Russia - LGBT situation

The special protest zones are all part of the Sochi dog and pony show, not much to say about them other than I find it somewhat odious that the authorities are using the recent Volgograd bombings as justification for imposing severe restrictions on the use of these zones.

Ivan Okhlobystin's comments are absolutely disgusting. The man is a priest for f**k sake (yes, he really is) - where is the love of your fellow human being? He calls the tolerance of homosexuality 'lavender facism' and in the same breath calls for homosexuals to be stripped of the right to vote. How does that work?

I do not want my kids to think that fa**ots are normal. This is lavender fascism. If a person can not choose someone of an opposite sex for procreation -- this is an overt sign of mental abnormality, so they should be denied of voting rights.

He clarified his statements on Twitter by saying;

It all sounded much simplier. But the meaning is transmitted correctly. Everyone has a right to have a personal opinion

And later,

For a man there are only two options available to have an attitude toward sodomites: either acceptance or rejection. Given the aggression with which sodomites dictate their will to the world, there can not be some middle way. If you continue to flirt with sodomites, citing the rules of international, civil or criminal law -- it means to be cunning and violating the law of God. Putting it simple -- to serve the devil.

Even non-participation in the solution of this problem is a betrayal of God, whatever numerous and often conflicting "rights" claim,

"Plus the existence of official organizations which sodomites have in all their forms, from homosexuals to pedophiles -- it is a direct insult to the feelings of believers in God, and therefore it should be prosecuted.

He is the creative director for Евросеть (Euroset) which is Russia's largest mobile phone retailer. Their response to his comments was predictably weak.

Ivan expressed his personal opinion, and we will not fire him for that. Of course, we are against burning anyone in furnaces. We have agreed that such statements will not be made anymore - Alexander Malis (President)

Apple are about to enter a large contract with Евросеть and a letter to CEO Tim Cook is going out this week asking him to reconsider dealing with this company. It is supported by many LGBT rights organisations inside and outside of Russia. Signatories are listed here, here and here

I am delighted he has finally been arrested and is being sent back to Russia. He was charged in absentia in December and he's been out of Russia ever since, first in Thailand and now Cuba.

While i do hope he's handed down a severe sentance the Russian judiciary will probably just give him a slap on the wrist because he has popular support in Russia and his family is wealthy. I wonder though, considering how much worldwide condemnation his Occupy movement has drawn and the considerable frustration this has caused Putin and the Kremlin, maybe the government will intervene and put him away for a long time - they know his movement and the safari's they conduct will probably continue anyway.

It's a shame that none of the charges against him relate to his trapping and tormenting LGBT teens :mad:

A project to get the opinions of LGBTIQ in Russia called 'Word to the World' has posted the first 3 videos to youtube yesterday. Each video features a single question and those willing to be filmed give their thoughts and perspectvies on it. Simple, effective and surprisingly powerful.

English subtitles can be accessed by clicking on the caption icon at the bottom of each video.


What do you feel when you hear president Putin state "there is no discrimination of LGBTIQ in Russia?"



What can we do to get over homophobia in Russia?



How can the world help us change homophobia in Russia?

Beautiful video.

They are singing the Russian national anthem, the language is Russian!

Here is a little fact for anyone interested - the post soviet national anthem Патриотическая Песнь Глинки (Patrioticheskaya Pesnya) had no lyrics and complaints were made to the council of state that athletes had nothing to sing during olympic games and so could not feel inspired.

It was decreed that a national anthem with lyrics was needed and in 2000 the current anthem, with lyrics, was officially adopted by the supreme court. The person that decreed the need for lyrics, and ultimately decided upon the lyrics after thousands of submissions from all over Russia, was Vladimir Putin.

In the Siberian city Irkutsk a fight breaks out after a St. Patricks Day flash mob is mistaken for a pro-LGBT protest.

Some of the group, from a local language school, were wearing traditional celtic costumes including some members in kilts which were incorrectly assumed to be representatives of sexual minorities.

I wish this was a joke.

A very serious homophobic attack on a 25 year old student was foiled last week in the city of Chelyabinsk (1,800 km east of Moscow, close to Kazakhstan border)

5 college students aged 18-22 put up a personal ad on a local forum to trap a gay respondant. They took their 25 year old victim at gunpoint out of the city to the shore of the local lake where they robbed him of the RUB 10,000 (about €200) he had on him, they then cruelly tormented him, forced him to strip naked and shot the ground next to him. The victim had a chronic medical condition and the stress of the incident caused him to have a heart attack.

Rather than get him medical assistance the students drove him to a bank and ordered him to get RUB 50,000 for them. The victim wrote 'help me I'm a hostage' on the withdrawl form and passed it to the bank manager (who knew the victim as a regular customer) ignored it and said he would 'call him back' re the money. They then took him to a second bank where again tried his SOS again. The cashier noted that the victim was pale, trembling and barely able to stand, took the note to the back room and tripped the panic alarms. Bank security guards overpowered the kidnapper that accompanied the victim into the bank (he had a Makarov pistol uner his coat) and local police quickly arrested the other 4 in the car outside.

During their interview they told the police that the money was incidental, what they really wanted was to "cleanse society of gays". They have been charged with Robbery, Extortion, Kidnapping and Illegal Occupation of a vehicle and their trial will be a closed hearing. None had any previous criminal convictions and their families have hired expensive lawyers for them.

Kp.ru article (Original source, in Russian)

QueerRussia.info article

Ten of Swords wrote: »

Result today,

Maxim Martsinkevich, founder of Occupy Pedofilyay - the group known for torturing of gay teens and young men in Russia - received 5 years in prison today for 'incitement of hatred'.

Timely thread resurrection aloyisious

This guy was released from prison in April 2017. His sentence had been cut from 5 years to 2 years 10 months. He is, so far, laying low but the occupy movement he founded has continued in his absence and is still in full swing today.