Russian Gays Aren't the Only LGBTs Suffering

[William769]

Have you seen those pictures of LGBT Russians getting punched, kicked, and spat on? If so, did you notice how many of them were good-looking? Many of those poor kids, with blood running down tattoos and sleeveless tops, look like they stepped off the platform at the Bedford subway stop in Williamsburg.

These camera-ready young folk have no doubt helped many gays here turn their attention to Russia, currently in the grips of an antigay zealotry that has the government passing laws criminalizing “homosexual propaganda” and threatening the detainment of LGBT visitors. Everyone from Dan Savage to Harvey Fierstein to Cleve Jones are rightfully calling for Americans to help our Russian brothers and sisters, with some advocating boycotts of vodka and the 2014 Sochi Olympics. But while gay Russians unquestionably need our help now, there are other LGBT people around the world — where cell phone cameras aren’t as common and faces don’t look as familiar — facing conditions just as frightening as those in Russia.

Take for instance, the gays of Zimbabwe. Just as bars in New York and Los Angeles were pouring their Stolichnaya down the drain, Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe called for the decapitation of gay people. Yes, the leader of a nation proudly declared in public that his own citizens should have their heads forcibly removed. This tyrant called us "worse than pigs, goats and birds" and made the following statement:

“If you take men and lock them in a house for five years and tell them to come up with two children and they fail to do that, then we will chop off their heads. This thing (homosexuality) seeks to destroy our lineage by saying John and John should wed, Maria and Maria should wed... Obama says if you want aid, you should accept the homosexuality practice... We will never do that.”

Few Americans realize that Mugabe was pushing his homophobic agenda — which includes stiffer prison sentences for sodomizers — partly because he was facing reelection. That election was held Wednesday, though the American media was too focused on a "Real" housewife getting indicted and the continuing saga of Weinergate (guilty). While Zimbabwe doesn’t export booze favored by Patsy Stone, or really anything that Westerners consume, a boycott is mostly out of the question (not to mention, potentially cruel for a nation suffering with unemployment estimated at 94% in 2009). But it wouldn’t hurt to email your senator and urge a harsh stance on Zimbabwe's homophobia; no rights, no money. Or how about staging a protest? The Zimbabwe embassy in D.C. is on New Hampshire Avenue, a nine-minute walk from Rhode Island Ave., and the headquarters of the Human Rights Campaign.

http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2013/07/31/op-ed-russian-gays-arent-only-lgbts-suffering

Just keeping it in perspective.

[LuvNewcastle]

1. Besides the brutality of it all, the part that angers me the

most about the problems in Russia and Zimbabwe, among all the others, is the powerlessness I feel in the face of it. All the GLBT people in those countries can do is hide or get the hell out. All Americans can do about it is petition our government to put pressure on theirs to change. I hate thinking about it, but I know I owe my brothers and sisters that much, at least.

[Behind the Aegis]

2. +1

Your comments resonate with me as well. We see horrific things in our country, but the plight of our GLBT brothers and sisters the world over can be devastating to acknowledge.

[FreeState]

3. +1

To both your comments.

[William769]

15. Agreed.

[Initech]

4. How about Uganda?

Martin Ssempa would make a great James Bond villain.

[theHandpuppet]

5. Cameroon also

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/25/cameroon-gay-rights-groups-strike
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/23/cameroon-gay-arrest_n_3641344.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/21/cameroon-gay-suspects-torture-report_n_2926160.html

[William769]

12. No one has forgotten about Uganda. They have been in the LGBT press plenty.

They were even the topic of conversation when the DU Administrators were shortening the link process for DU. http://www.democraticunderground.com/10131751 To their credit, they did what was right.

[justiceischeap]

6. What really angers me about the anti-gay movements in Africa

is that they are led by American missionaries. They can't get "kill the gays" bills passed in the US, so they go to Africa and get them passed.

[Zorra]

8. Religion + Conservatives = Hate nt

[one_voice]

7. K&R

I wish I knew what to do. Is there a link where I can go that will let me know what I can do to help? I have to run out--getting the hair done, yay!--but I will check in when I get back.

This needs to be read.

[allin99]

9. I think people *do* know places like Uganda and Zibabwe are worse for gays...

they expect more from Russia, from a 1st world nation whose leaders aren't on the top 5 worst dictators in the world. They expect more from a country not as backwards as Uganda. And to see a new legal campaign against gays in a country this size is horrifying. And i know someone is gonna have a problem with *as* backward, but yes, it is more backwards than USSR and USA. There is bigotry in this country, and not all states recognize gay marriage but there is a big dif btwn that and throwing gays in jail, which happens in uganda and now Russia.

[MineralMan]

10. Our vision is narrow, as always.

We peer intently at whatever is the latest thing and ignore the rest. We celebrate marriage equality in MN and RI, since it's new and news, and ignore the fact that only about a quarter of states and jurisdictions have marriage equality.

We need a wide-angle lens to put over our eyes.

[LuvNewcastle]

11. Sure, we still have our issues in the U.S.,

but we don't have a genocide program going on here in Mississippi or any other red states. That's a whole different level of evil than passing laws against marriage equality. I'd rather be gay in the reddest town in the reddest state than be in Russia or Uganda right now.

[Bluenorthwest]

13. Better than the worst is no good at all. While you two ramble about marriage equality in the US

you seem unaware than in 29 States it is fully legal to discriminate against LGBT people in any way you like, without hiding your reason. We can be denied housing, employment, services and in one Louisiana town they actually have been jailing gay men, a dozen or so in recent months. So yes, much better than the worst. But it is not simply a lack of marriage equality that is in question in the US. It is much more complex than that. Part of the problem is that so few seem to know this fact or care about it. 'We are better than Uganda!' Go team.

[LuvNewcastle]

14. I'm well aware of the situation here in the U.S., believe me.

I know that marriage equality isn't the only GLBT issue in this country and I'm not saying that things are so rosy here. You misunderstood me. I was merely stressing how dire the situation is in Russia and I was using the marriage issue in a contrast with genocide in Russia. As bad as things can be here, few people in the U.S. have experienced the evil and hatred against gay people that exists in some other countries. People need to think about what it's like to be hunted down and imprisoned or killed for who you are. As I said, it's not something most Americans have dealt with, and we must try to see the nature of this dark evil if we're going to fight it. I'm not giving America a pat on the back.