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[EdibleKnife]

Thought this topic shouldn't be ignored completely despite the many serious happenings in the US.

In case you're out of the loop, I'll be providing more article links but essentially over the past several months in Chechnya, LGBTQ peoples have been the targets of Republic-sanctioned violence that includes: outing to families, abduction, interrogation, torture and death. In response, many human rights efforts and organizations have worked tirelessly to try and spirit away LGBTQ individuals from Chechnya and Russia as a whole to escape persecution. Chechen100 refers to this information:

The newspaper’s report, by an author regarded as a leading authority on Chechnya, claimed that more than 100 people had been detained and three men killed in the roundup. It claimed that among those detained were well-known local television personalities and religious figures.

This Vimeo video dramatizes the experiences of one such person:

Unchechen

“Unchechen” is about the attempted genocide of gay men in Chechnya.
The film has been created by digitalSTAGE and the award-winning Inkbrew Productions.
It tells the harrowing story of the entrapment and interrogation of just one of the gay men who form the #Chechen100, based on accounts provided by some of the men who have so far escaped.
By donating to Rainbow Railroad you can help more men to escape
rainbowrailroad.ca/donate

In addition to this video, there are two related articles I believed were necessary reading in the face of this. Both of them are from the Hornet Dating App blog, Unicorn Booty and despite the name of the blog, the contents of the articles they are posting are deathly serious and should be taken as such.

Chechen Violence Against Gays: What Can the Rest of the World Do?

International Pressure Is Vital

One of the easiest ways to make a difference in the Chechen crisis is simply to sign Amnesty International’s petition. It may not seem like much, but if Amnesty can indicate a groundswell of public support for intervention, it will help them galvanize action in the United States.

What form could that action take? Currently, Amnesty (and its allies) are attempting to meet with the U.S. State Department, which has the power to impose economic sanctions, send diplomats to negotiate reforms, and provide relief on the ground.

Under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the State Department made tremendous strides in the area of human rights, establishing a Global Equality Fund to support the work of LGBTQ human rights workers around the world. Clinton also worked with the White House to make aid contingent on respect for LGBTQ equality. Countries that criminalized homosexuality or failed to protect queer citizens could lose financial support.

But Donald Trump’s administration is packed with officials who oppose equality, and new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said nothing so far on the issue. He had a meeting with Vladimir Putin in early April, but there’s no indication they even discussed the Chechen situation.

5 Aspects of Chechnya’s Anti-Gay Crackdown That No One’s Talking About

...

5. Lesbians and women are being persecuted too

The Russian LGBT Network reports that bi and lesbian women are being subjected to violence in Chechnya as well, although this violence is being committed by their family members rather than Chechen officials. Some of the women will be outed by officials to their families (as Chechen women are seen as their family’s property) and then hurt in their own homes by blood relatives.

Both articles should be read in full at least for the sake of the wealth of resources they have and recommendation on how to help.

Unchechen
Rainbow Railroad
Alturi
Amnesty International
The Russian LGBT Network

 

[Aarglefarg]

I just donated $10 to Rainbow Railroad.

I'd hate to frame a genocide like this but it needs to be a source of outrage, and then action:

"White House ‘not aware' if Trump briefed on Chechnya anti-gay abuses"

Michael Anton, a White House National Security Council spokesperson, said via email to the Washington Blade the issue of anti-gay abuses in Chechnya ”did not come up in the meetings" with Lavrov.

Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO of GLAAD, lambasted the White House in a statement for not being able to disclose if Trump was even aware of widespread reports of the anti-gay violence.

”It is shocking that the White House can't even confirm if President Trump is ‘aware' of the anti-LGBTQ violence in Chechnya. It seems President Trump is only aware of news that includes his own name," Ellis said. ”If President Trump doesn't join Ambassador Haley and other world leaders in condemning this humanitarian crisis, it is only further evidence that his administration is working to force LGBTQ people around the globe back into the closet."

http://www.washingtonblade.com/2017...aware-trump-briefed-chechnya-anti-gay-abuses/

 

[EdibleKnife]

I just donated $10 to Rainbow Railroad.

I'd hate to frame a genocide like this but it needs to be a source of outrage, and then action:

"White House ‘not aware' if Trump briefed on Chechnya anti-gay abuses"




http://www.washingtonblade.com/2017...aware-trump-briefed-chechnya-anti-gay-abuses/

Great job on the donation!

Yeah I don't think there's any way Trump or his administration at large is unaware of this. They just don't care/ignore it similar to Putin. With stuff like FADA on the books for this administration to push through, it's clear that even though they might not want to go as far as Chechnya lest it look even worse optically, they are just as interested in making LGBTQ peoples in the US bottom level citizens with zero rights or autonomy.

 

[DOWN]

Curious on what the consequences will end up being

 

[EdibleKnife]

Curious on what the consequences will end up being

For Russia? I'd like to think they become a pariah on the world stage for participating in crimes against humanity. Though with how little this is getting addressed by governments and even actively avoided such as in the US's case, it's difficult to say

 

[Naked Snake]

I am a gay chechen man (not living in chechnya though, luckily). I lost any hint of "patriotism" I might have had towards chechens when I was harassed and received serious death threats from them when I came out 15 years ago....because I was "dishonoring the tribe" or whatever. Even my father threatened to disown me.

Unfortunately religiousity runs deep among most chechen communities, so it's like expecting fair treatment of gay people in the Middle East (which is where I live). Even if the heads of state privately don't wish to harm gay people, they feel pressured to crack down due to the overwhelming public sentiment on the issue.

 

[EdibleKnife]

I am a gay chechen man (not living in chechnya though, luckily). I lost any hint of "patriotism" I might have had towards chechens when I was harassed and received serious death threats from them when I came out 15 years ago....because I was "dishonoring the tribe" or whatever. Even my father threatened to disown me.

Fuck. Sorry about your experiences post your coming out. And I completely see where your coming from in regards to this just being Chechnya and possibly Russia as a whole, locking down theocratic, regressive ideals. Every nation could disapprove, sanction them and essentially turn Russia in to a rightfully monstrous part of the world and things still might not change.

They talk about a similar thing here in the states about expecting things to change when all the "old racists die off" when the entire reason it persists is because it's baked into the countries fabric and poisons one generation after the next. As long as people continue to demand racism here and LGBTQ+ persecution in Chechnya, there will always be a politician out there who will answer the call.

 

[EdibleKnife]

So despite the US's refusal to grant visas to fleeing LGBTQ+ peoples, there are thankfully other countries that are in negotiation with the Russian LGBT network to open their doors to people fleeing persecution:

Activists are in talks with five countries, two of them non-EU, the Russian LGBT Network told the BBC.
Nine men have already been granted visas. Two of them went to Lithuania, which has announced its involvement.
"It's very important to act, because they are suffering," Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told the BBC.
He would not name the other countries involved but described them as "allies".
His country's decision was an "implicit message" to Russia, he said, because "we are taking care of Russian citizens... [whose] rights were abused".

The Foreign Minister's words are truly simple that it's astounding that countries like the US can still have their governments consider themselves humanitarian.

Russian LGBT Nework is just one of the many orgs mentioned in this topic that are working to help these people flee. If you can contribute, I implore you to do so.

 

[EdibleKnife]

More countries openly accepting LGBTQ escapees and challenging Russia and Putin:

“We spoke about the cases of LGBT people in Chechnya,” Macron said to reporters during a joint press conference with Putin. “I told President Putin what France is expecting regarding this issue, and we agreed to regularly check on this subject.”

This latest development comes after German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed Putin on the atrocities taking place in the Russian republic.

France isn’t the only country within the European Union to provide refuge for those seeking persecution. Earlier this month, Lithuania became the first country to grant refuge to gay and bisexual men escaping Chechnya -- providing two visas to survivors, according to the country’s news outlet BNS Lithuania.

Last month, Russian newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, broke the news of detentions and beatings of gay and bisexual by Chechnya authorities. According to various reports, roughly 100 gay and bisexual men had been beaten and tortured in detention-style camps where at least three men were reportedly killed in the anti-LGBTQ raids.

HRC has called on the U.S. government to condemn these heinous crimes and grant victims refuge in the United States. Last week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers passed a bipartisan resolution, House Resolution 351, condemning the violence and persecution of LGBTQ people in Chechnya. However, President Trump has yet to actually weigh into the issue.

Human Rights Campaign

 

[EdibleKnife]

Bumping this topic with some new articles. The first is about how the House has passed a resolution condemning the atrocities in Chechnya.

The U.S. House of Representatives has unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution condemning the anti-LGBTQ atrocities taking place in the Russian republic of Chechnya and calling on Chechen and Russian authorities to investigate the crimes and hold the perpetrators accountable.

Since early this year, Chechen authorities have rounded up and detained more than 100 men in secret prisons, under suspicion that they are gay or bisexual. Chechen leaders have denied these accusations, going so far as to deny the very existence of LGBTQ people in Chechnya. Nonetheless, there have been numerous verified reports of torture and at least three and possibly as many as 20 men have been killed. Chechen officials have also reportedly encouraged families to murder relatives they suspect might be gay, something that at least one family seems to have acted on.

The resolution, introduced by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) in May, calls on Chechen officials ”to immediately cease the abduction, detention, and torture of individuals on the basis of their actual or suspected sexual orientation, and hold accountable all those involved in perpetrating such abuses." The resolution also includes language from Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA) calling on the U.S. government to identify those involved in the attacks and determine if they could be sanctioned under U.S. laws.

It also calls on the U.S. government to continue condemning the atrocities. To date, the only high-level U.S. official to make a statement on Chechnya is the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley. Neither President Trump or Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have weighed in. Tillerson even admitted at a recent Congressional hearing that he has not raised the situation with his Russian counterparts, an admission that HRC's Stacy called ”beyond disturbing."

It's an important show of solidarity but as mentioned in the HRC article, to me it rings ultimately hollow seeing how domestic LGBTQ+ citizens continue to be treated in this country where several of these escapees flee (see: (Unanimous) Texas Supreme Court: No inherent right to gay marriage benefits) & how continued Russian allegiances being exposed in this administration no doubt factor into why high-level & very public facing US officials, like our own president, don't comment on such an obvious blight on humanity.

---

Here are 2 other harrowing articles from The New Yorker:

How a Russian Journalist Exposed the Anti-Gay Crackdown in Chechnya

The original reporting on the arrest, torture, and murder of gay men in Chechnya was published in April, in Novaya Gazeta, an independent and muckraking Russian newspaper. Over the years, six of the paper's journalists have been murdered, including, in 2006, Anna Politkovskaya, whose dispatches from Chechnya in the late nineties and early aughts made for uncomfortable but essential reading. Since Politkovskaya's death, much of the paper's coverage of Chechnya has been done by Elena Milashina, a thirty-nine-year-old reporter who has numerous confidential sources inside the republic, and who is no stranger to threats for her work. She is the recipient of numerous prizes, including, in 2013, an International Women of Courage Award, presented by the U.S. State Department. Milashina was the primary reporter at Novaya Gazeta who broke the story of Chechnya's anti-gay campaign. Shortly after her articles on the subject appeared—sparking coverage in the West and an uproar among readers, activists, and politicians in the United States and Europe—Milashina, fearing for her safety, left Russia temporarily. The New Yorker spoke to her recently about her reporting, the situation for gay men in Chechnya, and the global outcry in response to her work.
Given the extraordinary difficulty in reporting on the ground in Chechnya, how do you generally go about collecting and publishing information on what is happening there?

People have become terribly afraid to talk, because as soon as you show up—even if they refuse to speak with you—they will have problems. These days, I travel to Chechnya with an absolutely clean phone. I have several contacts memorized in my head, including numbers for some very serious people in the Russian Presidential Administration, so, in case anyone suddenly detains me, I can remember a number or two and try and transmit a message to Moscow, and ultimately to my editors.
I usually invite the people I need to interview to come to someplace outside of Chechnya. They will not talk in Chechnya; they simply are too afraid. The local authorities can do anything with the people you contact. You cannot protect them. One way around this is that I have a huge network of informants, who can send me information by phone or text, and which I then check with other people from my source list. I've found these people trust me for one simple reason: I do not release or publish much of the information that I obtain. When I sense that a piece of information is dangerous for him or her personally, I tell them, ”You will be figured out, you are the only source, you heard it in person." And so I cannot use it. Over time, these people understand that I am concerned not only with information but with security of my sources, and this creates trust.

The Gay Men Who Fled Chechnya's Purge

L.G.B.T. people have been a prime target of Kremlin propaganda since 2012. That year, Putin returned to the Presidency for a third term, amid mass protests. In response, the Kremlin started queer-baiting the protesters. A succession of cities and, eventually, the federal parliament passed bills banning ”propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations among minors." Television presenters raged against imaginary homosexual recruiters of Russian children. (At the time, I was living in Russia and was active in protests against the regime and the anti-gay legislation.) Anti-gay violence became so pervasive that a café in central Moscow posted a notice saying that attacks would not be tolerated on the premises.
Two days before I interviewed Ali, a Russian businessman named German Sterligov opened his fifth gourmet food shop in Moscow; he also has four in St. Petersburg. All display a sign that says ”No fags allowed." Russian media have generally paid more attention to the stores' high prices than to the signs at their entrances, but, on the occasion of the latest opening, a popular online magazine based in Moscow published a column calling the sign out as a poor attempt at a joke. The piece, signed by a well-known book critic, a straight married woman, closed with the words ”Sorry to go all humorless on you, faggots."
Vigilante groups that entrap gay men online and then humiliate and torture them on camera now operate with impunity in many cities. According to Immigration Equality, an American organization that helps L.G.B.T. asylum seekers, Russia has consistently been among the top five countries from which their clients flee; hundreds of people have sought asylum in the United States and in Western Europe.