From Russia With Hate and Also Homophobia

 

BY NATASHA BARSOTTI - Looks like the successful establishment of Pride Houses during the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver will not be replicated for the 2014 Sochi Games after a court backed Russian authorities' refusal of a bid to set up similar space for queer athletes. Apparently, judge Svetlana Mordovina believes Pride House activities could "undermine the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation due to the decrease of Russia's population."

"Such aims as creating an understanding of the necessity to fight against homophobia and the creation of positive attitudes towards LGBT sportsmen contradicts with the basics of public morality because they are directed towards the increase of the number of citizens of sexual minorities which breaches the understanding of good and evil, good and bad, vice and virtue," Mordovina's ruling stated, according to Gay Star News.

During Vancouver's Games two years ago, it was estimated that more than 20,000 people visited the three Olympic Pride House venues: the pavilions in Whistler and Vancouver (5,000 and 2,000 visitors respectively) and the official celebration bar, Score (15,000), located in the gay village. 

"The final frontier of homophobia is in the sports field. It's there but nobody talks about it," Dean Nelson told Xtra a year before Vancouver's Olympics. Nelson, who produces WinterPride in Whistler, was behind the push for the Vancouver and Whistler, BC Pride Houses. Under the Pride House umbrella, the idea was to have "a strategic and concentrated" media message that educates the wider Olympic audience about the "huge problem" of homophobia within sport, said Nelson who partnered with Qmunity, BC's Queer Resource Centre, to host the Vancouver-based Pride House.

Despite the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1993, Russia's virulent homophobia is well-entrenched. Myriad attempts to stage gay Pride have been repeatedly squelched - five times by previous Mayor Yuri Luzhkov,who described them as "satanic gatherings," and last year by the incumbent, Sergey Sobyanin - leaving Nikolai Alexeyev and fellow gay activists to resort to creative forms of subterfuge to throw police and other anti-gay forces off their scent as they try to pull off short marches and protests with rainbow banners in train. 

 Undaunted, activists have designated Sunday, May 27 Gay Pride Day.  

Lately, several cities have upped the homophobia ante by passing laws that prohibit so-called homosexual propaganda, St Petersburg being the latest to approve such a measure that calls for fines against people who promote "public actions aimed at propaganda of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality, and transgenderism among minors." Those who flout the law face penalities ranging from 5,000 rubles ($170 USD) for individuals to 500,000 rubles for businesses.

The cities of Ryazan, Arkhangelsk and Kostroma preceded St Petersburg in similar legislative moves that the Orthodox Church and political authorities are looking to install across the country. St Petersburg's law, authored by United Russia deputy Vitaly Milonov, comes into effect March 17. 

In the wake of these legislative crackdowns on gays, Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs is advising Canadians travelling in St Petersburg to "avoid displaying affection in public, as homosexuals can be targets of violence."

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird told Parliament March 16 that the law "runs contrary to core Canadian values of freedom of speech, of human rights and the rule of law."

    

http://www.xtra.ca

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