Since the enactment of anti-gay ‘propaganda’ laws that have overwhelmingly passed in some of Russia’s largest cities, the LGBT community is seeing a discernible rise in violent crimes. Recently, a young gay man, Vladislav Tornovoi,
was brutally attacked then killed after he admitted to his drinking buddies that he was gay. In Volgograd, the 23-year-old man was beaten, had a beer bottle forcefully inserted in his anus, was set on fire and then, for good measure, had a stone dropped on his head killing him at once.
With the brutality of his death comes the painful realization that Russian society is on the brink of an all-out war against the LGBT community. Adding fuel to the fire is President Vladimir Putin’s call to allow the ultra-conservative Orthodox Church a larger voice in the moral direction of the country. With passage of a decree to that effect all but certain, gay activists, like Nikolai Alexeyev, worry that it will translate into a license to act. “It essentially gives these people carte blanche to commit such crimes,” Alexeyev warned. “Such crimes are committed around Russia every day. As a rule, all these crimes are categorized as something ordinary – they argued over a bottle of vodka, or there was ‘personal animosity’. The real motive of hate is not mentioned.”
Hate crime statistics are hard to come by in Russia where the concept is fairly new (and tenuous). For example, there were only three attacks reported in 2011 but 12 in 2012.
Gay activists say the government’s conservative policies offer “unspoken support” for violence. This, they say, could even have made the suspects in the Volgograd murder describe their victim as gay to win some sympathy.
That, coupled with Russia’s declining population together with rising HIV rates, make gays easy targets. On a recent trip to the Netherlands, faced with very vocal opposition, Putin clearly made his position, however tortured, known. ““It is imperative to protect the rights of sexual minorities, but let’s agree that same-sex marriage does not produce children,” Putin said.
The outlook for the near future is grim and while activists continue to combat the rising tide of intolerance, Putin, along with the state-sanctioned church make one thing all but certain: crimes against the LGBT community, if reported, will remain far under the radar screen.
