- Title: RUSSIA: Sochi gay community well-hidden ahead of 2014 Winter Olympics
- Date: 5th November 2013
- Summary: PERFORMER ON STAGE GAY CLUB PATRONS WATCHING PERFORMER ON STAGE GAY CLUB PATRONS YOUNG MAN TAKING OFF HIS T-SHIRT ON DANCE FLOOR, DANCING TWO WOMEN AT TABLE CHEERING, CLAPPING
- Embargoed: 20th November 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Russian Federation
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Politics,Sports
- Reuters ID: LVAEHZDTTWGBE8KGDJBMWHKSBMFN
- Story Text: Gay people in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi say they live a low-key live, many in hiding, and take precautions against possible violence directed at them, while Russia's anti-gay law casts a shadow over the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Russian authorities came under fire over their treatment of Russia's gay community. Triggering angry criticism from the West and even calls to boycott the Sochi games, Russia adopted in June a ban on homosexual "propaganda" among minors, a law denounced by critics as discriminatory and aimed at stifling dissent.
Russia decriminalised homosexuality in 1993 but gay people are often blamed for not helping overcome Russia's demographic problems and face ostracism from the resurgent Orthodox Church, which has fostered increasingly close ties with the Kremlin during Vladimir Putin's 13-year rule.
In Sochi, local resident Vladislav Slavsky says he faces almost daily threats and humiliation as he refuses to deny that he is gay.
"It is dangerous here. I'm not living my life now, I'm surviving. I always have pepper spray on me when I'm walking. I get attacked from the bushes. It's stopped somewhat recently, but I have been attacked many times from people hiding in the bushes near my house. In the evening when it gets dark they jump out of the bushes, insult me, throw stones and glass bottles at me," Slavsky told Reuters on Monday (November 4).
He said that the school headmaster insisted he must study at home after he came out as gay when he was 15.
When he returned from home tutoring to complete his final year of high school, he became the subject of bullying for the whole school.
"The whole school knew about it (that I'm gay). And about 700 students bullied me. When I walked along school corridors, they spit at me and humiliated me," Slavsky said.
He said he had just one close friend who is also gay, but many more people are hiding for the fear of violence and ostracism: "Of course I have gay friends in Sochi, but they are very few. Because a lot of gays are hiding. They are hiding and getting so much into the closet that they even stop using social networks."
He said he refused to remain in the closet and came out to parents and friends, but ultimately he would want to move out of Sochi, and possibly out of Russia, to live a normal life.
"It is impossible to be hiding. To be constantly hiding and keeping it secret is impossible. It is a very heavy burden, and to live with it is very hard. Even though I'm subjected to violence, it is still easier for me that way," Slavsky said.
There is only one gay club in Sochi. It hosts parties and transvestite performances, but local gays frown upon attending it, the club owner, Andrei Tanichev, said.
He opened this club with his boyfriend in 2005 after moving to Sochi from Moscow, but quickly found out that the majority of the patrons in his club would be holidaymakers, businesspeople on trips or migrant workers.
For locals a visit to a gay club would become known in their family or at work the next day leading to a swift change of attitudes, Tanichev said. Few dare to risk their social status, he added.
Still, Tanichev said, Sochi is the only town in Russia with a population below one million people to even have a gay club.
He believes the outcry after the passage of Russia's anti-gay law was even somewhat beneficial as people actually started discussing the matter.
"Before this law was passed, gay people didn't have any rights anyway. Gay prides or even talking about them was unthinkable. Even more so, talking about gays in general was unthinkable. Unthinkable - they simply didn't exist. Like there was no sex in the Soviet Union, there were no gays either. And this law at least raised certain questions among the public," Tanichev told Reuters.
"It just happened that interests of gay people were hurt, and the Russian authorities are now forced to take a few steps back. Even Putin has now said that he would take the concerns of gay people into account during the Olympic Games," he added.
President Vladimir Putin, seeking to defuse criticism ahead of the Games, said all people, including gays and lesbians, will be welcome in Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
The Russian law sparked a wave of protest around the world. Over 350,000 people signed an online petition calling on world leaders and Russian politicians to push for a repeal of anti-gay laws and to protect citizens from violence and discrimination.
Gay bars in the United States and other countries began boycotting Russian vodka in protest at the laws.
Andrei Tanichev said though Sochi gays appreciated this support it will not bring about any changes.
"I think that this (gay support campaign) will not change anything until the regime changes. And I think the regime's attitude towards minorities will not change in any case. They just play games around approval ratings, and they rely not on the healthy part of the society, not on intelligent people, but rather on that mass of people who just watch TV, go to work in a factory and do nothing else," Tanichev said.
The Dutch foreign minister on Tuesday (November 5) denounced Russia's anti-gay law and said the violation of gay rights could be grounds for asylum in the Netherlands.
Opinion polls show the law is backed by most Russians and the measure is part a conservative course charted by Putin to consolidate support following protests against his 13-year rule. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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