Don't Talk About Queerness In Russia

[Guest musicalice]

http://www.allout.or...russia_silenced

"Political leaders in St. Petersburg are about to vote on law that will make it illegal for any person to write a book, publish an article or speak in public about being gay, lesbian or transgender. The ruling party led by President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin could make millions of people invisible with the stroke of a pen."

Mad... I thought Russia had started subscribing to freedom of speech now? This surely goes against the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

What was going through their heads? "What if someone reads it and realises why they've been so miserable, dogged with depression and self-hate and suicidal? We can't have them contributing to society like everyone else, it's much better to watch them squirm in their ignorance."

If you go to the website and sign (I used my preferred name, even though it's not legal, and a disposable email address), apparently they can help stop it. I'm a bit hazy on how they do it, be sure to check it out before giving away email addresses and names etc. I've signed their other petitions and all I get is an email every week or two asking me to sign another one. And don't give your address, it's not required.

[Carolyn Marie]

That is absolutely horrible. Whatever happened to the era of glasnost? It seems that has been forgotten in Putin's drive to turn the clock back to the "good old days" of the Soviet Union. The Russian people deserve better than leaders like him and Medvedev. Thanks for posting this article, Alice.

Carolyn Marie

[Guest Risu]

Well... there goes my day... time to rally the forces and gather support to stop this bill.

Thank you for sharing... v_v

[Guest Robin Winter]

Wow, over 100 "signatures" just in the time it took me to read and sign it. Apparently it's gotten some attention.

[Guest GinaInside]

One thing that concerns me about this, is that in tough times, those with the least power are often targeted first. These are tough economic times, and life has always been tough in Russia. The powers that be feel threatened by a lot of things, some legitimate, not just LGBT issues, which they see as destructive. The first Gay Pride Parade in Moscow was met with riot police. It truly would be sad if the do turn back the clock, and destroy more people's lives than they think they are saving. And then there is this:

"Those who do not morn the fall of the old Soviet Union have no heart. Those who want it back have no brain." - Vladimir Putin

There are many in Russia who feel that way. Russia has historically been a tough place for the last 1000 years, and once again, they feel surrounded. They feel they need to return to repression. It does not have to be that way, but they know little else. I sincerely hope reason will prevail, and the law is not passed, or we will witness a return of something like the old Soviet Union.

I wish the best for those in Russia who are struggling to save what few gains they have made.

Hugz,

Gina

[MackenzieB]

I have to agree. I'm a bit afraid of what some of those boneheads who are running for President might do. If some of those people had their way, we'll probably be back to the state of things prior to Stonewall.

[Cyndee]

I hope it gets better for our sisters and brothers there. Reading this makes me so glad I live here.

[Guest musicalice]

News from AllOut:

"In just 48 hours, over 170,000 people have signed on to push world leaders to condemn a horrifying new Russian law that will make it illegal to speak publicly about being gay, lesbian, bi, or transgender. Thank you so much for your incredible support, we couldn't have gotten here without you.

"Our friends in St. Petersburg just told us about a protest they held in front of City Council this morning --and about being followed and dispersed by police. But we won't back down, and Russia has taken notice: a vote on the law has been postponed until next week, November 30th.

"This is a minor victory, but the fight is hardly over. There is a very real chance that this bill might pass, so we only have a small window to mount even more global pressure on Russian authorities to drop it. Here's a video report from Polina, straight from St. Petersburg. Will you share her message to ask friends and family from all over the world to sign with you?"

So it's been 'postponed' - presumably so that the trouble defuses and they can vote on it quietly later.

[Guest musicalice]

Ok, allout and a few other websites say it was shelved or postponed, a couple of others say it was passed :/ I guess we won't k

ow for sure what's happening until at least tomorrow.

It's also kind of weird that the Daily Mail has covered this story already (supportively, including comments!!), and yet not a peep from anywhere else - mind you, i dont have time to go digging. Thought I'd let you know what i'd heard though.

[Guest Risu]

Wonderful news. I sent a link in an email to everyone I could think of who would want to sign this themselves or knew someone who would so hopefully word spread and will continue to spread.

There is a lot of disturbing news coming from Russia lately... it seems that they have their guns aimed at us again over the missile defenses being built in Europe in response to the ever increasing tensions in the middle east.

In any case let's hope Russia's leaders let this idea go and concentrate on things that are more important.

[Guest musicalice]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/26/russian-anti-gay-bill-medieval-barbarity

Finally one of the news sites I actually care to read has done an article about this. Personally I don't think it's the greatest article (a bit vague in what its aims are), but at least they've done something. It did make some good points though.