Protest – LGBT World Beside

December 17, 2018January 7, 2019

No Support. Russia’s “Gay Propaganda” Law Imperils LGBT Youth

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth in Russia face formidable barriers to enjoying their fundamental rights to dignity, health, education, information, and association. In Russia, antipathy towards homosexuality and gender variance is not new—LGBT people there have long faced threats, bullying, abuse inside their families, and discrimination—but the 2013 “gay propaganda” law has increased that social hostility. The law has also had a stifling effect on access to affirming education and support services, with harmful consequences for LGBT youth.

Russia’s “gay propaganda” law is a classic example of political homophobia. It targets vulnerable sexual and gender minorities for political gain. When Russian president Vladimir Putin signed the federal law in June 2013, he pandered to a conservative domestic support base. And on the international stage, the law helped position Russia as a champion of so-called “traditional values.” The legislation, formally titled the law “aimed at protecting children from information promoting the denial of traditional family values,” bans the “promotion of nontraditional sexual relations to minors”—a reference universally understood to mean a ban on providing children access to information about LGBT people’s lives. The ban includes, but is not limited to, information provided via the press, television, radio, and the internet.

The law has been used to shut down websites that provide valuable information and services to teens across Russia and to bar LGBT support groups from working with youth. But the law’s effects have been much broader: individual mental health professionals have curtailed what they say and what support they give to students, and the law gives the strong imprimatur of the Russian state to the false and discriminatory view that LGBT people are a threat to tradition and the family. Significantly, mental health providers we spoke with said the law interferes with their ability to offer honest, scientifically accurate, and open counseling services, leading some to self-censor themselves or set out explicit disclaimers at the start of sessions to avoid running afoul of the law.

Given the already deeply hostile climate for LGBT people in Russia when the law was passed, it is not surprising that its passage coincided with an uptick in often-gruesome vigilante violence against LGBT people in Russia—frequently carried out in the name of protecting Russian values and Russia’s children. And while Russian government officials and parliament members claim that the goal of the “gay propaganda” law is to protect children from potentially harmful subject matter, the law in fact directly harms children by denying them access to essential information and increasing stigma against LGBT youth and their families. As the European Court of Human Rights concluded in 2017, the law reflects and reinforces “predisposed bias, unambiguously highlighted by its domestic interpretation and enforcement.”

This report—based largely on interviews with LGBT youth and mental health professionals in diverse locations in Russia, including urban and rural areas—documents the situation of LGBT youth there today. It looks at their everyday experiences in schools, homes, and in public, and their ability to access reliable and accurate information about themselves as well as counseling and other support services. As one mental health provider explained, “The whole situation is just worsening. As of today, teachers and teachers-psychologists are not allowed to speak positively [on LGBT topics]. They can’t just say to a kid, ‘Hey, everything is normal with you.’”

LGBT youth interviewed by Human Rights Watch described feelings of intense fear of disclosing their sexual orientation or gender identity in their daily lives, as well as distrust in the individuals and systems that should provide them safety and refuge. This fear extends beyond the school walls: some of the students Human Rights Watch interviewed said that others in their communities also threated and physically abused them.

While some LGBT youth told us that teachers had supported and protected them, many others said their teachers characterize LGBT people as a symptom of perversion imported from Western Europe or North America, mirroring the political homophobia that motivated the passage of the “gay propaganda” law in the first place.

For some, peers are a source of relative support and openness—when compared with how their parents and teachers relate to issues of sexual orientation and gender identity. Others, however, face harassment, bullying, and discrimination at the hands of their classmates, who often repeat the stereotypes, misinformation, and noxious anti-LGBT rhetoric pervasive in Russian media. Some students heard comments from classmates suggesting that LGBT people do not deserve to live.

Nearly all of the youth we spoke with described intense feelings of isolation, which they attributed to persistent anti-LGBT rhetoric and hostile social attitudes. Their sense of isolation was exacerbated, they said, by the “gay propaganda” law. Repeatedly, they explained that their primary struggle is not coming to terms with being different as such, but rather finding accurate information about gender and sexuality in a hostile environment.

In the absence of accurate information and safe access to community spaces, or support from teachers and school mental health staff, many LGBT youth turn to the internet—an embattled, politicized, and often-censored space in Russia. However, the “gay propaganda” law has also restricted access to information about gender and sexuality online.

Mental health professionals we spoke with strongly echoed what LGBT youth said. They spoke of growing fear and anxiety among such youth since the law passed and an increase in demands for counselors attuned to LGBT issues, but also pervasive ignorance among psychologists and new self-censorship even among those who understand the issues and want to play a positive role in the lives of LGBT youth. One psychologist described how even in situations where it is clinically relevant to discuss a child client’s sexual orientation, he feels constrained by the law: “Teenagers often wait for me to ask a direct and precise question about his or her sexual orientation or gender identity, but the law prevents me from doing that.” A social worker pointed out that the law “is an effective means of intimidation.”

Psychologists told Human Rights Watch that the “gay propaganda” law has limited their ability to be fully candid on questions of sexual orientation and gender identity. Some explained that they felt forced to speak about sexual orientation and gender identity only in euphemisms, or to say explicitly at the outset of counseling sessions that they cannot and will not disseminate “gay propaganda” in attempts to dispel in advance any notion that they are violating the law.

By sending an official message approving the marginalization of LGBT people, psychologists told us, the “gay propaganda” law increases the challenges youth face. And by erecting legal barriers between marginalized youth and the support services and information they need, the law does significant harm.

Deti-404

Deti-404 is an online group that offers psychological support, advice, and a safe online community for LGBT children, including those who experience violence and aggression because of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. “Deti” (дети) means “children.” The “404” in the group’s title is a reference to the standard internet “error 404” message indicating that a webpage cannot be found, so the group’s name can be read as referring to children who have been erased in official terms. Elena Klimova, a journalist and LGBT activist, launched Deti-404 while the “gay propaganda” law was pending in the parliament.

On June 10, 2013, Yelena Mizulina, the author of the law at the State Duma, the lower chamber of Russia’s parliament, told reporters that the Deti-404 website did not constitute “gay propaganda” under the law. “Such a project is not concerned with the propaganda of non-traditional relationships,” she said. The reporter then asked her: “What is it like for these children when they discover that they are not like everyone else? How do they get information that it is not a disease, that it’s okay?” Mizulina replied:

Information that is explanatory, or descriptive, or which does not call for anything, which is not provocative, which doesn’t depict non-traditional sexual relations, is not propaganda, it can be legally accessed by teens.
The next day the State Duma voted unanimously to pass the law.

Deti-404 has gained tens of thousands of members since then and has become a crucial source of information and refuge for LGBT youth in Russia. But contrary to Mizulina’s assertions, Deti-404 has been a consistent target of the “gay propaganda” law in its five and a half years of existence.

Klimova has been charged under the “gay propaganda” law three times for operating Deti-404 and forced to change its digital location or re-launch the group to keep it functioning. Since a 2016 court decision, the group’s website, www.deti404.com, has been formally blocked in Russia.

By enshrining discrimination in national law, Russia’s “gay propaganda” law violates Russia’s international human rights obligations. International bodies—including the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child—have strongly condemned it for this reason.

Our interviews show that Russian youth are resilient amid the onslaught of anti-LGBT rhetoric, negative social attitudes, discriminatory laws, and persistent misinformation in their lives. The “gay propaganda” law, however, risks inflicting long-term harm on generations of Russian youth by encouraging discrimination and curtailing access to support services. The path forward requires repeal of the law and other reforms that uphold the basic rights of LGBT youth to freedom of expression and access to information. Mental health professionals, for their part, should not have to look over their shoulders when providing counseling and other services to LGBT youth: they should be free to provide counseling based on evidence and international best practices, not societal fears backed by repressive legislation.

December 17, 2018January 7, 2019

Girl must be strangled.

The project “Queer Women of the North Caucasus” with the support of the Fund. Heinrich Böll systematized the results of two years of work with lesbian, bisexual and transgender women in the North Caucasus. Radio Liberty has read the report, which should be published on the website of the Foundation. Heinrich Böll December 17th.

There has always been little information about LBT women in the Caucasus, only close attention the press and NGOs to persecute homosexuals in Chechnya prompted some of them to turn to human rights defenders. The project “Queer Women of the North Caucasus” is a few activists in different regions who hide their names for security reasons. They interviewed 21 women: sixteen from Chechnya, two from Dagestan, two from Ingushetia and one from North Ossetia. Respondents from 20 to 49 years; 17 of them identified themselves as lesbians, three said they were bisexual, one was a transgender woman. Eleven women left the region or even the country, three stayed at home and hide their orientation, the relatives of five learned about their orientation, so the girls are still in a situation of violence. With one such girl, the connection was lost after the interview, like other studies on queer women, the report demonstrates a disastrous situation with the rights of women in general, including family violence. According to the respondents, violence in Caucasian families is widespread, but statistics in this area are fragmentary, and the victims almost never turn to law enforcement agencies, who are sympathetic to the violation of their rights. “In the Chechen Republic, 11% of the respondents (women) indicated that they were sometimes beaten, 28% from time to time received slaps or pushes,” the 2015 study “Life and situation of women in the North Caucasus” says. At the same time, a 2011 study conducted by Rosstat together with the Ministry of Health in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund showed that in Russia as a whole, 20% of women were subjected to physical violence. 8% of women in the Caucasus said that they were raped or forced to have sex, on average in Russia, 4% said they had sex against their will with a current or former partner. 27% of the Chechens interviewed admitted that they had married under the force of their parents, in the oldest age group (61+) there were more than 40% of them.

Absolutely all LBT women who took part in the study said that they had gone through beatings and humiliation that begin after childhood. “Relatives on the father’s side often said that the girl should be strangled at birth”; “The father beat his children badly. One of the half-sisters said that the father threw them against the wall”; “The father often beat the mother. The father knocked out all the front teeth of the mother,” said residents of Chechnya.
One woman told about the actions of a sexual nature on the part of her uncle, who threatened her that in case of publicity, the punishment was waiting for her. And so it happened: when relatives learned about violence against a girl, she was accused of sexual promiscuity.
For many, violence ends in death, but the killers of sisters and daughters rarely sit in the dock. Another report of the Foundation for Legal Initiative about honor killings in Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia states that out of 33 cases of such killings, only 14 reached the court. Eight out of 21 respondents from the Queer Women project said that one of their acquaintances had been killed by male relatives for behavior that “dishonors the family.”

The wedding of the head of the Chechnya ROVD in the Nozhai-Yurt district of Najud Guchigov and the 17-year-old resident of the village of Baitarka Louise Goilabieva.

All respondents spoke about total control by their relatives: regardless of age, they were forbidden to leave the house in the evening, it was often forbidden to communicate with boys and young people. “You cannot ride a taxi. You can take a bus, only where are adult women, if there are only men on the bus, you cannot go. I once secretly bought a car, studied in another region, bought it there. When my brother found out, she lied that the car was not mine Such disassemblies were. We managed to sell them quickly, “said a resident of Chechnya. Some girls were even forbidden to directly contact their father, social networks and mobile phones were checked daily, they were limited in their choice of clothing and social circle. “Mother said: – You are my property, I will do with you what I want, and you will do everything that I said.” Here it is. “Marry – you will do that what will my husband say to you You can have neither your opinion, nor your opinion; in general, nobody and nothing, you are our thing. All “;” They checked several times at the gynecologist if I was a virgin or not, “say respondents from Chechnya.
Nine of the girls interviewed were or are married, eight of them were married forcibly, and in seven cases they were forced into marriage after they learned about their homosexuality or began to suspect them of it. All the girls were abused, including sexual violence, by their husbands.
The North Caucasian “marriage” is usually located outside the Russian legal field, in the registry office go only in the case of the birth of a child. Women often do not ask consent, the mullah can issue a “marriage certificate”, which is kept by her husband. The document indicates the data of the husband and wife, the witnesses on the part of the groom and the data “wali” – the bride’s guardian (usually father or brother), as well as the amount of kalym, which usually varies from 10 thousand to 50 thousand rubles. According to the respondents, instead of the bride, the signature for her could be “wali”; in general, the evidence is similar to the contract of sale, one of the women, who had been married twice, said that she had never signed anywhere, did not give out marriage certificates to her . In this case, the three respondents at the time of the interview were not the only wives married.

“Marriage Certificate” from Mullah, Chechnya.

As a woman moves de facto from one “guardian” to another, the system of total control, physical and psychological violence remains the same, only sexual violence is added to it. “I was immediately taken to the village. For six months I lived in this village. I didn’t have my things, the conditions were difficult. My duties were to clean the house, cook food for the whole big family, clean the shoes of all family members every evening, clean every day in the yard. In fact, I was a servant, “- says a resident of Dagestan. “Once I went to the store and didn’t notice that my hair was strayed out from under the hijab. He shouted at me and started beating right on the street. So hard that I couldn’t stand for several days. And he was a boxing trainer. to argue, then immediately knock out, “- recalls the girl from Chechnya. ” My husband was terrible. He beat me almost every day. First, he beat me on the face with his hands, and then with a stick. He came up with the rules of behavior, and if I’m guilty, he beat me with a stick three times, “says another Chechen woman.

The Caucasus differs from other Russian regions in that it is almost impossible for a woman to get out of a situation of violence. If she succeeds in obtaining a divorce, she returns to her parental home, where she is exposed to even greater violence from her relatives, finding herself guilty of her position of “divorcing”. “After 4 years, she could not stand it and called my mother. She asked me to pick me up from my husband. Mother said that she sees no reason for divorce, since she” also did not love her husband. “So everyone lives,” says a woman from Dagestan. “It’s boring to sit at home and I played online games. Brother saw me talking to other players on the Internet. Immediately he started beating me, pressed me to the wall and began to choke me. I began to lose consciousness. Mother entered the room, pushed my brother away “- says the girl from Chechnya.

Sixteen out of 21 respondents were faced with the fact that their sexual orientation became known to their relatives. Usually this happens during the perusal of correspondence, because of gossip and rumors or banal revenge from friends who disseminate incriminating information. “My girlfriend sent my intimate photos to one of the groups on the social network. So the family learned”; “The bell rang. Brother spoke on the phone. It turned out that the correspondence with my friend found her mother. Well, she called mine”; “My brother became suspicious of this relationship and began to monitor me, check my phone several times a day. I tried to delete my messages as soon as I received them. But one day my brother was in the room when a message came from her, he I heard a sound and asked for a phone. I did not give it to him, because I knew that the message was from a girl, and was afraid. He began to hit me on the head and face. Of course, he picked the phone. Later, until the very marriage, I was under arrest and without a telephone, “say residents of Chechnya.

If relatives find out about a girl’s homo-, bi-, or transsexuality, this always leads to a wave of physical and psychological violence, which can also result in murder. However, the authors of the report do not have statistics on murders for orientation; the task was to study the living respondents, but at least two sudden deaths became known from different sources: in one case the official version was kidney disease, in the second – mysterious poisoning. “When they learned that I was a lesbian, they closed me in the room where the repair was going, with one blanket. They let me into the kitchen and the toilet when nobody was in the kitchen … I probably lived there for several months without everything, until my father bought there is a sofa “; “The brother sat down next to me on his knees, gave me a gun … He cried, I swear, he cried, and said:” I gave my word to Father not to kill you. I beg you, shoot yourself, just shoot yourself! “And I … I already walked like a zombie, I stretch that gun to him and say:” If you want, then kill yourself. I will not shoot myself. “And he is like this:” If you shoot yourself, it will all end, we will tell people that this somehow happened by chance “;” All men from the family are going. All the older men in the family (grandfathers, uncles, fathers, older brothers) and discuss what punishment to choose for a woman for her wrong behavior. If they find out that she is a lesbian, then most likely she will have two options: kill or marry forcibly, “say girls from Chechnya. Three respondents said that brothers or mothers inclined them to suicide (seven girls made suicide attempts) . then kill yourself. I will not shoot myself. “And he is like this:” If you shoot yourself, it will all end, we will tell people that this somehow happened by chance “;” All men from the family are going. All the older men in the family (grandfathers, uncles, fathers, older brothers) and discuss what punishment to choose for a woman for her wrong behavior. If they find out that she is a lesbian, then most likely she will have two options: kill or marry forcibly, “say girls from Chechnya. Three respondents said that brothers or mothers inclined them to suicide (seven girls made suicide attempts) . then kill yourself. I will not shoot myself. “And he is like this:” If you shoot yourself, it will all end, we will tell people that this somehow happened by chance “;” All men from the family are going. All the older men in the family (grandfathers, uncles, fathers, older brothers) and discuss what punishment to choose for a woman for her wrong behavior. If they find out that she is a lesbian, then most likely she will have two options: kill or marry forcibly, “say girls from Chechnya. Three respondents said that brothers or mothers inclined them to suicide (seven girls made suicide attempts) . fathers, elder brothers) and discuss what punishment to choose for a woman for her wrong behavior. If they find out that she is a lesbian, then most likely she will have two options: kill or marry forcibly, “say girls from Chechnya. Three respondents said that brothers or mothers inclined them to suicide (seven girls made suicide attempts) . fathers, elder brothers) and discuss what punishment to choose for a woman for her wrong behavior. If they find out that she is a lesbian, then most likely she will have two options: kill or marry forcibly, “say girls from Chechnya. Three respondents said that brothers or mothers inclined them to suicide (seven girls made suicide attempts).

Relatives do not always resort to extreme measures, some try to cure sexual orientation: for this, girls are taken to one of the Centers for Islamic Medicine or they invite the mullah to go home – to “expel the jinn”. Five of the women surveyed went through this procedure (about her in an interview at Radio Liberty also told Chechen lesbians in detail, who managed to leave Russia). However, the girls themselves often believe that their orientation is a consequence of obsession with a male genie who fell in love with them and disgusted with other men, therefore they agree to exorcism rituals, moreover, if the mullah confirms the diagnosis, the girl begins a course of treatment, and if her healthy, she in the eyes of the family becomes the usual libertine. “They laid me down and covered my whole body with such a green cloth. (…) They put on my headphones, started to hold hands and legs. (…) My head started to ache because of screams. A panic attack began. When these screams ( prayers. – Approx.) the headphones ran out, and I was already conscious, the mullah said that I needed something tougher, and asked my parents if they agreed. They, of course, agreed. Then the mullah took me by the hand, sat on my horse, crushed my hands with their feet. Took some tool. It seemed to me that it was a plastic stick, this stick was screwed into my ear. He pulled the skin out of my ears. I began to scream in pain. Mullah said: “It does not hurt you, it hurts your jinn”; “Some of them said that I need a ritual of“ cleansing demonic blood. ”To do this, my parents pierced the skin of my back with needles, made small cuts on my arms and legs. a bathroom with very salty water, and I was supposed to lie there, “say girls from Chechnya.

Exorcism of the genie.

One of the ways to avoid violence is fake marriage with a homosexual from the region. Six respondents arranged such marriages, however, let them be thorny for freedom. It’s dangerous to search for a candidate, because you can run into a “set-up” in social networks, native girls are always suspicious if she chooses a partner herself, marriage is impossible, if there are doubts about the future husband’s sexual orientation or reputation, besides Chechnya before marriage HIV test is obligatory, one of the respondents told how her choice did not pass such a test and the wedding was canceled. However, only half of the girls who marry gay or “understanding” friends, considered this adventure a success. In three cases, the husbands quickly forgot about the fictitious nature of marriage, and the girls again found themselves in situations of domestic and sexual violence. “I got pregnant. He screamed that does not want this child. To have an abortion in a marriage is impossible with us. So that there was no talk, they took me to some such room … they had an abortion. I was so bad. I don’t even know if these people have a medical education, “says a resident of Dagestan about her life with her gay husband.

One of the most serious offenses, but at the same time, sometimes the only way to salvation is to escape. Not many decide on it: women are economically dependent on the family, cannot get a passport without permission of the “guardian”, law enforcement agencies all over the country immediately pass to their searches, and they pass the refugees to their relatives, despite their requests not to do so. Upon the return of women, isolation, violence and, possibly, the death penalty are guaranteed (Radio Liberty knows a case when law enforcement agencies in a situation like this forced a man to kill his daughter, the father refused to commit a crime, the family had to leave the region).

With a successful escape, you need to be ready to refuse any contact with family members, because they continue to hunt women even abroad, one of the respondents was detained in Europe and, after several months of imprisonment, they were sent home. At the same time, as the study shows, only one respondent had previously developed an escape plan, the other 15 girls made a spontaneous decision when they considered that their lives were in danger. “I didn’t care. As if I wanted to be found and killed already. I packed up my bag and went hitchhiking. I got to Rostov (the city was changed). I slept in the forest. I climbed up a tree. I spent one night there,” a Chechen resident said.

According to the girls, law enforcement agencies at least in Chechnya expanded the audience of repression, adding lesbians and bisexual women to homosexuals and transgender people. No verified information on Radio Liberty’s “lesbian lists” was found, but three respondents from Chechnya were the victims of harassment by security forces. “The security officials took me away because she sheltered her friend. I could not refuse her. But I didn’t know that she was trying to escape. I began to ask and understood this. She had adult Chechen brothers. I said that one night she She can spend the night, but then she needs to come back. So they will quickly find her and she has nowhere to go. She left. But someone hacked her page where she wrote about me … The siloviki broke into my house and accused me of being a lesbian, that I stole their sister. Interrogated me. After that, morally tortured. But since I lit up, then constantly taken. When they were looking for some gay man, they took me away, beat me, but no trace remained. They pricked me with needles under the nails “;” They [the security forces] connected wires to my little fingers, put a basin of water in front of me, and said that they would shock me. They beat them with their fists and hands, spat in the face. Then they called my elder brother and mother, said: “Bring some men’s things to your sister.” They filmed everything on camera. 120 thousand rubles were extorted for this video. My paid. ” They beat them with their fists and hands, spat in the face. Then they called my elder brother and mother, said: “Bring some men’s things to your sister.” They filmed everything on camera. 120 thousand rubles were extorted for this video. My paid. ” They beat them with their fists and hands, spat in the face. Then they called my elder brother and mother, said: “Bring some men’s things to your sister.” They filmed everything on camera. 120 thousand rubles were extorted for this video. My paid. ”

As in the case of honor killings, there is no hope for a solution of the issue in the foreseeable future. The authors of the report are sure: “We need structural changes, anti-discrimination legislation, large-scale work with law enforcement agencies, which is impossible at the current level of institutional homophobia at the state level.” So far, human rights defenders and journalists can only save specific people.

November 16, 2018November 17, 2018

ILGA-Europe conference 2018

At the end of October 2018, the ILGA-Europe conference “Politics for Change: from Words into action” was held in Brussels, Belgium.

This is the largest annual meeting of LGBTI activists from Europe and Central Asia. This year there were about 500 participants, including politicians, activists, journalists and organizations.

There was a very rich program, but the LGBT World Beside team was able to attend almost every seminar and lecture. We received a lot of information with which to work in the near future. We met new people, made friends and exchanged contacts. Ahead of us is a lot of work, a lot of cooperation and big victories in business.

Below is an abbreviated list of lectures:
– Digital security.
– LGBT Roma.
– Women’s and LGBT rights, health, resistance to attacks.
– Substitute dating.
– Exit from the crisis.
– Communication with politicians in unsafe countries, ect.

The ILGA-Europe conference helped us create priorities in our work plan. We are grateful to everyone for their support and cooperation.

October 3, 2018January 7, 2019

NEW YORK – WAITING FOR COLOR is a documentary dance film about the Chechen region of Russia.

“Documentary Dance Film Raises Awareness about LGBTQ+ Torture in Chechnya”

NEW YORK – WAITING FOR COLOR is a documentary dance film revealing the harsh reality of LGBTQ+ persecution in the Chechen region of Russia. The contents of the film were inspired by testimonials of the arrests, torture, and blackmail that gay Chechens were subjected to throughout 2017. Through the accounts of 33 brave individuals who shared their stories, the film explores the themes of paranoia, trauma, and hope.

The film chooses dance as the primary medium in order to evoke three distinct emotions that showcase the intensity that Chechens faced: surveillance, brutality, and hopelessness. The physically-charged, abstract movement is choreographed to enhance the resonance of the spoken testimonies, offering a physical interpretation to the psychological torture that the individuals experienced.

The film is a direct response to the government anti-gay purge in Chechnya that made international news in April 2017 about the abduction, torture and extrajudicial killings of over 100 gay men in the Chechen Republic, a part of the Russian Federation. As news spread, activists tried to evacuate survivors and push the local government for accountability, admittance, and persecution of those involved in these terrible crimes against humanity. The Russian government has been stalling its investigation, refusing to come forward with anything conclusive even after reports and public testimonials of individuals who had successfully escaped were shared in the press.

The film was independently produced by Kosta Karakashyan and Studio Karakashyan and is being released in collaboration with Single Step Foundation, a Bulgarian non-profit organization that aims to help LGBTI youth recognize, come out and affirm their sexual orientation and gender identity. The goal of the film is to maintain international attention on the situation and to highlight the important work that the Russian LGBT Network is doing in uncovering these brutal stories and protecting the individuals that came forward to share them.

Waiting for Color (6:35) release: Wednesday, August 27, 1PM EDT.

June 25, 2018July 9, 2018

LGBT Activist Arrested in Russia During World Cup

An LGBT activist was arrested in Russia for staging a one-man protest.

Peter Tatchell, a British citizen, was detained Thursday in Moscow, the first day of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, for speaking out against the Eastern European nation’s inaction toward human rights abuses in Chechnya, a region of Russia.

“Putin fails to act against Chechnya torture of gay people,” read the sign held by Tatchell.

Tatchell was taken to a police station by several officers and released later that day, reports CNN. The activist will have to appear in court on June 26 because, according to a post on his Twitter, he is “charged with violating Federal Law 54 & Presidential Decree 202, which prohibit all protests near the Kremlin & during World Cup.”

After being released, Tatchell posted video of his arrest and explained how he had wanted to prevent a “PR coup” from the antigay nation for hosting an international sporting event.

“My Moscow protest was in solidarity with heroic Russian & Chechen LGBT people. I salute & support their struggle,” he wrote in the post. “The human rights abusing Putin regime must not be allowed to score a PR coup with the World Cup. There can be no normal sporting relations with an abnormal regime.”

Since last year, at least 200 gay and bisexual men may have been detained and as many as 26 killed in Chechen concentration camps, according to reports from LGBT groups and the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. In May, a representative of Russia told the United Nations that an investigation found no evidence of crimes against LGBT people in Chechnya — or even LGBT people in general.

Russia’s infamous “gay propaganda” law prohibits public LGBT demonstrations. Yet Tatchell maintained that his protest was not illegal.

“I was exercising my lawful right to protest, under the Russian constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression and the right to protest in Articles 29 and 31,” he said in a statement submitted by the Peter Tatchell Foundation. “A one-person protest, which is what I did, requires no permission from the authorities and the police.”

“Getting arrested is standard for Russians who protest for LGBT+ rights or against corruption, economic injustice and Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its bombing of civilians in Syria,” Tatchell added. “Unlike brave Russian protesters, I have the ‘protection’ of a British passport, which means I have been treated more leniently than they are. My fate was mild compared to what often happens to Russians who dare to challenge the Putin regime. I am awed by their courage.”

It is not illegal to be gay in Russia, but homophobia has been on the rise in the past several years. A recent poll from the Levada Center found that 83 percent of Russians, regardless of age, think gay sex is “always reprehensible” or “almost always reprehensible.” Activists have advised LGBT fans in attendance at the World Cup not to hold hands or exchange public displays of affection.