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crazyjaneIn the last few days I've listened to sports commentators talk about how going to Russia for the Winter Olympics will be okay, because the government has promised not to be nasty to any gay athletes. I've heard news pundits saying it's not as bad as 'gays' are making it out to be over there. And I've seen people on social media even defend Russia's homophobic laws, because if you believe their polls, 73% of their population don't want their kids to know that gays exist, and 3 out of 4 of them claim they don't even know any gay people, anyway.
It's sickening. Actually, it's beyond sickening. It's fucking unbelievable. Stephen Fry was slammed for writing to British PM David Cameron and actually begging him to boycott the Winter Olympics. He was accused of over-reacting. And a Russian Olympic pole vaulter sat down in front of the cameras to call another athlete 'disrespectful of our laws' ... for daring to wear rainbow nail polish.
A friend sent me these links.
Some talk about intimidation and torture, all targeting teen boys who are gay or bisexual; the groups use the social media site VK.com to lure the boys to remote spots, then bully and attack them, while videoing their efforts. A signature element of the attacks involves what the attackers call 'urine therapy' - pouring urine over their victims' heads or throwing it in their faces. Some of their victims have reportedly committed suicide.
One tells, in horrific detail, about the torture and murder of a young gay teen by a group of neo-Nazi skinheads.
"According to the assailants, they beat the victim with a bat for a few hours, cut him with a knife, stained him with paint, tore his anus with a pry bar and filled his anus with [builders expanding insulation] foam. The injuries apparently led to his death following the torture, said the bandits. The victim probably screamed and called for help, but since he did not know the Russian language well, nobody came to his aid. Also, neighbors in the building appeared to have aided the bandits in torturing the victim."
http://americablog.com/2013/08/russian-gay-kidnap-boy-torture-video.html
http://www.thegailygrind.com/2013/07/25/russian-neo-nazi-groups-tricking-and-torturing-gay-male-teenagers-the-blood-is-on-putin-hands/
https://sites.google.com/a/spectrumhr.org/www/hot-news-1/recentneonazivictimdiesanti-naziactivistsindanger
http://topinfopost.com/2013/08/07/gay-teenager-kidnapped-and-tortured-by-russian-neo-nazi-group
These groups say their aim is to stop paedophilia. Authorities have even praised them for 'fighting the sins of society'. They're thugs. Torturing, murdering thugs - and what they do is not only overlooked, but actively encouraged, by the thugs who wrote those laws, and the thugs who enforce them and slap the attackers on the back.
If this doesn't make you nauseous, outraged, devastated and horrified all at once, then nothing will.
Is it over-reacting? Fuck that. We shouldn't just be boycotting the bloody Olympics, we should put Russia under the same sanctions we did South Africa during the apartheid years. The murdering bastards should be locked up forever, and those who give them shelter should be locked up right alongside them.
An entire generation of queer young people is in danger - and people are pissing about because they want to get a few fucking medals. That's everyone from political leaders on down to the person in the street or the neighbour who doesn't like it if you have a rainbow sticker on your car.
Shame on them. Shame on all of them. Shame on all of us who don't at least add our voices to say this is nothing less than state-sanctioned torture and murder.
It's sickening. Actually, it's beyond sickening. It's fucking unbelievable. Stephen Fry was slammed for writing to British PM David Cameron and actually begging him to boycott the Winter Olympics. He was accused of over-reacting. And a Russian Olympic pole vaulter sat down in front of the cameras to call another athlete 'disrespectful of our laws' ... for daring to wear rainbow nail polish.
A friend sent me these links.
Some talk about intimidation and torture, all targeting teen boys who are gay or bisexual; the groups use the social media site VK.com to lure the boys to remote spots, then bully and attack them, while videoing their efforts. A signature element of the attacks involves what the attackers call 'urine therapy' - pouring urine over their victims' heads or throwing it in their faces. Some of their victims have reportedly committed suicide.
One tells, in horrific detail, about the torture and murder of a young gay teen by a group of neo-Nazi skinheads.
"According to the assailants, they beat the victim with a bat for a few hours, cut him with a knife, stained him with paint, tore his anus with a pry bar and filled his anus with [builders expanding insulation] foam. The injuries apparently led to his death following the torture, said the bandits. The victim probably screamed and called for help, but since he did not know the Russian language well, nobody came to his aid. Also, neighbors in the building appeared to have aided the bandits in torturing the victim."
http://americablog.com/2013/08/russian-gay-kidnap-boy-torture-video.html
http://www.thegailygrind.com/2013/07/25/russian-neo-nazi-groups-tricking-and-torturing-gay-male-teenagers-the-blood-is-on-putin-hands/
https://sites.google.com/a/spectrumhr.org/www/hot-news-1/recentneonazivictimdiesanti-naziactivistsindanger
http://topinfopost.com/2013/08/07/gay-teenager-kidnapped-and-tortured-by-russian-neo-nazi-group
These groups say their aim is to stop paedophilia. Authorities have even praised them for 'fighting the sins of society'. They're thugs. Torturing, murdering thugs - and what they do is not only overlooked, but actively encouraged, by the thugs who wrote those laws, and the thugs who enforce them and slap the attackers on the back.
If this doesn't make you nauseous, outraged, devastated and horrified all at once, then nothing will.
Is it over-reacting? Fuck that. We shouldn't just be boycotting the bloody Olympics, we should put Russia under the same sanctions we did South Africa during the apartheid years. The murdering bastards should be locked up forever, and those who give them shelter should be locked up right alongside them.
An entire generation of queer young people is in danger - and people are pissing about because they want to get a few fucking medals. That's everyone from political leaders on down to the person in the street or the neighbour who doesn't like it if you have a rainbow sticker on your car.
Shame on them. Shame on all of them. Shame on all of us who don't at least add our voices to say this is nothing less than state-sanctioned torture and murder.
