THEGAYUK

Tag: Russia News

Get the latest LGBT+ Russia news from THEGAYUK. Breaking news, features and interviews from the gay community in Russia.

  • Conchita Rise Like A Phoenix At No 1 In Russia Despite Backlash

    adda Girl… Conchita’s Eurovision entry is riding high in the Russia iTunes Chart.

    Despite the backlash that Conchita Wurst has received, her song Rise Like A Phoenix is storming the Russian charts and is currently sitting at Number 1 and Number 5 in the iTunes music chart. It is beating Not Alone, Armenia’s entry by Aram MP3.

    Conchita’s victory has spurred on some men across Russia to shave off their beards in a backlash against the drag queen’s victory. Conchita’s song Rise Like A Phoenix amassed an impressive 290 points in the 59th Eurovision Competition.

    Wurst, real name Tom Neuwirth, has been the subject of much hate mongering from a number people Russia, Armenia and Belarus. One top Russian politician even called the contest a ‘sodom show’.

    In the UK the song is charting at number 25 and 35.

  • Top Russian Politician Calls Eurovision ‘Sodom Show’

    The Eurovision Song Contest has been branded a ‘Europe-Wide Gay Parade’ by the Russian Politician who called Stephen Fry ‘Sick’.

    Vitaly Milonov, a prominent anti-gay Russian politician has branded Eurovision a ‘Sodom Show’ and said that Austria’s Drag entry Conchita Wurst was a ‘pervert.’

    Last year Milonov, who was instrumental in creating Russia’s anti-gay law, banning the ‘promotion of non-traditional relationships’ to anyone under the age of 18 has branded the actor, writer and broadcaster Stephen Fry ‘Sick’.

    The Independent reports that he wrote a letter to to Russia’s Eurovision selection comittee requesting that Russia be removed from the competition altogether. He said that inclusion in the competition would: ‘contradict the path of cultural and moral renewal that Russia stands on’ and ‘insult millions of Russians’ watching the broadcast.

    ‘The participation of the obvious transvestite and hermaphrodite Conchita Wurst on the same stage as Russian singers on live television is blatant propaganda of homosexuality and spiritual decay,’ Milonov said.

    Conchita Wurst was subject to a backlash recently after thousands of Russians signed a petition for Austria’s entry to be banned or edited out of the Eurovision broadcast.

    Last year Turkish National broadcaster TRT was rumoured to have cancelled their broadcast of the 2013 Eurovision because of a lesbian kiss between two women in Finland’s entry Marry Me. There were in fact two gay kisses in the 2013 show.

  • Eurovision Drag Queen Faces Backlash From Russia

    Austria’s entry into the 2014 Eurovision faces a massive backlash ahead of her performance in the world’s biggest music competition.

    Anti-gay petitioners in Russia, Armenia and Belarus have called for Conchita Wurst (real name Tom Neuwirth) to be banned or edited out of the televised event, which will be broadcast across Europe.

    The bearded drag queen is already in the top 10 of favourites to win, with her song ‘Rise Like a Phoenix’.

    Last year Turkish National broadcaster TRT was rumoured to have cancelled their broadcast of the 2013 Eurovision because of a lesbian kiss between two women in Finland’s entry Marry Me. There were in fact two gay kisses in the 2013 show.

    The last time Austria won the Eurovision competition was in 1966, with Udo Jürgens, who sung Merci Chérie.

    According to sources the petition reads:

    ‘Austria will be represented in the Eurovision 2014 by the transvestite contestant Conchita Wurst who leads the lifestyle inapplicable for the Russians. The popular international competition that our children will be watching has become a hotbed of sodomy at the initiation of the European liberals. Russia is one of the only European countries that has managed to maintain normal and healthy family values based on love and mutual support between MEN and WOMEN. That is why we are against the Eurovision 2014 to be broadcast in Russia…’

  • NEWS: Johnny Weir Splits From Husband

    Johnny Weir, US Figure Skater has confirmed that he has split from his Husband.

    (more…)

  • F1’s Bernie Ecclestone Backs Anti-Gay Stance In Russia

    In an interview with CNN’s Ben Wyatt F1 Boss Bernie Ecclestone revealed he agrees on President Putin’s stance on homosexuality.

    CNN are reporting that F1 Racing Boss Bernie Ecclestone, 83, ‘completely agrees’ with President Putin’s anti-gay stance, stating that he even admires the President.

    He said in the interview with Ben Wyatt:

    “He [Putin] hasn’t said he doesn’t agree [with homosexuality] just that he doesn’t want these things publicized to an audience under the age of 18. I completely agree with those sentiments and if you took a world census you’d find 90% of the world agree with it as well.”

    The businessman who was born in Bungay is reported to be worth $3.8 BILLION. He is the President and CEO of Formula One Management and has been married 3 times.

    He went on to say: “I’ve great admiration for him and his courage to say what he says…[It] may upset a few people but that’s how the world is. It’s how he sees [the world] and I think he’s completely right.”

  • Grindr use triples in Sochi

    Grindr Use In Sochi Triples During Olympics.

    • The popular hook up app has had its users triple in the first week of the Olympic games
    • One week ago there was 185 active users, now there are 541 users
    • Grindr rival in Russia Hunters was recently hacked and shut down.

    Vocativ is reporting that numbers of users on the popular hook up app Grindr have tripled during the Winter Olympic games. The total number of users in Russia is around 55,000 – small compared to countries such as the UK or USA, but there is much potential for growth as long as anti-gay groups don’t use the service to lure gay men to attack and entrap them.

    One such group was filmed for Channel 4’s Dispatches programme called Hunted. The programme caused outcry in the UK, when a group of men and one woman, Katya (Ekaterina) Zigunova, were filmed savagely beating and interrogating a gay man they found using an Internet site. Last year a man was reportedly killed after he was lured, sanred and then tortured by a group, who posed as an individual on a social network site, who wanted to meet.

    Russia does have its own hook up app, called Hunters. It was, however, recently hacked and shut down.

    The app had around 72,000 active users, of which the tech team were only able to retrieve 24% after the hack.The company is now moving its servers to prevent further attacks.

    Last year the Russian government passed a bill making it illegal to talk about ‘non-traditional’ relationships to anyone under the age of 18. A 100-year ban was also put in place on holding a gay pride in Moscow.

    THEGAYUK approached Grindr to ask if they had in place any safeguards for users in Russia to protect them from abuse from anti-gay abusers. We are waiting for their response.

  • Valentine’s Day Carnival Outside Russian Embassy

    A carnival is due to take place outside the Russian Embassy tomorrow to celebrate Valentine’s Day, called For Russia With Love.

    The event that is being sponsored by Lush, All Out, London Roller Girls and the Peter Tatchell Foundation, is aiming to show opposition to the human rights abuses in Russia.

    The rally’s start time is 12PM until 2:00PM
    Address: Russian Embassy, Assemble corner Bayswater Road & Ossington Street, London W8 4QP
    Nearest tube station: Notting Hill Gate

    ‘We are rallying near the Russian Embassy in London to show our opposition to the continued human rights abuses sanctioned by the Putin regime, including the new anti-­gay law banning “propaganda of non-­traditional sexual relations to minors”, which has coincided with an upsurge in homophobic and transphobic violence in the country,’ said co-organiser Juliet Chard of Lush.

    Fellow co-organiser Peter Tatchell added:
    ‘The Sochi Olympics are in full swing. This carnival is our fun way to keep up the pressure on the Russian government and show our support for LGBT Russians and all Russian victims of human rights abuses. We don’t want Putin to think that now the Olympics have started the protests are over. Let’s keep highlighting the terrible things happening in Russia and support the heroic Russian activists – gay and straight – who are defending human rights. Freedom of expression for all.’

  • There have been a large number of arrests made since the start of Sochi Olympics

    The winter Olympics have kicked off in Sochi and so has the heavy weight of the anti-gay propaganda laws with over 60 arrests having been made since the opening of the games.

    With the world watching it seems the perfect time for human rights activists to stand up and say ‘enough is enough Russia, we won’t be silent any longer.’ However, this is coming at a great price according to The New York Times who reports that 61 people since Friday have been arrested for doing just this.

    It’s not just new Russian laws protesters are angry at but also the Olympics Committee themselves for allowing the Olympics to go ahead in a country with outrageous human rights violations and homophobia. Many protesters have taken to using the Principle 6 slogan which comes from the Olympic Charter which states: Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.

  • OPINION | Sochi Sucks

    So, there I am, minding my own business when BAM – suddenly being gay in Russia is seen as a crime and beating people much like myself seems to be turning into a national sport!

    To top this off, the eyes of the world are on Sochi from today – with the opening of the Winter Olympics, and the patronage of dozens of sponsors and the IOC. Seemingly, despite calls for the games to be moved, they are staying put with the clarion call of “keep politics out of sport”.

    However, there are mixed signals here – is ensuring that people have basic human rights across the globe really politics? When there were issues over South Africa and apartheid, it actually felt wrong to buy something flown in from there when we were urged to hit them where it hurt – in the economic pocket.

    So what’s the issue here? My social media timelines are full of conflicting messages.

    1: Boycott the games totally as a show of support for gay people over there, show Russia that the world wont stand for this by NOT participating in the myth that everything is lovely and there aren’t cases of state sanctioned beatings and murders which are available to view as shared videos fly around various sites.

    2: Watch the games as a way of showing Russia that the world really is watching and watching carefully. Every loo seat that is put on the wrong way round in a journalists hotel, every reported case of “canine cleansing” where companies are recruited to clear the streets of stray dogs days ahead of the opening ceremony, every report of $30 Billion of a reported $50 billion budget going missing…

    What’s the answer? Is there one? Is it a case of make your own mind up? Make an informed decision? If this interests you, and we have to accept it won’t interest everyone, then read what you can and decide for yourself.

    Me? I hate sport – dull as dishwater, so I wouldn’t be watching anyway – but I am boycotting some of the sponsors.
    Why I hear you cry? It’s simple really – it’s my own little response, my own little act of defiance. I’m just me, one teeny tiny individual in the world – but I hate bullies and having seen some of the footage around, that’s what this feels like it comes down to – sanctioned bullying. I had enough of that at school and I’ll be damned if I’ll stand by and watch it happen elsewhere IF I feel I can do something about it.

    So, a certain well known brand of soft drink is off the menu for good – my teeth and general health will no doubt thank me too! It won’t change the world, it won’t stop the bullying and assaults happening worldwide, but it makes me feel like I’m doing something. They may think they can placate us as a group by adding a lovely image of gay marriage to their recent ad – but compare that with being beaten and humiliated for what you are and it just doesn’t cut it.

    So, do what your heart tells you is right – watch or don’t watch, support the sponsors or don’t. Remember, we have the freedom to decide to do this, some don’t have that luxury.

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, it’s management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • Google adopts gay rainbow doodle in response to Olympics

    Google have joined the growing number of corporations that are speaking out against the anti-gay situation in Russia on the eve of the Sochi Winter Olympics.

    Famous for its Google Doodles, the web giant has created a rainbow flag out of its logo. The rainbow flag is most famous for its use within the LGBT community.
    Below the logo, the company has added part of the Olympic charter that reads:”The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.”

    When users click on the google doodle, users are taken to a search that includes the Olympic charter.

    The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has come under strong criticism since awarding Russia, with its terrible gay rights abuses, the Winter Olympics, in Sochi, which are due to begin today.

    Yesterday Channel 4 in the UK launched a video which supports gay rights within the Olympics. Whilst earlier in the week telecoms giant AT&T became the first major Olympic team sponsor to publicly condemn Russia’s anti-gay laws.

    TheGayUK released its findings this week that shows the potential true cost to companies that have commercially supported the Olympics.

  • Gay rights protest targets Sochi Winter Olympics worldwide

    Gay rights activists will be holding a demonstration today in cities all over the world, against the homophobia faced by LGBTs in Russia.

    • Protest will take place outside Downing Street in Central London
    • Protestors asked to wear red to symbolise Love
    • Channel 4 to air Gay Hunted Programme about Homophobia In Russia Tonight.
    • Tube Strike threatens numbers of protestors.

    With just a day away from the Sochi Winter Olympics opening, gay rights protesters will be taking to the streets of cities around the world to protest the treatment of LGBT people in Russia.

    A mounting disquiet has been bubbling away as the world’s spotlight is now cast upon Russia‘s dreadful treatment of LGBT people, as an event that threatens to permanently damage the Olympics’ brand starts tomorrow.

    Last year Russia’s president Vladimir Putin signed into a law which made the ‘promotion of non-traditional relationships’ illegal to anyone under the age of 18. A 100 year ban was also placed on holding any pride events in Moscow.

    In London protesters are expected to gather near downing street from 6:00PM. the events have been created by mass petitioning site AllOut.org. Organisers are asking attendees to wear red.

    Tonight Channel 4 will be broadcasting a Dispatches which shows the true horror gay people face in Russia, in a programme called: Hunted .

    Our correspondent Greg Mitchell said of the film:

    ‘This deeply disturbing programme, directed by Ben Steele and reported by Liz MacKean, shows us a bleak picture of a Russia, where gay people are literally hunted down like animals, subjected to humiliating and painful abuse.’

    London is in the midst of a 48 hour strike – so to find out how to get to Downing Street click here.

    TheGayUK will be Live Blogging the events from here