Queer eyebrows go up across Europe.In Belarus? One of the most homophobic countries in Europe? And why would “one of the most stubbornly persistent LGBT rights activists in Europe” abandon his lawsuits? If he’s sending texts, why hasn’t he phoned anyone, such as his boyfriend, or queer activists in Minsk?
Now, he has apparently resurfaced and spoken to people, including Moscow queer rights activists as well as queer German MP Volker Beck, a close friend. He is apparently OK and back in Moscow; but he never was in Minsk and never sent any texts.
This is one to watch. Is Russia shamelessly using KGB tactics against queer rights activists right in front of the international eye, including ones as prominent as Alekseev?
Also, can we get three cheers for Alekseev’s chutzpah? I had the opportunity to speak to him by Skype at a fundraising event in Montreal for Moscow Pride. He later was the honorary grand marshal at Vancouver Pride. (The organizers of Riga Pride were similarly honoured in Montreal.) He reminds me of why we keep going and why our work is so important. I’m praying for his continued safety.
The Kremlin’s doing everything they can to usher in the USSR version 2.0, and harrassing gays is part of the package. 'Cause, you know, real Russian men aren’t gay. (They may drink themselves into an impotent stupor half the time, but at least they’re not gay.)
Needless to say, I wish your activist friend all the best. Presumably he at least knows to not accept any food or drink from the security guys, or even to sit down at a nice restaurant with one… the near-fatal mistake by the former president of Ukraine.
While pro-SSM, I’m nowhere near being a gay-activist. But simply from an international intrigue standpoint, I’m terribly interested in what did happen. People don’t send messages on your stolen phone unless they’re pretty sure that you’re not going to resurface.
Hm, I’m not quite sure what to think. I don’t want to call your friend a liar but…the motive of the government seems rather unclear. Why abduct someone and then release him a couple days later? If they threatened to kill him, his family, or some other nefarious thing then it’s somewhat understandable. But you’d have to be pretty incompetent to think that calling a gay guy a ‘fag’ for two days in an angry tone is going to particularly drive the fear of God into him.
Of course, such a level of incompetence isn’t impossible either.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see if the Swiss investigate it and whether anything can be corroborated.
^^ Well, they don’t have to send him to a gulag in order to intimidate him, disrupt his plans, and cost him financially… or at least attempt to do all of the above.
Sage, bear in mind that this is the same place where pride parades continue to be outlawed, where foreign dignitaries (including MPs and MEPs) who attempted to participate went unprotected from fascist attackers and then arrested themselves, and where the mayor of Moscow has described gays as Satanic and has promised to continue to ban not only Pride but also the expression of pro-gay views. Alekseev’s been arrested multiple times before for his pro-LGBT activities and continues to show the authorities up year after year.
So it’s not surprising to me they might take an action like this. We aren’t in Kansas (no, not even Kansas) anymore.
It wouldn’t be the first time some low level flunky did something without waiting for approval from higher ups. There may be a new posting to Ice Station Zebra this week.
AS Matt stated, at a pride rally police kept gays from leaving and actually herded them towards the citizens doing the beating. That the KGB would kidnap a leading gay activist is no surprise.
What is really disappointing is the fact that I haven’t heard anything about this from any major news source. They seem to be ignoring this massive human rights violation because the human involved is gay.
Kidnapping him isn’t a surprise, no. Sending off a virtual press release that the guy had mended his ways and denounced gayness, just to let him go, can achieve no purpose but making themselves look massively incompetent. Only if he never reappeared or they did something to him while they held him such that they’d have reason to think that he would publicly denounce gayness, wouldn’t make them look foolish.
People are okay with looking like evil bastards – for instance by kidnapping and intimidating people that they don’t like. But, they never want to look like idiots. Presuming the activist’s story is true, any 4 year old should have been able to tell them up front that all they were going to achieve if they went forward with the plan would be to make themselves look like idiots.