”EU fördömer attack mot pride-parad”
”Hatattacker mot homosexuella väcker känslor”
”Utstötta – homosexuella lever i skräck”
”Kyssprotest mot rysk anti-gaylag”
Nej. Alla rubrikerna handlar inte om Ryssland.
Attacken mot pride-paraden leddes av ortodoxa präster i Tbilisi, Georgien.
Hatattackerna sker i New York, notisen berättar om att 32-årige Mark Carson skjutits till döds.
Utstötta är homosexuella i Uganda där de riskerar långa fängelsestraff efter en kampanj ledd inte minst av evangeliska kristna, amerikanska och inhemska, som drev i genom en lagändring i parlamentet.”
Jag har skrivit flera gånger om Coming Out, NGO-organisationen i S:t Petersburg som arbetar för hbt-personers rättigheter, och sedan ett par år också mot de lagar, nu också antagna i duman, som förbjuder ”icke-traditionella sexuella relationer”.
Ett led i ryska myndigheters attacker mot NGO:s har varit att kräva att de registrerar sig som ”utländska agenter” om de tar emot ekonominskt stöd från utlandet och arbetar politiskt.
Coming Out har vägrat registrera sig som ”utländsk agent” och hävdar att de arbetar för mänskliga rättigheter erkända av ryska staten, och att den inte är en politisk organisation.
Ur Coming Out’s pressmeddelande 19 juni, 2013:
”The third and final hearing of the case of Coming Out accused of serving as a “foreign agent” took place today in the magistrates’ court in St. Petersburg. Predictably, the organization was found guilty and fined 500 000 rubles (maximum amount for one violation), making it the 2nd Russian LGBT NGO to be branded “foreign agents”. Overall, 4 Russian NGOs have been given the verdict.
Under Article 19.34 of the administrative code of the Russian Federation, if a non-commercial organization receives foreign funds and is involved in “political activity”, it must register with the Ministry of Justice as a “foreign agent”. In laymen terms, “foreign agent” is equivalent to a “spy for a foreign state.”
It was pointed out by lawyers that defense of human rights cannot be “commissioned” by foreign states, as human rights is a universal value and Russia has an obligation to uphold and protect them, as guaranteed by the Russian Constitution. “Does homophobia and discrimination of LGBT constitute official state politics?” – asked the defense, in attempt to shed light on what was meant by “influencing state politics”, to which no answer was given.
…
In the end, no amount of common sense, sense of humor, or knowledge of the Russian law, made any difference. To say that the burden of proving Coming Out’s guilt did not rest with the prosecution, who did not say more than a dozen words throughout the hearings, is to say nothing. It is clear that in the case of LGBT organization Coming Out, LGBT film festival Side by Side, and, possibly, more LGBT organizations to come, the verdict has been decided long before the proceedings started.
With the “homosexual propaganda” law, which now became “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” law, and the customized application of the “foreign agents” law to weed out the “unwanted”, it seems that the Russian government is making an all-out move against its LGBT people. Seen in the context of the latest new laws and amendments, such as the law for protecting feelings of believers, the amendment to disallow adoption of Russian children by same-sex families and single people from countries that allow same-sex marriages, this can be seen as part of a real attack by the Russian government on its own citizens who still dare to think freely. Challenging the idea of a “true, traditional Russian” being heterosexual, Christian Orthodox, with wife and children, is becoming dangerous.”
När duman i Moskva antog lagen mot ”icke-traditionella sexuella relationer” vid en tredje läsning röstade 436 ledamöter för antagande, ingen emot, en ledamot lade ned sin röst.
Utanför parlamentet demonstrerade gayaktivister i en kyss-flashmob.
Ett tjugotal personer greps av polis.
Coming Out avslutar sitt pressmeddelande med en bön om hjälp. 500 000 rubel är mycket pengar, drygt 150 000 kronor:
SEEKING SUPPORT
In order to withstand financial hardships, Coming Out is launching a fundraising campaign:
http://www.comingoutspb.ru/en/en-donations