Uganda's Anti-Gay Law Not The Problem. Far Worse Is Yet To Come.

"Shock and horror". That's how most of the world is taking the news that the Ugandan President has just turned an anti-gay bill into law. This makes me so very angry, and extremely disappointed.

Why? Because we've known this was going to happen for years, but nobody actually did anything about it. Petitions, documentaries, sure. But no government official actually spoke up about it properly until it was too late.

Thank you John Kerry. But please know that Uganda is not the problem.

REPORT: "Transgender activism in Russia" by Yana Sitnikova

This article was submitted to Freedom Requires Wings by Yana Sitnikova, a Russian transfeminist activist from Moscow.

Genderqueer activist and past Moscow Pride organiser Anno Komarov protests in the street at Moscow Pride 2010
© Charles Meacham

LGBT issues in Russia receive a lot of attention from the media worldwide. However not all groups that are included in LGBT, or even broader LGBTQI, abbreviation are covered equally. While problems faced by Russian lesbian and gay people are considered in detail, queer, bisexual, transgender and intersex issues remain almost invisible. This article is aimed at filling this gap by describing the situation that Russian trans* people live in and our struggle as trans* activists. I will start with the current trans* related legislation, then I will move to the history of Russian trans* movement. I will proceed to the current debates among trans* activists and within trans* community as a whole. Then I will look at possibilities of cooperation with other social movements, participation of trans* people in politics and separately standing trans* organizations. I will mention the attitude of people from trans* community to activism and the type of activism that I call non-political. I will conclude with discussing the participation of Russian trans* activists in the international trans* movement and explain why this article is one of the few that I write in English.

Russia's Still Refusing to Listen

Glimpy holds a die-in in support, Bordeaux, France
© Freedom Requires Wings 2013

The Vodka Boycott, the Sotchi boycott, and now To Russia With Love; the latest in the list of global movements to denounce homophobia in Vladimir Putin's Russian Federation.

LGBT groups around the world in over 50 cities organised mostly kiss-ins on Sunday 8th September. Other groups, like Glimpy in Bordeaux, France, planned die-ins to focus more on the beatings and murders of young LGBT people in Russia by right-wing extremist groups.

President Obama met with Russian LGBT organizations during the G20 meetings and politicians and celebrities across the globe have denounced the Kremlin's growing level of homophobia, but seemingly to no avail.

Vodka on Ice : Gay Bars’ Chilly Relationship with Russian Politics

Recently, LGBT activist and columnist Dan Savage stopped drinking Russian vodka to show his disgust towards the latest anti-gay laws in the country.

Soon after, he found gay bars and nightclubs all around the world, from Chicago to London, Hollywood to Sydney, San Francisco to New York, joining him by refusing to serve the famous Russian beverage.

In recent days, I've read a lot of articles saying that boycotting Russian vodka in gay bars is pointless, and heard that point of view from quite a few LGBT activists who I have a lot of respect for, including Nikolai Alekseev, organiser of Moscow’s first Gay Pride back in 2006.

However, as much as I respect Alekseev, and as much as I don’t always agree with everything Dan Savage says, I must agree that in this case, I agree with Savage on this boycott.

Why? History repeats itself.

Boycott Sochi?

(x)

At the beginning of next year, the eyes of the world will turn towards the Russian city of Sochi. Located in the south of the country, it is reportedly the longest city in Europe, it is the largest resort city in Russia and it is the host city for the 2014 Winter Olympics; an Olympics already hit by controversy and uncertainty.

Recently, the lower house of Russia’s parliament unanimously passed a bill banning “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations”, which was then subsequently passed into law. This new law means that hefty fines can be imposed on anyone providing information about LGBT matters to minors, or holding gay pride marches, and it also means that “pro-gay” tourists in the country can be arrested and detained for up to 14 days before being expelled from the country. Naturally, this has given rise to considerable amounts of concern about the safety of LGBT tourists and athletes, in light of the upcoming Olympics.

5 Same-Sex Russian Couples Apply for Marriage Licenses

The five couples openly opposed the "gay gag" law

On the morning of Friday 28th June in Saint Petersburg, Russia, one of the most unfriendly cities in the world to gay people, five couples of LGBT activists took to the streets in their wedding outfits.

The aim? To denounce the ever-growing anti-LGBT lawmaking scandal in the city and in Russia as a whole.

The anti-LGBT atmosphere has been growing for quite some time now, and more laws banning so-called "gay propaganda" have been passed since last year when Moscow's gay pride was banned for 100 years, and Saint Petersburg also installed a ban against anything that's remotely gay, or may "offend religious beliefs".

The Worsening Situation in Russia

Protest against the banning of Moscow Gay Pride (S)

The Russian Federation’s lower house (the State Duma) recently passed a law banning the provision of “homosexual propaganda” to anyone under eighteen, and holding gay pride rallies. Fines are in place for anyone who breaks these laws – including media organisations, foreign citizens, and schools. The State Duma also passed a bill that makes offending religious feelings a crime, punishable by up to three years in prison.

In theory (at least to Putin and his government) the new laws are mean to promote traditional Russian values and reduce the spread of “Western liberalism”, which they believe to be corrupting Russia’s youth and contributing to the protests against Putin’s rule, to which I have to say: Putin, dear, this one’s all on you, believe me.

Not a Bunch of Pussies: The reaction to Pussy Riot jailing

Punk band Pussy Riot protest the government (S)

Three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot have been sentenced to two years in jail following an anti-Putin, pro-LGBT protest at Moscow Cathedral in February of this year.

According to government-funded, 24-hour news channel Russia Today, the "vulgar song" has "caused a storm in Russian society" and more than 60 people were arrested outside the courthouse.

They also said that "making an exception for religion [in the freedom of speech act] is a dangerous path". So is this really reflective of that picture of a tyrannic Russia which some people are trying to paint?

Being Gay at the Olympics

It’s a pretty warm day today, for London at least. For the last two weeks, there has only been one event to watch. With the closing ceremony on tonight, the Olympics has almost taken over the airwaves in the UK. Never before in Britain has an event sparked such national pride. It could be the fact that we’ve won more medals than we have since we hosted the Olympics in 1908, or maybe the fact that the biggest celebration of human sporting achievement is hosted in the capital for the third time. It’s possibly just due to the fact that certain people have questioned whether Britain is ready for the Olympics.

It’s certainly not due to the fact that London 2012 has the highest number of openly gay or lesbian competitors in any Olympic games.

Dear Russia, You Can't Arrest an Idea

Alexei Kiselyov (above) and Kirill Nepomnyashy were arrested in Saint Petersburg
for holding a sign that read "Gay is normal" in April (S)

As we know, Saint Petersburg banned gay rights activism back in March and quite frankly I'm getting a bit tired of talking about this on this blog. But unfortunately, it has to be done seeing as it isn't getting much press from the main news websites.

Another ban was put on  pride parades in June and the law treats gays the same way as paedophiles, arresting them for "perverting the minds of Saint Petersburg's young".

Similar bans have also been put in place in Moscow in a draconian trend that's spreading across Russia.

Urgent message from St. Petersburg: We Will Not Be Silenced!

Show LGBT Russians your support: http://www.allout.org/russia_silenced 

Saint Petersburg Silenced

This Wednesday, Saint Petersburg's anti-gay bill passed its third and final reading at Saint Petersburg's Legislative Assembly, with 29 votes for it and only 5 against it, and once the Governor Georgy Poltavchenko signs it, the bill will be law.

According to the law is illegal to spread information “harmful to the health and moral and spiritual development of minors, including the formation within them of a distorted idea of the social balance between traditional and nontraditional married relationships”. But in reality the goals are different from those declared as the law makes it illegal to speak openly about being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, without running the risk of a hefty fine - $17,000, therefore silencing an entire part of Russia's population and spreading homophobic sentiments.

Bleak Future for LGBT rights in Russia?

Today, Vladimir Putin actually made anti-Americanism the key point in his presidential campaign. Now as you might know, LGBT people in Russia are currently going through a rough time with a bill waiting to be read for the third and final time that would make it illegal to even talk about LGBT rights (all links in this article open in new tabs). Writing a book, organizing a pride event or even being open about your sexual orientation would land you with hefty fines, reported to be up to $16,000. Although none of the details about the fines have been released - and rumored sums vary from the above to around $1,400 - we do know that it will basically treat homosexuals the same way as paedophiles.

No matter where you are in the world, you can stand with the Russian LGBT community. Details on how to do so can be found at the bottom of this article. Hurry, there's less than a week left to act before the bill gets put through its third and final reading. It has already passed through the first reading with only one vote against it and one abstention. It got through the second reading on February 10th, 2012 and the last one is scheduled for the coming week.