Saturday the 4th of July was not only Pride Day in Amsterdam and Brighton, but in Saint-Petersburg as well. Unfortunately, the Russian authorities detained all LGBT+ activists.
30 LGBT+ activists gathered at the Palace Square in Saint-Petersburg. Since their request for a demonstration was rejected, they arrived as ‘single pickets’. Individuals protesting don’t need the approval of the local authorities.
Alek Naza, the organiser of the Pride, told Rémy Bonny that the activists were released around midnight. They all received a police report which will appear in court.
The Russian Alliance for Straights and LGBT for Equality thanks all the participants of the Pride on their Facebook page.
Institutionalised homophobia
Since the beginning of this decade, the Russian LGBT+ community fears prosecution. In 2013, an anti-propaganda law was introduced for homosexuals. “This basically killed all the possibilities for public debate on sexual orientation in Russia. Since that moment, movements against sexual minorities gained political importance in Russia. ‘Occupy Pedophilia’ lures young and innocent LGBT+ youngsters via dating apps to places to beat them up or even murder them. The police never really react on accusations. LGBT+ people are outlawed in Russia.”, according to Rémy Bonny.
Last year horrible stories came out of Chechnya, a member state of the Russian Federation. Bonny: “The regime of Ramzan Kadyrov set up a plan to structurally prosecute, torture and murder homosexuals. According to the administration of Putin, nothing happened. Nonetheless, several people witnessed the torture and murder in Chechnya. Kadyrov and Putin want to eliminate everything that is not traditional.”
Picture: Evgenia Zobnina / TV channel Rain
Rémy Bonny 