Police in St. Petersburg, Russia, gave LGBT demonstrators a pleasant surprise: In contrast to previous years’ harassment, police on May 17 protected 300 LGBT people and allies at a rally celebrating the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia. Continue reading
QueerFest 2016, the 8th international LGBTI pride festival of Russia, has concluded on a high note, the festival announced in a press release. Songwriter and performer Sian Evans (of KOSHEEN) sang all-favorites, wished audiences to be themselves, to love and to stay strong, at the closing concert that gathered hundreds of spectators at the venue … Continue reading
News items in this recap mostly were excerpted with slight modifications from two published round-ups of the world’s LGBTI-related news– UNAIDS’s Equal Eyes and ILGA’s LGBulleTIn. Physical attacks and arrests Police arrested about 20 activists supporting the LGBTI community during the annual May Day parade in St. Petersburg, Russia. Two days before the march, Meduza … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Times reports: Activists turn tolerant St. Petersburg into homophobic city By Mansur Mirovalev Timur Bulatov calls himself a “homophobic wolf,” and last summer he found his prey. Dr. Dmitry Isaev led a commission of psychiatrists in St. Petersburg that approved hundreds of sex-change operations. To Bulatov, he was “a henchman of LGBT … Continue reading
Despite its reputation for anti-gay fervor, Russia is home to many supporters of LGBTI people and many advocates for LGBTI people’s human rights. Hundreds of them marched through St. Petersburg on May 1, as Queer Russia reported: Rainbow May Day in St. Petersburg draws hundreds of LGBTs and allies despite threats and curses. On … Continue reading
This month in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Straight Alliance for LGBT Equality presented its booby-prize Golden Enema awards for outrageously anti-gay statements and action. Winners included two homophobic American preachers — Scott Lively and James David Manning — along with Russian officials, a Russian journalist and a Russian singer. This is the group’s announcement of … Continue reading
The organizers of QueerFest in St. Petersburg, Russia, say the 10-day event was a success, despite interference and threats of violence from police and anti-gay extremists. This is their account: Saturday, September 27, Russian “QueerFest” closed with a discussion on art and civil citizenship, and a final concert “St. Petersburg against Homophobia”, visited by 300 … Continue reading
A court in St. Petersburg, Russia, yesterday ruled that the Russian LGBT rights group Coming Out is a “foreign agent,” a category that limits its ability to communicate with Russian citizens and subjects it to extra government scrutiny. Coming Out issued the following statement immediately after the ruling: Today, July 21, 2014, Vasileostrovsky District Court … Continue reading
Outspoken anti-gay Russian legislator Vitaly Milonov has accepted a role as a representative of the breakaway self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine, Agence France-Presse reports. Milonov has previously: Threatened the arrest of gay athletes and tourists at the recent Olympic games in Sochi. Sought the arrest of singer Lady Gaga in 2012 for allegedly … Continue reading
Front Line Defenders reports: Russian Federation – Case against human rights defender Ms Lena Klimova closed On 21 February 2014, Nizhny Tagil Court ruled that the administrative case against human rights defender Ms Lena Klimova under the so-called “propaganda law” should be closed due to the lack of an offence. Lena Klimova is a journalist … Continue reading
