj.com/emergingeurope/2012/08/21/russian-courts-website-hacked-after-pussy-riot-verdict/):

Unknown hackers broke into the official website of the Khamovnichesky District Court, slapping up a recording of new song by Pussy Riot called “Putin is Lighting the Fires of the Revolution,” as well as a risque video called “Hate” by flamboyantly gay Bulgarian singer Azis.
The names of tabs linking to other sections of the site were also replaced with comments like “Free Pussy Riot,” and “Only an Open Trial Can Be Fair,” along with other snide and profanity-laced remarks.
The hackivist organization Anonymous later owned up to the hack-job. They, along with TheEliteSociety, have targeted a number of oppressive and censorious countries, most recently (http://www.queerty.com/anonymous-hackers-attack-ugandan-websites-to-protest-anti-lgbt-policies-20120816/) hacking into the governmental and communication websites of Uganda and other anti-LGBT African nations.
The hackers also issued a statement in which they said, “We do not forget or forgive.…Tyranny cannot judge.” So it turns out the revolution will not be televised after all, but it will be tweeted and Facebook’d the world over.


Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/pussy-riot-hackers-20120821/#ixzz24CwYOAGx

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[TheGodlessUtopian]

Activists in St. Petersburg are attacking Pepsi for breaking the city’s gay-propaganda ban with a drink that has a rainbow on its bottle (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/28/us-russia-activists-pepsico-idUSBRE88R16L20120928). Wimm-Bill-Dann, a PepsiCo subsidiary in Russia, produces a brand of milk known as Vesyoly Molochnik, or “Happy Milkman.” But a group of irate consumers has gotten its udders in a bunch over the milk’s logo, a rainbow, which it sees as the international symbol for the LGBT community.
Score one for branding!
Last Friday, representatives asked prosecutors in St. Petersburg to take action because Wimm-Bill-Dann was violating the ban on pro-gay images that could “damage the health (http://www.queerty.com/activists-in-russia-target-pepsi-for-gay-logo-on-milk-bottle-20121003/#), moral and spiritual development of the under-aged.” Violators can face fines of up to $16,100.
“In the near future we are planning to picket the shops,” Anatoly Artyukh told Fontanka.ru (http://Fontanka.ru) “and hand out leaflets informing people that the money they spent on this milk will be used to finance (http://www.queerty.com/activists-in-russia-target-pepsi-for-gay-logo-on-milk-bottle-20121003/#) gay propaganda.”
Wait till the get a load of Skittles.


Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/activists-in-russia-target-pepsi-for-gay-logo-on-milk-bottle-20121003/#ixzz28GvGL7vU

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[TheGodlessUtopian]

Russia’s Supreme Court has upheld the gay-propaganda ban (http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/09/russia-supreme-court-gay-pride-parades-not-propaganda.php) passed in St. Petersburg earlier this year, but clarified that it can only be applied to direct appeals to minors to engage in homosexual activity. The ruling means Pride parades and rallies for LGBT rights are legal, even though participants in both have been arrested since the city passed its ordinance.
Currently the fine for individuals promoting homosexuality to the under-aged is between 3,000 and 5,000 rubles ($100-$160), though organizations found guilty can be fined up to 50,000 rubles ($1,600).
Interestingly, according to Jurist.org, (http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/09/russia-supreme-court-gay-pride-parades-not-propaganda.php) information about homosexuality “can still be provided to minors as long as it is neutral in tone.” Of course “neutral” is a contentious term: Would providing safe-sex materials to gay teenagers be considered neutral or an appeal to engage in gay sex?
We can’t even agree (http://www.queerty.com/russian-courts-uphold-but-restrict-st-petersburgs-gay-propaganda-ban-20121005/#) on that one in the good ol’ U.S. of A.


Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/russian-courts-uphold-but-restrict-st-petersburgs-gay-propaganda-ban-20121005/#ixzz28aFCUlIp

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[TheGodlessUtopian]

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced his opposition Friday to a pending national version of a “homosexual propaganda” law that has already been enacted in regions including St. Petersburg.
The leader of United Russia said during a TV interview that he believed the bill was unnecessary because “not all relations between people can be regulated by law,” according to Russia Today (http://rt.com/politics/medvedev-interview-tv-channels-508/). He also said that his party, which holds the parliamentary majority, agreed with him.
Medvedev’s comments won praise from LGBT human rights advocates including Lady Gaga. The pop star tweeted, “Thank You Prime Minister Medvedev for not standing by your party's anti gay propaganda law & instead supporting my show+fans all over Russia.”
The bill, which is scheduled for its first hearing next week, targets the “promotion” of homosexuality to minors. Opponents of the legislation have criticized its potential chilling effect on free speech and health care needs.
“Laws that tell you who you can love -- and even what you can say about love -- don’t change who people are,” said Andre Banks, executive director and cofounder of AllOut.org. “If this bill passes, the law would force lesbian and gay Russians, and their friends and families, to live in even fear and isolation.”
Last month, a St. Petersburg court dismissed (http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2012/11/23/russian-gay-rights-speech-case-against-madonna-dismissed) a $10.7 million lawsuit brought against Madonna by conservative groups who claimed she had violated the law at a concert. Gaga arrived in the city for a performance Saturday.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2012/12/08/russian-prime-minister-opposes-gay-propaganda-law

[Ghazkull]

A Great amount of Russian and Ukrain politicians are faggots (I do not wan't call them gays, cause using the same word for gays and our politicians injures the LGTB ones), but all of them indulge their electors who in fact do not greatly differ from the medevial peasants.

So as the result we got the laws about the Deny of homosexual propaganda in Russia or Avoiding the informing children about the LGTB here, in Ukraine

[TheGodlessUtopian]

A Great amount of Russian and Ukrain politicians are faggots (I do not wan't call them gays, cause using the same word for gays and our politicians injures the LGTB ones), but all of them indulge their electors who in fact do not greatly differ from the medevial peasants.

So as the result we got the laws about the Deny of homosexual propaganda in Russia or Avoiding the informing children about the LGTB here, in Ukraine

Please do not use politically incorrect language, comrade. Though we know that you do not say such words in hate RevLeft has a no tolerance policy when it comes to derogatory words. While some may argue it is restrictive it is, nonethelss, the rules.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

(MOSCOW (http://topics.time.com/moscow/)) — Kissing his boyfriend during a protest in front of Russia (http://topics.time.com/russia/)‘s parliament earned Pavel Samburov 30 hours of detention and the equivalent of a $16 fine on a charge of “hooliganism.” But if a bill that comes up for a first vote later this month becomes law, such a public kiss could be defined as illegal “homosexual propaganda” and bring a fine of up to $16,000.
The legislation being pushed by the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church would make it illegal nationwide to provide minors with information that is defined as “propaganda of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality and transgenderism.” It includes a ban on holding public events that promote gay rights. St. Petersburg and a number of other Russian cities already have similar laws on their books.
(MORE: Russia to Gays: Get Back into the Closet (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1899340,00.html))
The bill is part of an effort to promote traditional Russian values as opposed to Western liberalism, which the Kremlin and church see as corrupting Russian youth and by extension contributing to a wave of protest against President Vladimir Putin (http://topics.time.com/vladimir-putin/)‘s rule.
Samburov describes the anti-gay bill as part of a Kremlin crackdown on minorities of any kind — political and religious as well as sexual — designed to divert public attention from growing discontent with Putin’s rule.
The lanky and longhaired Samburov is the founder of the Rainbow Association, which unites gay activists throughout Russia. The gay rights group has joined anti-Putin marches in Moscow over the past year, its rainbow flag waving along with those of other opposition groups.
Other laws that the Kremlin says are intended to protect young Russians have been hastily adopted in recent months, including some that allow banning and blocking web content and print publications that are deemed “extremist” or unfit for young audiences.
Denis Volkov, a sociologist with the Levada Center, an independent pollster, says the anti-gay bill fits the “general logic” of a government intent on limiting various rights.
But in this case, the move has been met mostly with either indifference or open enthusiasm by average Russians. Levada polls conducted last year show that almost two thirds of Russians find homosexuality “morally unacceptable and worth condemning.” About half are against gay rallies and same-sex marriage; almost a third think homosexuality is the result of “a sickness or a psychological trauma,” the Levada surveys show.
Russia’s widespread hostility to homosexuality is shared by the political and religious elite.
Lawmakers have accused gays of decreasing Russia’s already low birth rates and said they should be barred from government jobs, undergo forced medical treatment or be exiled. Orthodox activists criticized U.S. company PepsiCo for using a “gay” rainbow on cartons of its dairy products. An executive with a government-run television network said in a nationally televised talk show that gays should be prohibited from donating blood, sperm and organs for transplants, while after death their hearts should be burned or buried.
The anti-gay sentiment was seen Sunday in Voronezh, a city south of Moscow, where a handful of gay activists protesting against the parliament bill were attacked by a much larger group of anti-gay activists who hit them with snowballs.
The gay rights protest that won Samburov a fine took place in December. Seconds after Samburov and his boyfriend kissed, militant activists with the Orthodox Church pelted them with eggs. Police intervened, rounding up the gay activists and keeping them for 30 hours first in a frozen van and then in an unheated detention center. The Orthodox activists were also rounded up, but were released much earlier.
Those behind the bill say minors need to be protected from “homosexual propaganda” because they are unable to evaluate the information critically. “This propaganda goes through the mass media and public events that propagate homosexuality as normal behavior,” the bill reads.
Cities started adopting anti-gay laws in 2006. Only one person has been prosecuted so far under a law specifically targeted at gays: Nikolai Alexeyev, a gay rights campaigner, was fined the equivalent of $160 after a one-man protest last summer in St. Petersburg.
In November, a St. Petersburg court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Trade Union of Russian Citizens, a small group of Orthodox conservatives and Putin loyalists, against pop star Madonna. The group sought $10.7 million in damages for what it says was “propaganda of perversion” when Madonna spoke up for gay rights during a show three months earlier.
The federal bill’s expected adoption comes 20 years after a Stalinist-era law punishing homosexuality with up to five years in prison was removed from Russia’s penal code as part of the democratic reforms that followed the Soviet Union’s collapse.
Most of the other former Soviet republics also decriminalized homosexuality, and attitudes toward gays have become a litmus test of democratic freedoms. While gay pride parades are held in the three former Soviet Baltic states, all today members of the European Union, same-sex love remains a crime in authoritarian Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
In Russia, gays have been whipsawed by official pressure and persistent homophobia. There are no reliable estimates of how many gays and lesbians live in Russia, and only a few big cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg have gay nightclubs and gyms. Even there, gays do not feel secure.
When a dozen masked men entered a Moscow night club during a “coming out party” that campaigner Samburov organized in October, he thought they were part of the show. But then one of the masked men yelled, “Have you ordered up a fight? Here you go!” The men overturned tables, smashed dishes and beat, kicked and sprayed mace at the five dozen men and women who had gathered at the gay-friendly Freedays club, Samburov and the club’s administration said.
Four club patrons were injured, including a young woman who got broken glass in her eye, police said. Although a police station was nearby, Samburov said, it took police officers half an hour to arrive. The attackers remain unidentified.
On the next day, an Orthodox priest said he regretted that his religious role had not allowed him to participate in the beating.
“Until this scum gets off of Russian land, I fully share the views of those who are trying to purge our motherland of it,” Rev. Sergiy Rybko was quoted as saying by the Orthodoxy and World online magazine. “We either become a tolerant Western state where everything is allowed — and lose our Christianity and moral foundations — or we will be a Christian people who live in our God-protected land in purity and godliness.”
In other parts of Russia, gays feel even less secure. Bagaudin Abduljalilov moved to Moscow from Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim region in southern Russia where he says some gays have been beaten and had their hands cut off, sometimes by their own relatives, for bringing shame on their families.
“You don’t have any human rights down there,” he said. “Anything can be done to you with impunity.”
Shortly before moving to Moscow, Abduljalilov left Islam to become a Protestant Christian, but was expelled from a seminary after telling the dean he was gay. He also has had trouble finding a job as a television journalist because of discrimination against people from Dagestan.
“I love Russia, but I want another Russia,” said Abduljalilov, 30, who now works as a clerk. “It’s a pity I can’t spend my life on creative projects instead of banging my head against the wall and repeating, ‘I’m normal, I’m normal.’ “


Read more: http://world.time.com/2013/01/21/russia-moves-to-enact-anti-gay-law-nationwide/#ixzz2IdIyIHcO

.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

MOSCOW, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Russian police detained 20 people on Friday when gay activists tried to stage a "kiss-in" outside parliament to protest against a draft law banning the promotion of homosexuality among minors.

Police hauled away the protesters shortly before the lower house, the State Duma, was due to hold the first of three readings of the legislation, witnesses said.

Supporters of the law, some of them identifying themselves as Russian Orthodox Christians, cheered as the police stepped in and threw eggs at the protesters. Police confirmed that 20 people had been detained.

If approved by the two houses of parliament, and signed by President Vladimir Putin, the law would ban the promotion of gay events across Russia and impose fines on the organisers.

Putin's critics say it is the latest in a series of moves to appeal to conservative voters and consolidate support for him since his return to the presidency last May after a wave of protests against him in cities such as Moscow and St Petersburg.

Gay rights activists and human rights campaigners say the main aim of the law is not to protect children but to curb the rights of homosexuals.

"Animosity towards gays and lesbians is widespread in society, and the Duma, which has approved a number of unpopular laws, hopes it can win some popularity with an anti-gay law," veteran rights campaigner Lyudmila Alexeyeva told Reuters.

Supporters of the law say it is needed to prevent gay parades and television and radio programmes that support gay couples, describing this as homosexual propaganda which affects the development of children in Russia.
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/25/russia-gay-kiss-in-moscow-police_n_2549108.html

P.S: See source for video

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Russia's Defense Ministry has a novel idea on how to root out gay people from its military — body searches.

The Moscow Times reports (http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/new-soldiers-face-gay-tattoo-check/474484.html?photo=1) that new recruits could face searches of their genitals and buttocks while authorities look for tattoos that would indicate they're gay. Recruits would also be asked about their sexual history and "whether they have a girlfriend and whether it is important for her to be faithful." The official recommendations are part of guidelines issued by the Defense Ministry and first reported by the Izvestia newspaper.

The Moscow Times also reports that although most gay Russians don't wear tattoos to indicate their sexual orientation, former prison inmates are more likely to sport a tattoo — sometimes which has been forcibly applied.

The antigay climate from Russia's government has recently been on display as lawmakers consider a "gay propaganda" law that would ban anyone in the country from talking about homosexuality if it could influence minors. The law is modeled after one already passed in St. Petersburg. Protestors who staged a kiss-in (http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/01/24/watch-kiss-outside-russian-parliament-ends-blood) this week outside the Russian parliament were met with violence from self-identified members of the hardline Russian Orthodox Church.
Source: http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/01/24/russia-has-weird-plan-stop-gays-joining-military

[TheGodlessUtopian]

The State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s Parliament, gave preliminary but overwhelming approval on Friday to legislation that would ban LGBT events or public discussion of LGBT issues that might be accessible to minors. And the United States government quickly questioned the decision.
"We are deeply concerned by this draft legislation," said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, according to the AFP (http://www.news24.com/World/News/US-slams-Russian-anti-gay-bill-20130126). "You know how strongly we feel about LGBT rights around the world, how strongly the secretary of state personally feels that nobody should be discriminated against for who they love."
The so-called gay propaganda bill is a national version of one that has already been adopted by the city of St. Petersburg. Members of the State Duma voted 388 to 1 in favor of the bill, with one abstention, the Associated Press (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/police-detain-20-at-moscow-rally-against-controversial-anti-gay-legislation/2013/01/25/6439205e-66f8-11e2-889b-f23c246aa446_story.html) reports. The legislation must go through two more approvals and be signed by President Vladimir Putin in order to become law. Language in the bill denounces “mass media and public events that propagate homosexuality as normal behavior” and says minors cannot think critically and objectively about such information.
Activists for and against the bill demonstrated outside the State Duma’s headquarters in Moscow, the AP reports. Orthodox Christian protesters, who favor the legislation, pelted LGBT rights advocates with eggs. Nonetheless, when police intervened, most of the roughly 20 demonstrators they detained were from the LGBT group.
The Russian Orthodox Church and many national leaders have endorsed the legislation. Antigay sentiments are prevalent in Russia, the AP notes, reporting that “an executive with a government-run television network said in a nationally televised talk show that gays should be prohibited from donating blood, sperm and organs for transplants, and that their hearts should be burned or buried after death.”

Source: http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/01/25/russia-gives-preliminary-approval-anti-gay-propaganda-bill

[TheGodlessUtopian]

The Winter Olympics are about to get complicated, at least for gay and lesbian athletes and anyone supportive of them.

Already Russian officials had rejected an application for a Pride House (http://pridehouse2012.org/) at the 2014 Olympic village in Sochi. But USA Today reports (http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2013/02/06/russia-gay-rights-sochi-olympics/1897021/) that Russia's antigay political climate is on the verge of overshadowing the events.

If the Russian parliament passes a so-called gay propaganda bill now being considered, and backed by President Vladimir Putin, the effects on the games are unclear. Already lawmakers have given it preliminary approval (http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/01/25/russia-gives-preliminary-approval-anti-gay-propaganda-bill) on a vote of 388 to 1 by members of the State Duma.

Under the law, anyone caught doing anything that the government says promotes being gay to young people will face punishment. Madonna was famously sued under a similar version of the law in St. Petersburg for defiantly making pro-gay statements from stage during a concert and passing around bracelets in solidarity with LGBT people. A judge ruled against fining the pop star, who ignored requests to show up at hearings.

The Olympics are reportedly of great personal importance to Putin, with NBC News profiling (http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50710050/ns/local_news-colorado_springs_co/t/countdown-sochi-city-point-national-pride-putins-russia/#.URRFCejZQ7A) the president's hands-on approach to hosting the games. The "Pride House" was included for the first time during London's Summer Olympics. But the Russian Ministry of Justice has already said no to the idea, and courts have backed up the decision (http://en.ria.ru/society/20120314/172165282.html), inciting activists to organize protests (http://pridehouse2012.org/2012/08/07/be-proud-in-sochi-protest-homophobic-ban-on-pride-house-2014-at-winter-olympics-in-sochi-russia/) in London in response (http://www.petertatchell.net/sport/Russia-urged-Drop-Winter-Olympics-gay-ban.htm).
U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe, who came out before the last games, told USA Today, "If I was just a gay fan going to Sochi, I don't know. If the law passes, I would definitely be breaking the law. Hopefully it won't deter gay athletes from being who they are."

Protesters against the antigay law were met with beatings in January. Photos of self-proclaimed members (http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/01/24/watch-kiss-outside-russian-parliament-ends-blood) of the Russian Orthodox Church pummeling bloodied activists spread around the globe.

U.S. figure skater Johnny Weir, who is gay and who hopes for a return to the Olympics, warned fellow athletes to be careful when in public. "My advice would be: Watch what you do when you leave the Village, don't be aggressive," he told USA Today. "Don't wear a big rainbow flag fur coat. If you don't call attention to yourself, attention won't come to you."
The "propaganda" law isn't the only aspect of Russia's antigay ways. To keep gays out of the military, Russia's Defense Ministry asked recruiters (http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/01/24/russia-has-weird-plan-stop-gays-joining-military) to strip-search applicants for what it believes are gay tattoos and to interview them about their relationships with their girlfriends. And Moscow has banned gay pride (http://www.advocate.com/politics/2012/08/17/moscow-court-upholds-ban-gay-pride-next-century) parades for, literally, the next 100 years.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/sports/2013/02/07/just-beginning-russia-denies-request-olympic-pride-house

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

I find the lack of comment from the IOC obvious and shameful, but not surprising. Shits.

[Mather]

I find the lack of comment from the IOC obvious and shameful, but not surprising. Shits.

Indeed.

Remember that the IOC was led by a known fascist from 1980 till 2001, Juan Antonio Samaranch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Antonio_Samaranch).


http://www.transparencyinsport.org/The_IOCs_Favourite_Fascist/Images-the_IOCs_favourite_fascist(page1)/(1)samaranch-fascist-salute(full).jpg

Samaranch (centre) and Spanish government ministers at a fascist rally in 1974.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Elena Mizulina, Russia's head of the State Duma's Committee on Family, Women and Children, announced Thursday that she would seek the closure of any pro-LGBT websites in the country, claiming they "promote homosexuality," reports GayRussia (http://www.gayrussia.eu/russia/5807/).
According to a Google translation of the article's original Russian text, Mizulina proposed the antigay proposition as an amendment to a pending federal law prohibiting the dispensing of "negative information" to children.
Mizulina cited the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, claiming that by signing, Russian "national authorities are obliged to limit the freedoms and human rights, the implementation of which could violate the rights of the child, the right to the formation of his personality."
Mizulina further claimed that "none of the adults, whatever preferences he had for himself, has the right to impose these preferences on a person under 18 years old... Therefore, limiting promotion of homosexuality among children should be referred to in the information gap for children."
The law which Mizulina is proposing to amend was enacted in December of 2010, according to GayRussia, and seeks to protect children from information "harmful to their health and development."
The Russian government is currently considering (http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/01/25/russia-gives-preliminary-approval-anti-gay-propaganda-bill) a law that would ban so-called "homosexual propoganda," which LGBT advocates say could amount to a ban on any discussion of LGBT identities.


Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/02/10/russian-mp-threatens-closure-websites-promoting-homosexuality

[TheGodlessUtopian]

After the Dutch government and the European Union condemned Russia's proposed legislation banning "homosexual propaganda," Russia's foreign minister said his country is not obligated to follow their lead.
"We don't have a single international or common European commitment to allow propaganda of homosexuality," Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said according to the Associated Press. (http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/russias-foreign-minister-defends-anti-gay-bill-18595313)
The nation-wide bill, which follows similar, controversial legislation for the city of St. Petersburg, Russia, would ban so-called propaganda aimed at minors, and fine people up to $16,000 for disseminating LGBT-related information to young people.
Lavrov said homosexuality has been decriminalized in Russia, so gay people can "go about their business absolutely freely and unpunished." He added that the country, however, has "its own moral, religious, and historical views." Still many Russians and people around the world have condemned the legislation, and Russian news outlets have covered discrimination and adversities faced by the country's LGBT population.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/02/26/russian-foreign-minister-defends-propaganda-bill



As Russia considers a national antigay bill, one of the country's LGBT groups is calling for the dissolution of parliament.
The legislative body, or Duma, is weighing a bill to ban gay "propaganda," which would punish any journalist or artist who presents homosexuality in what is deemed a positive light. The nation's Rainbow Association is not only planning a protest against the legislation, but wants the entire Duma dissolved.
Rainbow Association chairman Andrei Obolensky and deputy Pavel Samburov urged "everyone who shares our ideas to join us and help prepare, organize and hold a rally against all antinational bills that the State Duma has adopted or plans to adopt, and to promote the dissolution of the Duma."
The Duma passed a draft "propaganda" bill in January. Read more here. (http://rapsinews.com/news/20130225/266523841.html)

Source: http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/02/25/lgbt-group-wants-russian-parliament-dissolved

[TheGodlessUtopian]

On January 25, 2013 the Russian State Duma swiftly passed (http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/russia-anti-gay-propaganda-law-assault-on-freedom-expression-2013-01-25) a bill banning the “promotion of homosexuality.” The bill will have to undergo two more readings and be signed by the Russian president before it becomes law. If this happens, it will give the Russian government the right to fine publications and individuals up to half a million dollars for “promoting homosexuality.” Meanwhile, the law does not define what constitutes “promoting” and conflates homosexuality with, among other things, pedophilia. LGBT rights activists speculate that the passage of this law will lead to the government shutting down organizations, websites, and print publications that support the already besieged Russian LGBT community.
Protests for LGBT rights in Russia have a history of violence. Along with those brave enough to participate in them, protests often attract thugs calling themselves Russian Orthodox activists who pelt the LGBT protesters with eggs and physically attack them. The thugs discuss their plans for the beatings in their online forums on V Kontakte (a Russian version of Facebook), and cover their faces with scarves and masks in order to avoid being identified. Although the police are always present at such protests, the Orthodox activists seems to have their tacit approval.
The latest demonstration against the law took place in Moscow on the day that the bill was passed in its first reading, January 25th. The demonstration, called ‘Day of Kisses,’ entailed a group of queer folk and their allies kissing outside of the State Duma building. If you have the stomach for it, here is a short video of the violence that resulted from the Day of Kisses (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM8qeSVTOMU) protest on January 22, 2013. Protest organizer, Elena Kostyuchenko, has since filed an official complaint regarding the police beating (http://publicverdict.ru/topics/news/10875.html) her up during the demonstration.
The day before the protest, Kostyuchenko was interviewed on the TV Rain program The Dzyadko Three (http://tvrain.ru/articles/zakon_protiv_lgbt_gej_travlja_i_bolnitsa_31-335822/23375/). This interview has never been available in English, I translated it for ***** because it’s such a powerful testament to the bravery of activists working to make Russia safe for LGBT people.

DZAYDKO THREE: This week Elena Kostyuchenko was one of the organizers of a protest against the anti-homosexual propaganda law, called the Day of Kisses. Please tell us about what happened. Everyone they managed to get hold of got beat up, and that was it, right?
ELENA KOSTYUCHENKO: This was actually the second time we staged the Day of Kisses. This time, more people came out; there were about thirty people. TV Rain reported that these were members of the LGBT community, but actually, it was about fifty-fifty LGBT and heterosexuals who came out to support us. There were also people who call themselves Russian Orthodox activists, and some roughnecks itching for a fight. Two of my friends got their noses broken, and they beat up my girlfriend. They attacked people during the protest, as protesters were approaching the protest site, and when they were going back to the metro. They were waiting for most of the people to leave and then attacked those who were left.
What do you think of the demonstration? Did it come off? Was it worth it?
Of course it was.
Why?
Because doing something is always better than sitting at home and waiting around for Duma deputies to declare you a second-class citizen.
Could you describe background of this law? Discussion of most of these [legislative] initiatives has been going on for almost a year, yes?
These kinds of laws were first passed in several regions, and the other regions are now rushing to pass these laws in order to kowtow to the federal center in anticipation of the law being passed nationally. For instance, they’re rushing to pass a law in Kaliningrad, but [they’re planning to ban] the promotion of homosexuality in general. If you want to watch the film Total Eclipse and you’re from Kaliningrad, the government will take care of you. Naturally, it is the United Russia party [the ruling party in Russia—trans.] that is primarily pushing all of this through. […] Aside from our protest action, we’ve launched a website, loveislegal.ru (http://loveislegal.ru/), where anyone can submit photographs of themselves and voice their stance against this law. Last time round, we submitted more than six hundred photographs. Tomorrow, we’ll deliver a hundred and fifty more.
Speaking of your website, here is an excerpt of a text you can read there, addressed to the Duma. “We hope that before you discuss and vote on this bill, you will familiarize yourselves with the academic literature on the subject and learn that homosexuality is not a disease and that promoting it, like promoting left-handedness, is impossible.” […] Can there be any hope if you have to explain these basics to people?
You have to explain the basics to people because the lawmaking and rhetoric that has been going on lately in the Duma gives one the impression that the people saying these things don’t have a higher education and may not have even finished high school. When I travel and speak to vocational school students, many of them make better arguments and are more articulate in expressing their views than certain Duma deputies. Yes, there are people who don’t know that homosexuality has long since been removed from the list of diseases. They really don’t know that if a child hears the word “lesbian,” it won’t make him or her a lesbian, and so on and so forth.
Let’s talk about methods a bit. Your Day of Kisses is clearly a provocative action to some extent. It’s what they call “trolling” nowadays. You’re going out to people you know for sure don’t accept you, and you know some lowlifes will show up and pour ketchup on someone, in the best-case scenario, and this will be an excuse for the press to cover it… Are you just protesting to be sensational?
Absolutely not. I don’t consider our protest action provocative. We aren’t doing anything terrible. We are just going to the Duma with a mixed group of people, homosexuals, heterosexuals, couples, singles, and, for those who have them, significant others. If a person doesn’t have anyone to kiss, they just hug whoever is standing next to them. There is nothing provocative in expressing natural human feelings. We aren’t taking our feelings to the hideouts of the nationalists or the apartments of Russian Orthodox activists. We are walking through our own city and going up to a government building.
But this action is aimed at causing conflict from the outset. You know that these people are against you, and that the Duma is going to pass this anti-gay law. You know that the Duma deputies are against you, and you read VKontakeand see that the Orthodox activists are planning to go there and try and beat you up.
Listen. If you’re afraid of bullies, you shouldn’t go anywhere. The scumbags go after us when we stand outside with placards; they follow us when we go to make a television appearance. Yesterday, after the taping on Kontr TV there was a whole group of them waiting outside for me.
But when you protest like this, you’re the one provoking them.
No. I am completely convinced I am not provoking them. For example, at protest action that took place on Tuesday, the [first] Day of Kisses, the [Orthodox] activists showed up twenty minutes before it was supposed to start to take their places. Then the journalists showed up early as well to check out the scene, figure out where they should stand. But the activists were so eager to fight that even before the gay people came, they started attacking the journalists. Were the journalists provoking them by standing outside the State Duma with their cameras? No. These people just wanted to beat someone up. And by the way, I want to warn all the journalists who will be attending tomorrow’s protest. [The Orthodox activists] have been writing on their forums that they will be attacking journalists first and foremost in order to prevent them from filming the beatings and fights. They want to make the journalists know that they can’t come there and film the protests.
What kinds of protest tactics are available today and how effective are they? What do you think will work? How else can you demonstrate that homosexuality is normal?
Well, everyone does what he or she can. I am not the center of LGBT activism in Russia. I actually don’t do that much activism: I have a lot of other work. It’s just that I’ve been focusing on it this past week because I know that my life specifically will be severely affected for a long time, as will the lives of millions of gays and lesbians in Russia. We created this website because we have a guy who knows how to make websites. Some people in Petersburg, a group of specialists, doctors and psychologists, put together a thorough analysis of this legislative bill, an analytic report for Duma deputies, where they write about how homosexuality is not a disease and cannot be promoted. Some people go into the street with placards and do one-man pickets. Some people campaign for international support. Some try to get other governments involved in this issue. Everyone does what he or she can. That is why when people tell me that I’m doing this wrong, I say, “Do it yourself, you have the means.” It’s just that right now there is a week left. I think the majority of your audience has more than reasonable ideas on this issue. Homosexuals don’t feel like they need to hide from you, and the majority of you have gay and lesbian friends. If you don’t want these people to be officially declared second-class citizens within a week, if you don’t want them to be subject to fines for no reason or have to pay fifty thousand rubles [approximately 1,250 euros—trans.] every time they go out on the street, you should do something about it. There is not much time left. We are doing what we can. If you are concerned, you should also do what you can.
If and when this law is passed, what threat does it actually pose to homosexuals?
The problem is that “promotion” is not at all defined in the legislation. We know why this is: it is difficult to describe a phenomenon that doesn’t exist. Apparently, the deputies lack the literary skills to define it.
Or they lack the imagination.
Yes. In an explanatory note to the law, it says any reference to homosexuality as normal or same-sex relationships as being equal to heterosexual relationships is deemed “promotion.” Thus, this program we’re taping today will a month from now be deemed “flagrant promotion of homosexuality,” as they put it, and your channel will be fined half a million rubles [approximately 12,500 euros—trans.]. In a month, a show like this will be impossible. In addition, because it is the [Russian federal] administrative offenses code that is being amended, it will be up to the police to enforce the law. Thus, the police department of, say, the city of Bryansk, which knows full well who is gay in their precincts, may see a couple holding hands, approach them, and make some money off them [through fines]. Especially since the gay community, like the Russian population at large, is rather illiterate when it comes to legal matters.
When we were putting together the issue of Bolshoi Gorod about homosexuality, back when they were passing this law in Petersburg, a number of experts told us that the main problem is that many young people who are homosexuals will [after passage of the law] have all the more reason to be closeted, which leads to a large number of suicides. In the end, we will be left without any means for dealing with this huge problem.
Unfortunately, we have very little data on suicide in general, even though Russia has among the highest number of teen suicides in the world. In fact, there are no statistics about the LGBT community in Russia. None. But there are American statistics. In the US, LGBT teenagers kill themselves three times or three and half times more often than their heterosexual peers. These are the official numbers from the US Department of Health [and Human Services]. It’s because even in America, there’s such a thing as harassment. I don’t even want to think about what goes on in Russian cities. I grew up in the relatively cultured and affluent town of Yaroslavl, but I know homosexuals from many different parts of the country. When they tell me about their school days, it’s scary. I mean, my God, last time we had a protest outside the Duma, a sixteen-year-old boy came out and showed the journalists his passport. He said, “I’m sixteen. These people think that they are protecting me and my morality. Meanwhile, when I was walking here from the metro, these Orthodox fanatics punched me in the jaw—twice.” These children go to our schools, they’re part of our society, and yet they’re constantly hearing that gays are degenerates, gays are scumbags. If today they can go online and see that is not true, once this law passes, when it actually goes into effect, they won’t have access to this information. Right now, there’s a hotline for the LGBT community where people, no matter their age, can get legal and psychological support. This hotline will be shut down. The LGBT organizations currently working in the provinces will be shut down. Whether legally or illegally, these organizations have been holding support group meetings, monitoring legal cases, and providing people with lawyers.
Are the consequences after the law goes into effect and what people will have to do being discussed?
They will have to go deep underground or risk being fined every day. There are also a large number of people who are same-sex couples with children. There really are a lot of them, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands. There aren’t statistics on this, but when these laws are enacted, imagine the effect they will have on the lives of the children of same-sex couples. Every day, their parents could be fined fifty thousand rubles.
Can you explain why, if, as you say, your demonstration went off rather well, there were only thirty people there?
I am proud of every one of those thirty people. Why so few? Well, are you yourselves going to come to the protest tomorrow? It doesn’t occur to some people that they need to go protest. Others don’t have the time. Some people are actually scared—not of the fists of Orthodox activists, although as someone who has gotten hit in the head I can tell you it’s an unpleasant feeling. What people are more afraid of is that they’ll be found out at work or that mutual acquaintances will find out. Very few LGBT people feel safe being out.
But this is a contradiction. On the one hand, they are afraid of being out, and on the other hand, they want to be treated decently.
The problem is that LGBT activists believe in a gay superman who will suddenly appear in our country and instantly solve all of these problems. That Harvey Milk will be reincarnated and everything will be great. Let’s be more realistic. Harvey Milk isn’t going to be resurrected. He’s dead, he was murdered, and on top of that, he wasn’t even a Russian citizen. I also didn’t go out into the streets for a long time. For a long time, I thought that this situation didn’t affect me since my life was basically good, theoretically. Then I acknowledged that there was no one who could [protest for me]. So I went out and a few people followed me. Yes, it’s not very many people, but no one is stopping you from joining us if you truly believe this is an issue that deserves attention.
Do you think sports and culture celebrities should get involved, write angry letters, saying “I’m gay, there’s nothing wrong with me, this is not a disease,” and so on?
Anyone can get involved. I am personally calling all of you to get involved while you still can.

Source: http://*****magazine.org/post/gay-in-russia-soon-that-could-cost-you-16000

[TheGodlessUtopian]

An LGBT leader in Syktyvkar, Russia, was severely beaten, reportedly by a neo-Nazi activist, the same day the city administration announced it would not allow a planned gay pride demonstration to take place in the city center.
Pride organizer Artem Kalinin, chair of the local LGBT group, was on a city street being interviewed for local television Monday when he was attacked, Gay Star News (http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/gay-activist-badly-beaten-russian-city-bans-pride260313) reports. Alex Kolegov, leader of Syktyvkar’s neo-Nazi group, pushed Kalinin to the ground after hearing Kalinin call him a Nazi and then beat him, leaving Kalinin badly bruised. Journalists pulled Kolegov off Kalinin, who reported the assault to police, but Kolegov was not arrested.
Kalinin said the city’s LGBT organization will “hold pride in spite of everything.” The event is set for Sunday. “This incident will not change my decision,” Kalinin said.
Nor will city officials’ promise to prevent the march, which they made in response to “requests from the city’s religious and public organizations not to allow public events promoting homosexual values,” according to a statement they released. The statement said the LGBT group can hold the event in a less central location, away from public view. “It also stated that Syktyvkar’s Mayor Ivan Pozdeyev requested that city lawmakers prepare a draft law banning any similar events,” Gay Star News notes.
Laws against pro-LGBT “propaganda” have gathered support in Russia over the past few years. The city of St. Petersburg has adopted one, and similar legislation is pending at the national level. The laws, which ban “promotion of homosexuality” through any venue that is accessible to minors, have the effect of prohibiting pride parades and many other public events.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/03/27/watch-russian-lgbt-activist-attacked-city-cracks-down-pride-march

P.S: See source for video