On the eve of the Sochi Wter Olympics, we go to hidg wh the newly persecuted gay men and women of Vladimir Put's eedom-ee Rsia
Contents:
- ‘I’M AAID FOR MY FUTURE’: PROPOSED LAWS THREATEN GAY LIFE RSIA
- PUT’S PRI? SIX FAMO GAY SONS OF RSIA
- 'WE'RE NOT HIDG': GAY AND LBIAN RSIANS SAY A CULTURAL SHIFT IS UNRWAY
- MAJORY OF RSIANS BELIEVE GAYS NSPIRG TO STROY UNTRY'S VALU, POLL FDS
- INSI THE IRON CLOSET: WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE GAY PUT'S RSIA
‘I’M AAID FOR MY FUTURE’: PROPOSED LAWS THREATEN GAY LIFE RSIA
Vladimir Put's anti-gay propaganda laws have sought to stifle homosexual exprsn - but Sochi's openg ceremony featured some of the most proment homosexuals ternatnal history. * gay russians *
It was a faiar rendn of Put’s bgo rd of geopolil rentments—and then he transned to the issue of gay and transgenr rights.
He portrayed the war as a stggle between those seekg to reject Wtern valu and gay pri paras held as, his words, “loyalty tt[s]” to Wtern ernments. Kreml officials seized on the ia of banng “gay propaganda, ” takg an obscure law that had been gag steam regnal legislatur sce 2006 and passg at the feral level 2013.
The vaguely word law prohibs any discsns of homosexualy plac or formats that may be accsible to mors, cludg the media and onle.
PUT’S PRI? SIX FAMO GAY SONS OF RSIA
Rsia's World Cup volunteers have warned they will hunt down gay England fans and report them to police if they see them kissg public * gay russians *
It was, as later scribed by Human Rights Watch, a “classic example of polil homophobia” for “polil ga. Acrdg to Rsian media monorg anizatn Medialogiya, reports about homosexualy skyrocketed om jt 11 2011 to more than 160 2013.
The gay propaganda law 2013 rved a path that Rsian tanks wish they had Ukrae. The media verage that followed the passage of the gay propaganda law 2013 set the tone for the rise hate crim that was to follow. In 2016, Dmry Tsilik, a proment art and culture cric who was gay, was stabbed more than 30 tim by a man he met on an onle datg se.
“Over the past two to three years, this hatred has grown all directns, cludg, unfortunately, towards gay people. In 2021, Hungary’s nservative ernment passed a gay propaganda law very siar to Rsia’s while Romania is weighg s own. Rsia’s weaponizatn of gay rights transformed the issue to a new geopolil flt le, Kondakov said.
'WE'RE NOT HIDG': GAY AND LBIAN RSIANS SAY A CULTURAL SHIFT IS UNRWAY
The procs of enterg the gay club Голубая Устрица remd me of a speakeasy om the 1920s. The bar is shroud secrecy and anonymy, but stead of beg filled wh roarg revelers, the atmospheric vibe was nothg short of prsg. Those who wish to party secure a... * gay russians *
They were tryg to ply wh a 2013 Rsian law that bans exposg mors to anythg that uld be nsired “gay propaganda.
”The anizers had good reason to be wary: Life has been challengg for gay Rsians sce the law passed, as the ernment has treated gay life as a Wtern import that is harmful to tradnal Rsian valu and Rsia’s Parliament is set to pass a legislative package that would ban all “gay propaganda, ” signalg an even more difficult perd ahead for a stigmatized segment of laws would prohib reprentatn of L.
Exprsn wh s ratnale for the war Ukrae, sistg that Rsia is fightg not jt Ukrae but all of NATO, a Wtern alliance that reprents a threat to the Put drove home that argument a speech last week, sayg that the Wt n have “dozens of genrs and gay pri paras, ” but that should not try to spread the “trends” elsewhere. Aleksandr Khste, a puty om the lg Uned Rsia party and the lead thor of the new anti-gay bills, was even more blunt. Lunchenkov said that 2010, when he was school, he felt that he uld exprs his gay inty eely among his classmat.
MAJORY OF RSIANS BELIEVE GAYS NSPIRG TO STROY UNTRY'S VALU, POLL FDS
Sixty-three percent of Rsians surveyed said they believe a secret anizatn is tryg to "stroy" the untry's "spirual valu" through gay propaganda. * gay russians *
Olenichev said that though the police do not track hate crim agast queer people, he and his lleagu have noticed an crease clients who have suffered inty-based attacks sce rhetoric behd anti-gay laws may have dangero nsequenc for gay Rsians, said Vladimir Komov, a lawyer wh the group Delo 2013 law was promoted as protectg children, while the new on “seek to prohib gay propaganda as a danger to the state system, ” fg as extremism, he Lunchenkov said the proposed laws uld leave gay people “aaid to go to medil clics to get treatment or ttg” for sexually transmted diseas.
INSI THE IRON CLOSET: WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE GAY PUT'S RSIA
* gay russians *
”Some gay Rsians doubt that the new laws will greatly affect them.