Stating that Crimea “does not need [gay] people,” the newly installed government of the illegally established breakaway region of Ukraine, has alarmed Russian LGBT activists and sent shockwaves through the region. Speaking to a public crowd Tuesday, Sergey Aksyonov, the de facto Prime Minister, added that, “If activists try to demonstrate in the region our police and self-defense forces will react immediately and in three minutes will explain to them what kind of sexual orientation they should stick to.” He did not elaborate.
While many are questioning the legal basis for his not-so-veiled threats, Aksyonov’s statements come at a time when Russian authorities continue to clamp down on the LGBT community at home. According to QueerRussia.info, “164 applications for gay-pride events have been rejected by cities across Russia to date. In response to an appeal by Alekseyev’s group, the European Court of Human Rights in 2010 ruled that Moscow’s ban on gay-pride events in 2006, 2007 and 2008 was in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.”
For both natives and observers of Russia, it is not altogether surprising that this socially conservative country is largely antagonistic toward members of the LGBT community. But personally held beliefs and the law are still not one in the same, even in Russia. The Ukrainian gay-rights organization Gay Forum Ukraine estimates there are about 10,000 gays and other sexual minorities living in Crimea. Russian activist Igor Kochetkov, director of the Russian LGBT Network in St. Petersburg, says they have been caught up in the “general deterioration of human rights” in the region since it was annexed by Moscow. Fellow LGBT activist Alekseyev and Kirill Nepomnyashchy were assaulted in Kostroma by two unknown assailants Sept. 1 while attempting to participate in a court hearing over that city’s ban on gay-pride events. Alekseyev was also attacked during another trip to the central Russian city last year. Kochetkov warned that although conservative and nationalist groups have “turned their attention to other targets” in recent months, the situation remains dire for sexual minorities.
“Regardless of sexual orientation, no one should have to ask Mr. Aksyonov or his officials where they can live. It is an absolutely awful statement,” said Kochetkov.
