This is a reblog from my LGBT+ issues page: qrusblog.com
An example of an international protest against holding the Olympics in Russia, after the introduction of homophobic legislation. Vladislav does not support a boycott.
He wanted to talk to me as a Westerner, believing that I could help in publicizing his message. I agreed to record our conversation and write it up -- in the hope that this small gesture could have some contribution towards informing the public about the situation in Russia. Unfortunately, due to a transport problem, Vladislav and I only had a few hours to talk, where we expected a whole day to meticiulously discuss the topic. Nonetheless, we decided to proceed with a short interview. We rushed to a cafe, frantically began to eat salad which was served to us by an uncharacteristically smily Russian woman, and I recorded our quick conversation on my iPod. It went as follows:
Vladislav, you are openly gay in school. How does this affect your life?
I am regularly attacked by homophobes when it is dark, i.e. in the evenings. I am constantly insulted and bullied in school. The principal condemns the actions of the homophobic students, but there is practically nothing he can do. The school counsellor at first reacted very unfriendly towards me. She called my mother into school and asked, indignant, ‘How am I going to explain to my 12 year old daughter, what gay means? She asked me what it meant.’
However, later, after my attempts to get the attention of law enforcement and various activists, and after the coverage of the events in online media, the school principal started to summon the homophobes to his office and tell them off for their actions. From 11 February 2013, I studied at home, in order to avoid bullying. Now than I’m in the 11th class, I have to go back to school because I need intensive preparation for my exams. They won’t give me permission to study at home. Now I am bullied again on a daily basis.
Moreover, I am constantly phoned up at random hours of the day and night by teenagers who mock me and ask for detailed descriptions of how gays have sex. It can get very tiring having to explain biology to those poor curious souls.
Vladislav, why and how did you first become involved in activism?
Well, my first activism was online. Almost immediately after I hit puberty and realized I was attracted to men, I stumbled upon quite useful information online and pretty quickly understood that I was normal: that society was sick, not me. Now that I have a boyfriend -- we've been together over a year -- I'm even more certain that this isn't an illness: I can't find something as beautiful and sincere as this love anywhere else. Nonetheless, not everyone is like this. My boyfriend finds it very hard to deal with his sexuality. I've been trying to help him for over a year, and he still can't accept and love himself. So that's really how my activism started: I communicated with people like him online, and tried to convince them that they weren't sick or worthless like society told them, but that it's normal to have an alternative sexuality. It's just the way you're born, and as long as you're not harming others, you have the right to love and enjoy life.
So your first activism was online. But after a certain point, you decided to carry out protests in public. Is this correct?
Yes, my first demonstration took place in the Spring of 2013. I travelled to Armavir and there I met together with a local activist, some students and a local politician (who, for the purposes of this blog and in the interests of his/her safety, has to remain anonymous). This was after the brutal murder of Vladislav Tornovoi on the night of 9th May. His friends raped him with 3 glass bottles, before beating him to death with a 20kg rock, because he was believed to be gay. We carried out a protest of solidarity. There were protests like this across the whole of Russia.
Why did you chose to protest in this city and not in Sochi?
Firstly, it was less dangerous. There was no-one I thought would attack me. Of course, after our protest they kicked-up a horrible fuss in that city... but luckily, I had already left. Secondly, there is an activist who lives there and helped me with everything. I even have a photo where I am standing with a rainbow flag beside a statue of Lenin.
And your other protests?
My second protest took place in Sochi, on the 'Day for the Protection of Children'. It was against homophobia in the education system. After yet another teenager was subjected to unacceptable violence... We wanted to let other countries know about the nightmare that is happening in Russia. Of course, all our signs were written in English. We took photos with these signs. Luckily enough, no one understood the texts. Because of that, we didn't get arrested. A police man came up to us, but we told him that we were just taking photographs. After that, we unfolded a small rainbow flag and took photos with it. We didn't dare unfold the large rainbow flag, because the police man was standing nearby.
So the policeman left you alone during your protest?
Not exactly. He was already there when we started, and he approached us, taking interest in our protest. So we told him it was simply a photography project. He didn't understand a word of English. On the signs we wrote things like 'HELP! RUSSIA IS KILLING US!". If he had have understood, we would have been arrested.
Why was everything written in English?
Our protest was aimed at foreign countries, so that they could see the nightmare that is happening in Russia. On our signs we wrote about how homophobic violence is everywhere in Russia, that LGBT teenagers can't study normally in schools without facing abuse, and about the fact that Russia is the country in Europe with the highest rate of teen suicide. We asked for help. Then I contacted a leading human rights organization and they started to share information abut our protest on foreign internet resources. Especially on American social networks, groups. The message even reached Barack Obama. The leader of the organization met with him and explained the situation.
Do you think that the activism is working?
Well, I think it's worth a try. The Western World has started to take notice... and we want them to know that they're doing the right thing by supporting us. At the moment I can't carry out any more protests in Sochi, because I am constantly attacked after protests. (...) If someone organizes a protest in Sochi, then I'll take part. But I won't organize any more protests in Sochi myself. It's dangerous. They will throw stones at me.
Protests have been banned during the Sochi olympics -- perhaps out of fear of LGBT+ protests. Some are suggesting that as a result, we should boycott the Winter Olympics. Do you agree?
No, I think it is better to continue with the Olympics under the slogan of defending human rights. In my opinion, this will be much more effective. We will protest even if it is forbidden, and the West can film the results. Or, like some activists have suggested, we could move the Olympics to another country, so that Russia understands the consequences of restricting the civil rights of LGBT people.
Has the new homophobic legislation in Russia increased or decreased the popularity of Vladimir Putin and the United Russia party?
These laws have increased Putin's popularity. Some people who I have talked to used to hate him, but now they support him. This was one of the goals of the laws. Instead of trying to encourage a tolerant society, the president is resorting to most basic negative human instinct of hating those who are different in order to keep his office.
Is the younger generation more tolerant towards LGBT+ issues than their parents?
Unfortunately, they’re less tolerant. Amongst young people, sexism and homophobia are getting stronger. There are lots of prejudices against LGBT people. Young people these days love to humiliate and bully others: it doesn’t matter what the precise reason is. The important thing is that the victim is considered to be different.
Do you think that LGBT activists in Russia rely too much on help from the West? A lot of Russians seem to think the LGBT movement is someting that has been imported from the West, and is funded by Westerners...
For as long as anyone can remember, the state has considered us to be U.S. agents... They even thought this way before anyone asked for any help from the West. They constantly accuse us of wanting to destroy Russia's moral values. They think that we are receiving money from the West, but that's simply not the case. Unfortunately, we barely even have pennies to our names, because LGBT organizations in Russia are practically illegal.
Do you fear your future?
Of course, I fear the future. I fear that things will get much worse. They will probably start arresting homosexuals for the simple fact that they are gay.
How long will it take for the situation to get that bad?
Unfortunately, I don't know. Sources close to the ruling party 'United Russia' spoke anonymously to LGBT activists a few times and said that they aim to recriminalize homosexuality.
Is the Kremlin exerting pressure on individual LGBT activists?
Yes. Consider Nikolai Alekseev. He's practically lost his mind, the poor guy. He's writing really crazy things. On his twitter he's insulting Barack Obama and making comments against Jews. Moreover, he supports Vladimir Putin. I don't understand how anyone can support both LGBT rights and Vladimir Putin.
Perhaps he thinks that he must side with the ruling party in order to make his movement popular?
Probably, yes. At the moment he is trying to meet with Vladimir Putin in order to discuss the situation which is happening in Russia at the moment. Maybe this could help... But I would prefer independent activists to meet with Putin, activists who haven't been pressurized into acting in a certain way by the Kremlin. The Kremlin is manipulating him -- the close source told me so. The state threathened him, they carried out a raid in his home. After that, he changed his tactics. A raid on your home is a sign that you are going to be arrested unless you change your behaviour. It's a threat from the state.
They raid your apartment, throw everything around the place.... and, of course, don't clean up after themselves. If the individual doesn't start behaving in the way the state wants, then they come around a second time...and... it will lead to arrest.
Will your activism have a result on your chances of getting into university?
Luckily, it probably won't. Our exams are independently regulated i.e. anonymous. You don't write your surname, just a code.
But you want to continue to study in Russia, correct?
I don't want to study in Russia, but I don't have the financial resources to leave. Not yet, anyway.
If you do manage to leave Russia in the future, will you continue to support the LGBT+ movement from abroad?
I think I will probably work in an LGBT organization, and also in the education sector. I want to study to become a linguist. I want to learn English. That is probably the only way I will be able to leave Russia.
A lot of educated Russians, especially political activists, decide to leave Russia. Or they claim they are forced out. LGBT rights activist, Masha Gessen, for example. Do you think if fewer educated people left Russia, conditions would be better?
If these people were to work together, then of course, we would be able to stop what is happening in Russia right now. But you have to think about the individual. That person didn't need those problems. They just wanted to live happily - a normal life. That's also what I want for myself... I don't want to sit around here, waiting for life to get better. Especially given the fact that I don't know whether it's actually going to get better. Every day I lose a little bit of hope -- with every new homophobic comment by politicians, after every new restrictive law.
Some people say that this stage of new anti-homophobic legislation and behaviour is just a backlash that will wash over quickly and give way to quick progress. For example, in the United Kingdom under Thatcher legislation was introduced banning the 'promotion of homosexuality', which sounds at least at first glance similar to the legislation against 'non-traditional' sexual behaviours. And yet by 2004 Civil partnerships were approved. Do you think there could be a similar quick rate of progress towards LGBT+ friendly legislation in Russia?
No, absolutely not. Russia is a very different case. Russia has always been different due to the fact that people are willing to bear anything. They will put up with anything the state wants. The protest movement in Russia is tiny. There are lots of people online who will write things like 'We hate this! We don't want this kind of state!', but there is practically no protest movement on the street. There aren't enough people protesting on the streets to resist the state. As a result, these people can easily be arrested: put one or two in jail, and scare off the rest. Simple.
The majority of homosexuals in Russia don't think they need this kind of movement. 'Why? I can just go on hiding my sexuality. That way I can survive'. But I can't bear this. I can't love and live in secret. How can they live like this? How can they hide who they are? Sometimes they don't even understand why we need an LGBT movement for human rights. They think that we are just making things worse. Of course, there are some activists who actually ARE making things worse. When they started a protest beside a children's library, it had a very negative effect on the way LGBT people were perceived...
[ED: Paedophilia and Homosexuality are often conflated in Russia. People believe both to be 'perversions', which are interlinked. I.e. a homosexual could well turn into a paedophile, and vice versa.]
Is it the case that there are fewer women and transgenered people involved in the movement than males?
Yes, there are very few transgender activists. But there are quite a lot of women involved in Russia. Masha Gessen, Kostjuchenko, other activists. For example, Masha Kozlovksaya from the LGBT network. In fact, the women are braver. In our demonstration in Sochi, it was mainly girls who participated. And not only in Sochi. ...
I want to ask Vladislav many more questions, but time runs out and I am left feeling interested, but also quite deflated. I feel sad for the people he protests for, who have been attacked or murdered. But mostly for the countless teenagers who learn to hate themselves or even commit suicide, because they do not love in the 'traditional' Russian manner. Vladislav claims the most homophobic politicians are gay or alternatively orientated: unable to accept themselves in such a intolerant society, they direct their frustration to other LGBT people and dedicate their love to grand ideals, like extreme nationalism or the Orthodox Church ('Look at Milonov!' -- perhaps the most prominent anti-LGBT politican in Russia - 'He's clearly queer! He goes on holidays with young men...').
A picture of Vladislav collecting signatures for another initiative: this time aimed at the protection of 'green zones' i.e. an environmental project.
The taxi arrives. We rush to pay. My questions have to end, abrupt. I give Vladislav a hug, wish him luck. He'll need it.
The cacophony of abuse is hard to escape. Everywhere we go, there are constant reminders of how hard it can be to live in Russia if you engage in 'non-tradtional sexual relations'. And somehow LGBT+ people move on and try to bear their lives. Living on: some of them leading relatively happy lives despite difficulties, some of them surviving out of stubborness, some of them hurting... and pretending that it is fine.
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