Something really needs to be done at this point and it will most likely come from outside help. Kids and teens are suffering even more no thanks to Putin. Anastasia isn't Disney, it's 20th Century Fox.
Putin should not be shot. When a country's leader is assassinated while in office, they will be remembered as a hero and savior, no matter what atrocities they committed.
That sounds awesome. The Russian "noveau riche" mafia causes a lot of trouble in Western nations, even without this appalling level of homophobia.
We had the last winter olympics, and it wrecked the economy and caused these kinds of protest songs (Geoff Berner is awesome by the way): [YOUTUBE]j144LxkEBZg[/YOUTUBE] Oh, and this whole thing makes me sick. It's incredibly immoral, and these poor kids need to escape.
What a shame, I've always wanted to visit Russia but not anymore. I even studied Russian in college with the intention of studying abroad there, guess that's out.
As sad as this is, we can't really do anything. Petitions ate nice, but why would ANYONE listen to one. Rare is the chance once actually works. It's better if we just pretend it doesn't happen, and continue on with out lives. We can't do anything, it's Putin's country not ours.
Jared: I know, I'm in the same boat. I'm still going to keep learning Russian though. No sense in stopping now after two semesters. But I think it's definitely going to be a while before I ever visit.
Well it depends which era of the USSR you're talking about. When Lenin was the leader, the USSR was a beacon of tolerance (usually). However, Stalin came along skewed Lenin's entire vision.
Yeah but Lenin was the leader for like 5 minutes, and much of that time the country was still a mess with civil wars and strife. We can't really can't say how things would have turned out had Lenin remained in power longer, or had Trotsky taken control instead of Stalin. Hard to imagine anyone being worse than Stalin though. But for the bulk of its history, the USSR was a reactionary hellhole when it came to LGBT issues. Of course this shouldn't be blamed on Communist ideology necessarily but more on traditional Russian cultural and religious prejudices re-surfacing, even though the USSR cloaked everything it did in the language of Marxism-Leninism. (IIRC Communist East Germany actually legalized homosexuality in 1968, a year before Capitalist West Germany got around to it- and 35 years before the state of Texas was forced to by the U.S. Supreme Court). Putin is just restoring those homophobic Russian traditions after a period of relative calm when homosexuality was decriminalized in the wake of the collapse of the USSR in 1993. Just as Stalin restored the Tsarist-era homophobia after a brief period of freedom in the wake of the Revolution. Anyway I'm glad I made it to Russia last year, I knew it was a homophobic country, but this year the shit really seems to be hitting the fan there. I won't be going back anytime soon. (And what's with all the St. Petersburg love here anyway? Ewww. At least Moscow is worth visiting for reasons beyond that one big overcrowded museum. ) But it is a shame really that an entire country and culture are being made off-limits to the world by socially and politically backward ideas and tyrannical rulers in the 21st century.
I saw the video.The video,they poor beer on him.At that point I just wanted to be there and help the guy.
I saw this earlier this morning. I couldn't bring myself to watch the video. Seeing the picture... I wanted to throw up, honestly. Then cry. The UN will do nothing. At worst a strong letter of condemnation will be issued - at worst. First, because the UN has the courage of a wet noodle and is equally as impotent. Second, because Russia has a permanent seat on the Security Council. The Security Council is where military actions are declared as well as sanctions. Russia has permanent veto power. The United States, the UK, China, and France also have permanent veto power. Russia is not going to declare war or sanctions on itself. So, what options do we have? 1. Show solidarity with our Russian LGBT brothers and sisters. Let them know that their suffering is being witnessed and acknowledged by the outside world. What they suffer and endure will not be forgotten... because some day justice will find it's way to Russia, and when it does - well, we have long memories. 2. Organize some sort of support system to help smuggle out Russian LGBT people - particularly teenagers, in this case - who are in danger. We can accomplish this by ensuring that countries put laws on the books that make it easy for them to find asylum. Especially if they are under age. In some of the more progressive governments we might even be able to get government funding to accomplish something like this - we have enough political power to do it. This allows us to rescue people who need it, all they have to do is reach out for help. 3. For individual bastards such as these skinheads above, it would help to create a website that monitors these types of individuals - gets their pictures, and stores them online for all to see. Learn their names, gather what evidence that can be gathered, such as the mentioned videos, and keep them all stored. They may evade justice for now, but there will eventually be a time when they will answer for their crimes. 4. Search for legitimate and real political opposition to Putin. Bring them to the United States. Educate them on how to deal with the media, conduct themselves in politics, organize, get their message out, get in touch with voters, and then turn the voters out. Then send them back to Russia to begin fighting against Putin in the electoral system. Putin controls much of who gets on the ballot, but the last election that looked rigged caused massive protests. The Arabs had the "Arab Spring", why can't Russia have a Spring of its own? The thing about dictators, is that the longer they stick around, the more they get blamed for all the problems. With our media savvy allies who can organize and get their message out, they can help arrange protests that could hopefully topple the Putin government. Especially, if our allies can tap into a populist sentiment. 5. Once in power, have our allies conduct investigations into government corruption. This is pretty much going to land Putin and all of his allies, and likely a good chunk of the Russian oligarchs in prison. Russia is a mafia government and corrupt to the bone. Expose them. Ruin them. Destroy their families. Seize back the wealth the oligarchs stole after the collapse of the USSR, and throw them all in prison. Let Putin and his friends spend the rest of their lives rotting behind bars. 6. Reform the Russian government into something respectable, and - since it won't be popular - under the radar, begin hunting down the fucking bastards who were stupid enough to post pictures and videos bragging of how they tortured children. Hunt them down wherever they may be, and bring them to justice. This is really the only real path that I see - it all hinges on Putin being taken out of power, and allies favorable to us being put in his place. Even if Putin is removed, someone even worse could replace him. We certainly have allies in Russia who could be turned to and who would be willing to rise up to oppose Putin. After that it's just a matter of having them win enough public support that Putin standing in their way creates enough public unrest where he has to bow to pressure, or alternatively do something stupid and force his country down a potentially dangerous path... but of course, that's what happens when democratic institutions break down.
Yeah... I haven't seen the video and I don't intend to for my own mental well-being, but the article definitely says urine...
I was sickened by that video, that look of terror on the boy's face and the dirty fucking bastards who are causing it...there are films from the Nazi era that show that very same expression on their victims faces...we could learn a lot from the Jewish "refusenik" movement of the '80's; the parallels are frightening. If it means organizing and demonstrating at Russian embassies, and consulates, so be it. Our Pride parades should start getting more focused on this issue as well.
