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Videos courtesy of ACT UP/NY:
https://youtu.be/U575_QVnoQI - Activists stage memorial
https://youtu.be/NxTed-OnPb8 - Lyosha Gorshkov of RUSA LGBT
https://youtu.be/Q9QLYsq5IIM - Yelena Goltsman of RUSA LGBT
https://youtu.be/NwUd-WFNmCw - Milk Queen from Rupaul’s Drag Race
https://youtu.be/7Xmlqv2RKik - Rabbi David Dunn Bauer of Beit Simchat
Torah
April
24, 2017 – New York, NY – Over the weekend, Russian-speaking LGBT activists and
their allies protested and staged a memorial for the LGBT people tortured and
murdered over the past month in Chechnya as part of anti-gay persecutions there.
About 60
activists chanted and held a rally outside the Russian Consulate in New York
City. The event was organized by RUSA
LGBT, a US-based LGBT network for Russian-speaking LGBTQ individuals, their
friends, supporters and loved ones.
Lyosha
Gorshkov of RUSA LGBT said, “We are here to support our compatriots, our
Russian-speaking LGBT community in Chechnya, and also we are here to demand
human rights for everybody.”
RUSA
LGBT was joined by activists from ACT UP/NY (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power),
Human Rights First, Rise and Resist, and Caribbean Equality Project as well as
religious leaders from Beit Simchat Torah.
Activists chanted slogans like, “Queer Chechens under attack! What do we
do? ACT UP! Fight Back” and “Kadyrov, you can’t hide, we charge you with
genocide” in reference to Chechnya’s current leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, who
despite denying reports of purges has made many public statements dehumanizing
gay Chechens.
Still, many activists found hope in Saturday’s
memorial and show of solidarity. "The most important thing, happening
today, is your presence, and your support! It is more valuable than
money," said Yelena Goltsman of RUSA LGBT.
After the rally, many activists left flowers
and signs asking that US visas be granted to LGBT Chechens on the doorstep of
the Russian Consulate.
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