Meet the Russian Gay Couple Who Got Married in Spite of Vladimir Putin

Last month I wrote a post about a Russian gay couple who got married in St. Petersburg, Russia, despite Russia's anti-gay jihad.  I first heard of the marriage via a young Russian LGBT activist friend who attended the wedding.  Now, Gay Star News has more details on how the couple - one is transgender - to circumvent Russia's anti-gay laws.  Here are highlights followed by a video clip (my friend can be seen briefly in the film):

A Russian gay couple who married in the fiercest way possible has reflected on their wedding and the consequences it could have the country.

Alyona Furvosa and Irina Shumilova married, both in stunning white gowns, in front of family and friends at a St Petersburg registry office last month.

The trans woman and her cisgender bride were allowed to marry through a loophole, with the city technically viewing the union as a heterosexual marriage.

'To be honest, it's scary and uncomfortable, because we don't know what to expect in the future,' Fursova told CNN this week.

'We can get married now because I have female documents and and Irina has male ones. But already we've heard that government officials are preparing a law to forbid this.'

St. Petersburg MP Vitaly Milonov, a vocal opponent of gay rights, has called the union an 'ugly insult to millions of Russian families' and vowed to pursue an investigation into its legality.  Milonov was the author of the city's 'gay propaganda' ban, the law that inspired the nationwide legislation.

But as Russia seems to have stalted, the married couple hope they will serve as an inspiration to the LGBTI community in their country and across the world.

'I really hope it helps people to understand that if they fight for their rights, they can get them,' Furvosa added.

Canada Warns Against Travel To Russia

In light of the anti-gay laws passed in several major Russian cities - the Russian Orthodox Church wants the bans to be made nationwide - Canada's foreign minister has warned LGBT Canadians to think twice before traveling to Russia. It's good advice and is in keeping with my belief that LGBT individuals should boycott anti-gay nations. Hence, you won't see me traveling to Russia any time soon. I'll spend my money in friendlier nations. CTV.ca has details. Here are some highlights:

Canada is warning gay and lesbian travellers bound for Russia's historic St. Petersburg to be wary after the city enacted a new law banning what it calls homosexual propaganda.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has told the House of Commons he is deeply concerned by the legislation, which he says runs counter to core Canadian values of freedom of speech, human rights and the rule of law.

The warning comes after the governor of St. Petersburg signed a law that makes it a criminal offence to publicize acts of sodomy, bisexualism or lesbianism. The city says the law, which comes into effect Saturday, is designed to protect children. But gay rights groups see it as part of a backlash led by some politicians and the Russian Orthodox Church.

St. Petersburg is the fourth Russian city to be enact such a law. Baird said Canada has lodged an official protest, as well as warning travellers. "Canada's ambassador has written to the Russian government to express our deep concern and, yes, we have at his request, put a travel advisory on our website," Baird said.

Canada's new travel advisory has been amended to read: "Homosexuality is legal, though some still strongly disapprove of it. Canadians are advised to avoid displaying affection in public, as homosexuals can be targets of violence."

The advisory states that the new law prohibits "propagandizing homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality and transsexuality among minors, and prohibiting public actions propagandizing pedophilia."

Among other things, the advisory warns travellers against "displays or conspicuous behaviour," which could lead to arrest or a fine.

Baird said he will consider amending travel advisories to other destinations to deal with specific threats to gay and lesbian travellers.

As I said in my previous post, religion and religious induced bigotry are one of the great evils of the world today. Hopefully, other nations will join in with Canada and recommending that travel to Russia be avoided.

Russia Update: St. Petersburg’s Homophobic Law

I've long advocated boycotting anti-gay countries (e.g., Jamaica) in terms of both product purchases and blacklisting in terms of travel destinations. It seems that Russia is striving hard to become a pariah because of its treatment of LGBT citizens. I've always wanted to visit Russia and St. Petersburg, but that's not going to happen now and I hope many others will scorn Russia and spend their tourism dollar elsewhere. At the same time, I cannot help but note the parallels with the anti-gay atmosphere in parts of Africa where government incompetence and corruption always seem to go hand in hand with launching homophobic campaigns, apparently in the hope that the populace will be distracted from the real issues facing their home cities and nation. A video by All Out urging a travel boycott is posted below. Human Rights Watch also looks at the deplorable fines and penalties against individuals or organizations "promoting homosexuality." Here are some highlights:

St. Petersburg Governor Georgiy Poltavchenko should veto a homophobic bill adopted by the city’s parliament, Human Rights Watch said today.

The St. Petersburg city parliament on February 29, 2012, adopted a bill that would impose fines on people engaging in “public activities to promote sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality and transsexuality” that might be observed by minors. The bill passed by a vote of 29 to 5 with one abstention. The governor has two weeks to veto the bill or sign it into law.

“February 29 was a dark day for St. Petersburg and for Russia as this damning anti-gay bill came one step closer to becoming law,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.“The governor now has an opportunity to uphold the rule of law and stop this discriminatory and dangerous initiative in Russia’s northern capital.”

The bill would introduce two amendments to the St. Petersburg Law on Administrative Offenses. In addition to the amendment banning lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered, (LGBT) “propaganda,” the bill would ban propaganda promoting pedophilia, insidiously linking two unrelated issues, Human Rights Watch said. People found guilty of violating the law would face fines of up to 50,000 rubles (US$1,700), and organizations would face fines of up to 500,000 rubles (US$17,000).

The bill’s language is so vague and broad that it could lead to a ban on displaying a rainbow flag or wearing a T-shirt with a gay-friendly logo or even on holding LGBT-themed rallies in the city. The vote in St. Petersburg followed the approval of similar laws in other parts of Russia – in Ryazan in 2006, in Arkhangelsk in September 2011, and in Kostroma in February 2012. Those promoting the bill claim it is aimed at protecting minors from LGBT “propaganda.”

The bill has already caused international outrage. Many nongovernmental organizations and activists have spoken out against it and called on the Russian authorities to stop the bill from being adopted. The US State Department, the UK Foreign Office, the Australian Government, and the European Parliament have also expressed profound concern.

The environment for LGBT people in Russia is very hostile, and LGBT activists are vulnerable to harassment and physical attack. The authorities routinely ban and violently disperse gay demonstrations. In October 2010 the European Court of Human Rights found Russia in violation of freedom of assembly for repeatedly denying activists the right to hold gay pride marches.

It's disgusting and all too typical of sleazy politicians kissing the asses of religious zealots to distract the public from their own corruption and incompetence.

Russia's War Against Gays

In college I was a history major with heavy emphasis on British and Russian history. I've always wanted to travel to Russia, but always found it out of the question: I didn't want to travel to the Soviet system, then there was the issue of raising children and a lack of travel and now, there's rising homophobia that makes Russia look far less than welcoming for LGBT tourists. The current war on gays is bizarre given that the Russian Orthodox Church doesn't hold the same power in politics that far right denominations do in the USA. Yet, the legislation against all things gay - "propaganda of homosexuality" is the term - is frightening. For whatever reason, Russian politicians seem to want to drag the country backwards in time. One would thing the effort was being orchestrated by The Family Foundation, a toxic, hate motivated Christianist organization in Richmond, given the parallels between the talk in Russia and Republican circles in Richmond. Whatever the motivation, I won't be looking to visit St. Petersburg any time soon if the anti-gay jihad continues. Here are highlights from the New York Times:

“Propaganda of homosexuality”: the wording sounds almost quaint in English, like a panicky phrase out of the 1970s backlash to the early gay liberation movement in the United States. But in Russia, the phrase is current: This week lawmakers have been talking of banning “propaganda of homosexuality” — whatever the phrase may mean.

The campaign began a couple of months ago, when two provincial Russian cities, Ryazan, in central Russia, and Arkhangelsk, in the north of the country, passed such laws. On Wednesday, St. Petersburg, Russia’s largest city, approved its own ban. The next day, lawmakers in Moscow promised to pass a similar measure in the capital, and the speaker of the upper house of Parliament declared it was time to take the ban national.

The St. Petersburg bill defines the violation as “public actions aimed at propagandizing sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality, transgenderism among minors.” At least one prominent Russian singer has already expressed concern that the law may affect his and other artists’ ability to perform in front of audiences and to market their records.

In saying this he put his finger on what is perhaps the central conflict of this story: Russia’s urban culture of music and film, clubs and cafés, art and fashion, is virtually indistinguishable from that of any contemporary Western European city. . . . . So where do the “propaganda of homosexuality” bans come from, in a secular country with an apparently liberal social culture? A dozen years ago, when Vladimir Putin became Russia’s leader, he set in motion the process of destroying public space. He has succeeded by pressuring the media, heavily restricting political and charitable organizations, and, in effect, banning most demonstrations. The process now seems unstoppable: The restrictive machine cannot help but infringe on the private — as well as venture into the absurd.

[M]y 13-year-old son, who attends a private school with a liberal reputation in Moscow, came home and told me he had removed his new earring after a teacher told him that wearing earrings means you’re gay and is therefore inappropriate.

A few hours later a friend who is active in an L.G.B.T. sporting organization instant-messaged me to say that the group would probably soon be banned from organizing any events. What’s worse, she wrote, when the bills become law, they may be interpreted to apply to gay and lesbian couples who are raising children.

I no longer think the phrase “propaganda of homosexuality” sounds quaint. My partner and I are raising a boy and a girl together, and in February she is due to give birth to another boy.

As I noted before, I've now crossed Russia off my list of travel destinations. I have no intention of traveling to and spending money in a country where I am not wanted. I hope others will do likewise and let the Russian tourism agencies know why Russia is now a destination to be avoided. You can e-mail the Russian National Tourism office here.

Russian Gays to Stage ‘Day of Silence’

It is amazing how something that began as a class project at my Alma Mater, the University of Virginia, has grown. Not only was the National Day of Silence last week observed by many in the USA, but now the concept is being utilized in Russia. In response to the government banning a gay pride parade on May Day, members of the LGBT community in St. Petersburg plan a day of silence to bring attention to the plight of gays in Russia. Moreover, Russia is a member of the Council of Europe and a signatory to the European Convention of Human Rights, which obligates Russia to observe the rights to peaceful assembly and demonstrations. Thus, A complaint has been filed in the European Court in Strasbourg. UK Gay News has some coverage on the "Day of Silence" that can be found here. Here are some highlights:

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ST. PETERSBURG, April 26,2007 – Gay men and women in St. Petersburg will be marking the first-ever Russian Day of Silence on Saturday May 3 with a rally on Malaya Konyushennaya Street. Participants at the rally, which is sub-titled “Sometimes to be heard you have to be silent” will have their mouths taped as they hand-out flyers and other promotional material to passers-by without comment, a spokesperson for the organisers said.

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The Day of Silence in Russia is an action targeted at the general population and intended to draw people’s attention to the problems of silencing hate crimes, discrimination, and intolerance. “It is an opportunity to demonstrate that these problems concern not "other" people somewhere else, but us directly – our families, our loved ones, our friends,” the spokesperson said.

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“These issues are no less relevant to modern Russia than they are to the Western nations. In recent years, the number of hate crimes based on ethnicity or religion has been growing. Next month’s Russian Day of Silence will be dedicated to the problems of discrimination and intolerance towards LGBT, as well as ethnic, religious, and other minorities.