What happened to the awareness we Americans pride ourselves on? Maybe I’m following the wrong social media accounts, but in regards to the LGBT crisis in Russia, I only came across three posts in the past week and they were painfully brief.
Recently, a Russian opposition newspaper reported over 100 men being detained in a concentration camp setting for being gay, or perceived as such and it is believed that at least three men have been killed - one by torture and two by honor killings after being released back to their families.
LGBT Crisis In Russia RussiaRussia
By Jamie Mi
“The arrested men are subjected to physical and verbal abuse, torture including with electric shocks, beatings, insults and humiliations.” - United Nations experts
Can you imagine the extent of the horror these men are going through - at this very minute? We don’t have the power to stop this, but we have everything it takes to spread awareness. Paris and Orlando went worldwide in media and recognition in an impressive movement, so where are we now?
So what is stopping people from talking about these men that are still alive? Is it because they’re still alive that no one dares to say a word? Is it hesitation from lack of proof? There are literally journalists in Russia who are hiding at the moment for having revealed this. New York Times, The Independent, CNN, The Washington Post - they have all posted confirmations of this. What more needs to be proved when lives are at risk? We can spread word of this fast as wild fire and just as fierce. Dare I say, if all these men were found dead, would you all post something then?
Ramzan Kadyrov, Head of the Chechen Republic where this is taking place, has completely denied this report, saying,
“You cannot arrest or repress people who just don’t exist in the republic. If such people existed in Chechnya, law enforcement would not have to worry about them, as their own relatives would have sent them to where they could never return.”
Yes, he’s saying gay people don’t exist and if they did, relatives would ‘send’ them to an honor killing. This homophobia runs so deep in their society that people aren’t even safe with their own family. These are everyday people, some as young as 16, who are being oppressed, tortured physically and mentally, who have no one to turn to. They live in fear just for being who they are.
“If any of my relatives realize I’m gay, they won’t hesitate a minute before killing me,” a 28-year-old identified by the alias Nortcho said.
These people are scared and alone in their country, in their homes. We can’t pull each person to safety, but we can tell them we’re here in support for them. We can scream it so loud over social media that everyone, gays and homophobes alike, will hear us whether they like it or not. These people, always having been alone and scared, are more terrified than ever. Who wouldn’t be? They need something to hold onto, and we can be that for them.
Why aren’t we?
“And if they don’t do it, they will get killed themselves for failing to uphold the family honor.”
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/11/russia-gay-law-tourists-_n_3581217.html
Source: Stephen Chung / London News Pictures via Zuma