Russia... It's not the only place that hates gays

I’m sure we have all read or seen something upon Russian anti gay legislation recently with all the media concerning the Olympics etc however I’m not paying as much attention to that as some may think I should.

Now don’t get me wrong I am by no means a fan of Russia and detest the way they are treating my fellow LGBTQs, however with all the focus upon them currently it is all too easy to forget one simple thing.

There is discrimination  in other countries throughout the world and many at a far higher level than Russia.

The Russian law is incredibly vague which has allowed people to make claims about what its intentions are and what it allows. And thats fine you can argue back and forth about what it allows and how it is discriminating against us it is great to see people so passionate about LGBTQ rights. What I wish is to see that transferred to other countries throughout the world who are for the most part ignored. Also you have to remember that no one has been killed in Russia as a result of this and only a few dozen at most have been arrested. It is still an unacceptable breach upon their human rights and I detest it and wish to see it disappear but I am more concerned about those in other countries who are threatened with losing their life.

So what countries am I talking about at discriminate worse than Russia? Well the list is quite long, however there are a couple that implemented legislation very recently or are going to as a result.

Obviously Uganda, this one was in fact recently challenged in court by activists in Uganda but first what does the anti-gay act in Uganda entail?

You see this bill does infact ban homosexuality completely heres a quick summary:

• Life in prison for gay sex of including things such as oral or life imprisonment for being in a gay marriage.
• Seven years for attempting to commit homosexuality which includes things such as simply kissing a man.
• Seven years in jail if you “promote homosexuality” and/or a 25,000 pound fine.
• Seven years in Jail for the director of any business that “promotes homosexuality” and the business being shut down.

Obviously this is a simplification but I think you can see why this is worse than Russia.

Granted you might have heard of the Ugandan legislation as it has at least been reported on, however not nearly in the same amount as the Russian one has.

So why is this? Well a couple of reasons spring to my in this case one is minor and pure speculation, but I find it interesting enough to consider and the other is more important.

The minor reason is that the problem is fueled at the moment by American Evangelical Christian Conservatives. A several hundred have set up parishes and are preaching literalist Biblical views causing the anti gay views to grow in Uganda, now you could say that the American Media has no wish to report this fact though either way I have nothing concrete in support of it. I just thought it was a possible idea and it does help explain why there is so much anti gay feeling in Uganda and many other African countries as Uganda is not an isolated incident of this.

Now the bigger reason that it is gaining less attention is the HIV or AIDs virus which is prolific in African countries such as Uganda. Now the gay population gets the blame for this problem so some people, mostly right wing americans, attempt to justify the legislation against homosexuality in this way so feel there is no need to report upon such things as it is to them an acceptable concept.

I will point one thing out however, gays do not count for the any significant amount the AIDS problem in places such as Uganda. It is infact impoverished couples that account for the major population with the AIDs virus. This is because they do not have the means to protect themselves from the virus with condoms etc and in some cases, again due to evangelicals and people such as the ex-pope, they are told not to use condoms and are lied to saying that it encourages the spread of aids. Meanwhile the legislators are of the opinion it is the fault of the LGBTQ community so make such things illegal.

There is hope though, organisations are pushing for education of the population of these areas and the provision of condoms etc, so while I cannot think of a solution for Russia apart from perhaps a complete governmental reform. I feel that there is at least a chance for people in Africa as they have legislated out of fear essentially, so bringing media attention could not only highlight the plight but help to promote education and aid in such countries and to highlight those who spread the lies that the gay population is to blame. So don’t just focus on Russia the please do report on it, devote a larger amount of time to a problem we could actually solve.

Finally I recommend watching Kenya as due to Uganda a study has been ordered as to how they can enforce their own anti gay legislation more severely, so keep an eye on them as it is likely to develop in the next few months.

From Putin With Love

Maria Alyokhina took this photograph of herself and
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova in the back of a police van

  Vladimir Putin has done it again. Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, two members of the Russian punk rock band Pussy Riot have been arrested in Sochi. Their crime? Well, in this case, the nefarious deed of walking down a street.


  The two women had planned to shoot a music video for a new song, Putin Will Teach You to Love Your Motherland in a local Church. Given the vast and entirely unwarranted overreaction to the punk collective's now-famous protest at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, it would perhaps not have been much of a surprise if they had been arrested during such an action. But they never made it. Instead, they were picked up by police whilst on their way to the planned protest. They have been accused of robbery, but as yet no charges have been filed. 

  Clearly, though, this accusation is pure nonsense. Perhaps, were the incident isolated, we might be persuaded to reluctantly swallow the official story. But it is not. At least nine people are in police custody for clearly political motives, among them former Italian MP and LGBT rights campaigner Vladimir Luxuria, with an unidentified number of others having been picked up but subsequently released. This assault on the rights and freedoms of both the Russian people and international visitors to the Winter Olympics host city is characteristic of the heavy-handed and oppressive Putin regime, but that the authorities have carried on their campaign of repression when the city is in the full glare of the international spotlight demonstrates both the cavalier ease with which they can carry out such actions and the security Putin feels in his control of the country. It is a fresh reminder, if any were needed, that this is a man and a government willing to do anything to maintain its iron grip.

  But has Putin made a mistake? By re-arresting Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova, so soon after their two-year internment in separate Siberian concentration camps was cut short by the politically-motivated Amnesty Bill last December, huge publicity will surely be drawn to the political skirmishes around Sochi which, thus far, the media has been too blinded by the glittering spectacle of the games themselves to focus on. By making two women who have already been identified as targets of the Putin regime once more into martyrs for the cause, Putin will perhaps find the small but growing number of voices raised against his corrupt leadership become louder. 

  Whilst most Russians have sadly been sufficiently taken in by the conspiracy of Church and State to mutilate their morality that they are ambivalent towards, or even support, the persecution of minorities in their native country, there are enough who refuse to bow to Putin's warped image of the world to cause problems for his administration. The international community, meanwhile, whilst as ever slow to react has - in general - been a supporter both of Pussy Riot and the wider human rights campaign. As this news hits the headlines, perhaps it will start to filter through to the collective world consciousness that the problems in Russia remain as great now as they ever were - and perhaps now, finally, we might start to do something about it.

  One thing is for certain - the neo-fascism of Vladimir Putin and his allies in the Orthodox Church is just as corrupt, just as damaging as the Stalinist perversion of Marxism in the old Soviet Union was. The rest of the world has a duty to respond to the plight of those people trapped by Putin's barbaric, coercive laws into a life of lies and violence and to do our best to rescue them from the clutches of what is, now more than ever, an evil empire.