'Our mere existence is illegal.' As Mosw toughens anti-gay law, LGBTQ Rsians fear for the future | CNN

Contents:

• THE 5 BEST MOSW GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS MOSW
• 'WE'RE NOT HIDG': GAY AND LBIAN RSIANS SAY A CULTURAL SHIFT IS UNRWAY
• ‘I’M AAID FOR MY FUTURE’: PROPOSED LAWS THREATEN GAY LIFE RSIA
• ‘OUR MERE EXISTENCE IS ILLEGAL.’ AS MOSW TOUGHENS ANTI-GAY LAW, LGBTQ RSIANS FEAR FOR THE FUTURE
• MOSW: GAY MOSW
• INSI THE IRON CLOSET: WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE GAY PUT'S RSIA
• MOSW’S WAR UKRAE BROUGHT HARSH TACTICS AGAST GAY RSIANS AT HOME

THE 5 BEST MOSW GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS MOSW

Good lotn: cy centre, another gay club (911) the nearby area and a gay iendly hostel next to stay (Inga Hotels). 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. 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.

'WE'RE NOT HIDG': GAY AND LBIAN RSIANS SAY A CULTURAL SHIFT IS UNRWAY

”Some gay Rsians doubt that the new laws will greatly affect them. “I am more sred of beg drafted to fight the war than for beg arrted bee I am gay, ” said Andrei Melnikov, 19. Lawmakers llg gays a danger on a par wh war “is more funny than sry, ” he now, gay Rsians and their alli have found exprsn spe rtrictive laws.

A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 7 of the New York edn wh the headle: Life for Gay Rsians Is About to Get Worse. The European Court of Human Rights led 2017 that the 2013 law is discrimatory, promot homophobia and vlat the European Conventn on Human Rights.

‘I’M AAID FOR MY FUTURE’: PROPOSED LAWS THREATEN GAY LIFE RSIA

The urt found that the law “served no legimate public tert, ” rejectg suggtns that public bate on LGBT issu uld fluence children to bee homosexual, or that threatened public morals. Homosexualy was crimalized Rsia 1993, but homophobia and discrimatn is still rife.

Speakg before Put signed the bill to the law on Monday, Tanya Loksha, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch said: “The 2013 ‘gay propaganda’ law was an unabashed example of polil homophobia, and the new draft legislatn amplifi that broar and harsher ways. But they fear a harsh new anti-gay law passed by Rsian lawmakers will leave them ltle choice. As the Kreml prepared to falize the expansn of the 2013 discrimatory anti-gay law, members of the LGBTQ muny Rsia told CNN they feared the uncerta future ahead.

The measur clu g private acunts on social media, havg accs to a work of tsted people, sendg their son to a private krgarten where the fact a kid has two moms is ls likely to spark a homophobic reactn, and g a private hospal where they n ls risk of a doctor llg child protectn thori to make quiri about their fay set-up, they said. “As an thor of books that raise [the LGBTQ] topic, of urse, I am very ncerned about this, ” gay wrer Ksenia told CNN.

‘OUR MERE EXISTENCE IS ILLEGAL.’ AS MOSW TOUGHENS ANTI-GAY LAW, LGBTQ RSIANS FEAR FOR THE FUTURE

Sce the first law on “gay propaganda” passed 2013, Rsia has seen repeated crackdowns on the gay muny, most notably 2017 and aga 2019 the southern regn of Chechnya, where activists reported dozens of men and women were taed and some tortured and killed for their sexual orientatn, and no proper vtigatn followed. “This is not only an anti-gay law, this is also explicly an anti-trans law, ” said Vanya Solovey, an advocy and program officer for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at the trans rights group Transgenr Europe, referencg the part of the package that forbids the promotn of rmatn that uld e people to want to change their genr assigned at birth. Ten years ago, a bill was passed banng so-lled "gay propaganda" relatn to children.

MOSW: GAY MOSW

Human rights groups say that was followed by a rise vlent homophobic attacks Rsia.

But the fear generated by the legislatn is already leadg to censorship: onle cemas have leted LGBT-themed films and TV seri and eded out gay scen.

INSI THE IRON CLOSET: WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE GAY PUT'S RSIA

In one episo of the highly-acclaimed HBO seri The Whe Lot, a Rsian streamg service changed the word "gay" to "man", eded a towel onto one male character's bare backsi and leted a gay sex scene, jt days after the law was ptn, The book Shattered, about the romance between two men, has been heavily redacted RsiaBooks, too, are beg censored. The text has been redacted by the publisher, wh whole sectns replaced wh black of the -thors of the law, an openly homophobic natnalist lled Valy Milonov, agre to speak to me via violk.

In July, about a week after the Kreml phed through nstutnal amendments that clu fg marriage as a unn between a man and woman, Tsvetkova was fed for a send time unr the untry’s notor “gay propaganda” law and forced to pay 75, 000 Rubl ($1000) over her lorful illtratns of same-sex upl and their young children. Mizula lost support bee of the “tremendo level of public outrage about the bill’s homophobia and transphobia, ” Jonny Dzhibladze, a ordator at Vykhod (“Comg Out”), a St. A year later Put passed the so-lled “gay propaganda” law, which bans rmatn emed to promote homosexualy to mors.

They urged the thori to protect the activist, who says she has received ath threats om an anonymo homophobic work lled Saw that publish the nam and ntacts of LGBTQ people, and lls for vlence agast them.

MOSW’S WAR UKRAE BROUGHT HARSH TACTICS AGAST GAY RSIANS AT HOME

It’s not as homophobic as our officials and relig lears thk, ” she says. In 2009, Rsia’s most proment opposn figure Alexei Navalny suggted that gay people uld “olic” a rdoned stadium rather than public a Pri Para. More recently, June, he acced the ernment of gog “pletely crazy” after pro-Kreml media group Patrt released a homophobic polil advert.

But as a printial ndidate 2018, she clud same-sex civil unns and the liftg of the “gay propaganda” law her polil program.

“Homophobia is a daily realy Rsia”. “This legislatn is the latt a strg of asslts on the rights of lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr people, this time unr the bric of state-ced transphobia.