Friday June 16, 2006 SGN.org |
 |
Volume 34 Issue 24 |
 |
|
Saturday, Nov 21, 2009
|
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
 |
 |
ARC International participates in Moscow Pride |
||
.jpg) |
||
| ARC International participates in Moscow Pride | ||
| by Joyce Ericson
- Seattle Coordinator
- ARC International
We toss beads and candy to children and cheer as the parade passes us. But at the Moscow Pride Festival, boots, rocks, eggs, bottles and fists strike out while the Russian anti-Gay demonstrators shout "death to sodomites," "out of Russia" "Moscow is not Sodom" "No Faggots in Russia!" A Duma representative of the far right-wing Liberal Democratic Party, speaking outside of City Hall, warns that Russia would become like "putrid America and dying Europe" if it permitted the "Gay mafia" to triumph, and leads the crowd in shouting "Gays and Lesbians to Kolyma"-the Stalin-era prison camp. Thugs, unshaven, dressed in black and bearded "priests" in black leather jackets carrying crosses or icons attack anyone they suspect of being Gay. Grandmothers in kerchiefs cry and pray, occasionally they attack with eggs or hold onto a victim to prevent their escape while another beats them. While we dress funky and fun, in Moscow participants try to be as inconspicuous as possible to hide from the hateful prowling hoards. Moscow's Pride opened on May 25. Two days of discussions and lectures preceded the planned peaceful march, which had been banned by the mayor of Moscow. At a lecture by Merlin Holland, the grandson of Oscar Wilde, a group of about 20 skinheads disrupted the event chanting violent slogans and releasing a gas canister. In addition to Russian participants, foreign activists and political figures from the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Austria, France, the United States, Poland, Latvia, Moldova, Belarus, and other countries join the walk. Gay German Member of Parliament, Volker Beck, is struck in the eye by a rock and then a fist. Bleeding profusely from his wounds, he and his partner are arrested together, placed in a police van for an hour or more until the police discover who he is. Pierre Serne, counselor to the mayor of Paris, said, "Suddenly about twelve of them ran at me. They pushed me. I fell down. I was covering my head. They were kicking me with their feet. It was so terrifying; I thought I was going to die. & I don't know how long it lasted, but they left me. I was bleeding. My face, my hands were covered with blood." Not long after this incident, Pierre is attacked a second time and hospitalized. All this takes place in a drizzle and a downpour, a dreary, disastrous day. Weather-wise, a Seattle kind of day. But in Seattle, police provide crowd control and ensure that our rights of personal expression are safeguarded. Instead of imparting protection, Moscow police shove LGBT people together with their tormentors, providing no escape and roughly arrest participants. Pride, when attempted in many other parts of the planet, is not a fantastic, fun event. It's much like a coming out and dash for your life back to the safety of the cupboard where umbrellas and coats are kept. John Fisher, Co-director of ARC (Allied Rainbow Communities) International flew to Moscow to join other international LGBT and Russian activists and their supporters at Moscow Pride, knowing the dangers. Why would activists and statesmen from around the world come to such a dangerous demonstration? Why did ARC International participate? The answer for ARC is that the focus of our work is the support of LGBT activists on their home ground. Now activists from the global south and east no longer work alone, isolated in the midst of discrimination, abuse, imprisonment and murder. ARC has created a listserv to connect activists everywhere and has helped create a coalition to work, learn, and strategize together. Every year, ARC sponsors activists to come to a Dialogue. In November, 2005, the Dialogue was in Seoul and was co-sponsored by the Korean Sexual Minority and Rights Center. To further this supportive goal, Fisher moved to Geneva to establish an LGBT presence at the United Nations Human Rights Council. Prior to this, a full-time representative for Gay rights at the UN did not exist. Working to connect LGBT people cross-regionally with the UN system, John is able to advocate for LGBT rights and to assist individual activists with their human rights complaints. John Fisher has much to share with us about the state of international LGBT human rights. He will be coming to Seattle in October to speak at the GSBA luncheon. Here in Seattle, ARC is a proud project of Seattle Gay Community Social Services and works to raise funds to support John Fisher's presence in Geneva and the work of global activists. Watch for ARC's benefit brunch at Broadway's All Pilgrim's Christian Church on Saturday, July 22 and ARC's dine out event "Savor the World" in October. John describes Moscow Pride as "turbulent" and says, "Emotionally, I get rather invested in these things, and found my time in Moscow very difficult. After the events, I was feeling totally physically and mentally drained. Still, strange though it sounds, I'm glad to have been a part of it, and have learned a lot. I'll be interested to follow up in Geneva about next steps to ensure there is some accounting for what has happened. When a literary reading is disrupted, a peaceful gathering banned, and police selectively arrest participants speaking in favour of human rights, there needs to be some response from the international community." |
||
 |
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
International Readers |
  It's new! A blog created by the SGN staff so you can be heard |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
working for the freedom to
|
copyright Seattle Gay News - DigitalTeamWorks 2006