With more than three months to go before the start of the 22nd Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, and with criticism of Russia’s anti-gay propaganda laws intensifying, the online activist organization FCKH8.com plans to mail 10,000 copies of Misha & His Moms Go to the Olympics coloring books. The group, which sells T-shirts and hoodies emblazoned with pro-gay messages such as “Some chicks marry chicks. Get over it.” and “Straight against hate,” has identified households where children live in order to help change hearts and minds.
In a press release, FCKH8 founder Luke Montgomery stated:
“Russia has made it a crime for any pro-gay words to be spoken and that law is about to be broken. The message of this coloring book is to let kids in Russia know that being gay is normal. Beating and imprisoning people just for being out of the closet, or arresting them for simply saying that it’s OK if someone in their family is gay, is an attack on human rights and a trashing of the Olympic spirit. We’re going to be breaking this homophobic law and there’s nothing the government can do to stop it.”
But not everyone agrees on Montgomery’s strategy. Critics of the plan argue that innocent people risk getting caught up in the law simply for being unsolicited recipients of the coloring book. “Sending 10,000 pro-equality coloring books to Russian families that do not want to take part in Putin’s anti-gay law and understand the risks in being pro-gay, that is not doing anything. You are going to send thousands of people to jail, or a large fine for something they did not want, did not order, and did not wish to take part in,” argued one follower of the sites Tumblr page.
In other news, two gunmen opened fire at the popular Moscow gay club, Central Station, after being refused entrance. There were no injuries but this is another in a string of attacks on the club. According to a report in QueerRussia.info, “Administration of the club requires that the attacks were considered as “extremist acts of hate or hostility toward persons belonging to a particular social group. Besides brute force attacks there are other provocations by ill-wishers. For example, Oct. 21, at the entrance to the club a huge banner “GAY CLUB ENTRANCE“ was placed. Later, a megaphone appeared near the club, broadcasting Boris Moiseyev’s song “Blue Moon” (“Golubaya Luna”) round the clock. The “Central Station” administration believes that the real estate development company which owns the building where the club is located might be involved in the incidents.”
