Eastern Europe
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LGBT+ Activists Detained at Saint-Petersburg Pride
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…
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Villagers attacked LGBT+ people in Armenia, several injured
On the 3rd of August, 9 LGBT+ people were attacked by 30 villagers in Shurnukh, Armenia. Two of them are seriously injured. Around 8 o’ clock in the evening, Armenian time, a person showed up in front of the house of Hayk Oprah Hakobyan and his family. At that time, Hayk was having a drink…
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Polish Internal Minister announced that he will start prosecuting LGBT+ People
Yesterday the Polish Minister for Internal Affairs Joachim Brudziński announced on his Twitter that he will start prosecuting LGBT+ people for desecrating the Polish national symbols. The announcement came after a person complained about the police ignoring LGBT+ activisits with rainbow flags where the Polish National Symbol (Rzeczpospolitej) was integrated in at the Pride in Częstochowa. According…
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The Impact of the EU on the perception by the political elite on homosexuality in post-EuroMaidan Ukraine
Rémy Bonny wrote a Master Thesis on the impact of europeanisation on the political perspectives on homosexuality in Ukraine. This dissertation was supervised by dr. Jonathan Holslag, expert in International Relations at the Free University of Brussels (VUB) and special advisor to European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans. Since the EuroMaidan revolution in 2014 the mindset of…
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Marriage Equality in Czechia: Exclusive Interview with Campaign Leader Czeslaw Walek
Today the Czech government decided to support a draft law proposing to introduce same-sex marriage in the post-communist republic. According to several activists this is a huge step forward. If the bill gets approved, Czechia will be the first country to introduce same-sex marriage from the former Eastern bloc. Czeslaw Walek is the leader of the…
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6000 people marched for LGBT+ Equality in Ukraine’s capital Kiev
On Sunday Kiev’s city center was the host of the annual Pride Parade. This year’s edition gathered a record-high number of participants. Before the event, 56 people were arrested after a clash between nationalists and law enforcement. About 6000 people gathered in the streets of Kiev to march for LGBT+ equality. Amongst them was activist Ulyana…
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Polands Ground-Breaking LGBT-Ruling: An Exclusive Interview With Paweł Knut
On June 14 the Polish Supreme Court ruled that no person has the right to deny service to a person belonging to the LGBT-community. The ruling came after a procedure that has been initiated by the Kampania Przeciw Homofobii (Campaign Against Homophobia), Poland’s biggest LGBT-organisation. A local print shop refused service to an LGBT-organisation. The organisation had…
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🌈 One Year Later: Chechnya’s Concentration Camps For Gays
During spring 2017 the Western world was shocked about horrible stories from young gay men living in Chechnya. They were detained in so-called concentration camps for gay people. In these camps they were being tortured. There are also some reports of deaths. European leaders called for immediate action by Russian president Vladimir Putin. Putin promised…
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Russia’s Queer Social Media Generation
Homophobia and Russia fit together like twins. Russia is known as one of the worst world powers for LGBT people. Besides these facts, in recent months a few youngsters established an online queer culture that looks very Western. Discover social influencers like Misha Maksimov, Tasha Tale and their entourage! In the country where you can…
Rémy Bonny 