- Title: RUSSIA: US President Obama to meet Russian gay activists ahead of G20
- Date: 3rd September 2013
- Summary: ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA (SEPTEMBER 3, 2013) (REUTERS -ACCESS ALL) VARIOUS OF G20 SUMMIT VENUE WITH G20 BANNER VARIOUS OF FORTRESS OF PETER AND PAUL VARIOUS OF STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM/ TOP OF VICTORY STATUE LGBT ORGANISATION 'COMING OUT' STAFF WORKING IN OFFICE DECORATIONS OVER DESK COMING OUT PROJECT MANAGER SVETLANA BARSUKOVA WORKING AT DESK POSTER ON WALL (SOUNDBITE
- Embargoed: 18th September 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Russian Federation
- Country: Russia
- Topics: International Relations,Politics,Lifestyle
- Reuters ID: LVAA3MF1FW058V3GWANI60VD9G9G
- Story Text: Gay activists hope G20 leaders will put pressure on Russian authorities over anti-gay propaganda law.
As leaders of the world's 20 largest economies prepare to gather in Russia's second city St. Petersburg, gay rights and civil society are increasingly in the limelight here.
Rights groups told Reuters that U.S. President Barack Obama, who is expected to attend the summit on Sept. 5-6, invited a handful of rights activists to meet on Thursday to discuss the state of human rights in Russia and new laws that critics of the Kremlin say clamp down on dissent, violate gay rights and restrain non-governmental organisations.
Leaders are facing calls from rights organisations to press Russian President Vladimir Putin on the plight of the LGBT community in Russia, which faces fines and arrest if found violating the country's murky new law banning the spread of 'homosexual propaganda".
The project director of the St. Petersburg 'Coming Out' organisation said on Tuesday (September 3) that the laws' aims are to stifle the LGBT community.
"As a matter of fact the LGBT-community in Russia is now trying to somehow protect its right for self-identity and ability to talk openly about itself. Yes, Russia is now dominated by the idea that the only proper family model is a model of a family with several kids, and obviously the homosexual families and homosexuals in general don't fit into it. That's why there are attempts to ban the homosexual community," said Svetlana Barsukova.
Barsukova, whose organisation informs people about LGBT issues and even facilitates meetings between gay Russians and their parents, said the laws create an atmosphere of fear.
"Currently many nationalistic and radical groups justify their attacks and street actions against the LGBT-community with these laws. We often hear them saying that they are just enforcing the law which was adopted - as the police doesn't do it, we do it instead of them," she said.
But, she said, the law that many see as part of an intensifying tightening of the screws orchestrated by Putin to strengthen his grip on power following the largest wave of street protests against his 13-year rule in 2011 and 2012 may have an unforeseen future benefit.
Barsukova is not hopeful that the G20 will force a chance in the laws, but she welcomes the attention paid to a pressing issue.
The international community has been saying for a long time that such laws violate the human rights and the idea of human rights in general. For us its crucial that such discussions continue so that Russia feels this pressure from other countries and knows that if human rights violations, including the LGBT-rights violations, take place here it will not go unnoticed and unpunished," Barsukova said.
Obama pulled out of talks with Putin last month in a sign of the worst tensions between Moscow and Washington since the end of the Cold War. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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