If you are shocked and angry over the ongoing affronts to the humanity of your lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender brothers and sisters in Russia, please join us on Saturday, August 10th at 1:00 p.m. for a peaceful protest across the street from the Russian embassy. Feel free to bring signs, slogans, olympic gear and Russian translators. Let's send a message to the young (and old) gay people in Russia that they are not alone, they are not wrong, they have nothing to be ashamed of and the inte...
If you are shocked and angry over the ongoing affronts to the humanity of your lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender brothers and sisters in Russia, please join us on Saturday, August 10th at 1:00 p.m. for a peaceful protest across the street from the Russian embassy. Feel free to bring signs, slogans, olympic gear and Russian translators. Let's send a message to the young (and old) gay people in Russia that they are not alone, they are not wrong, they have nothing to be ashamed of and the international community has their back.
The multiple recent murders of gay people in Russia have been heinous, (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22509019) immoral ( http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/06/03/uk-russia-killing-gay-idUKBRE9520A120130603) and wrong. Perhaps equally bad, Russia has now outlawed any form of "propagation" of homosexuality (http://www.smh.com.au/world/russia-outlaws-propagation-of-homosexuality-20130701-2p7e5.html), meaning that if you were to attend the Olympic games in Russia in several months with your partner you potentially would legally be barred from even holding hands with them. Likewise for our straight friends here, our straight allies in Russia can do nothing but watch as their voices and the voices of their LGBT friends are silenced.
Many in the media are saying "Where is the outrage?" and "Why are we not making more noise about this?" and a few of us happen to agree. When the US takes action that the international community disagrees with, the international community shows it by protesting en masse at our embassies abroad. And meanwhile, here in the US, we seem to be great at protesting with our money (dumping stoli somewhat misguidedly, buying tshirts, etc.), but sadly, we are often timid to protest with our voices. Please invite friends, family and supporters. Let's use our voices to give hope to the voiceless. Permit is pending right now with the city of DC- we will keep you updated as we find out more.
