Robert Hampton

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28th July 2013

From Russia Without Love
Posted by at 11.14pm | 1 response | Gay, In the News

The Russian Parliament has recently passed a law banning gay ‘propaganda’. Think of it as their version of Section 28, if Section 28 were terrifying. Recently, some Dutch filmmakers were among the first to fall foul of the law – they were jailed for 14 days and deported.

Terrible reports have emerged of gay teenagers being tortured in videos posted online by anti-gay groups. Scary stuff.

The Winter Olympics will be held in Russia next year. There have been calls to boycott the Games (including an ePetition on the UK Government website). There’s no need to worry, however – The International Olympic Committee has taken care of it:-

In a statement, the IOC said: “The IOC has received assurances from the highest level of government in Russia that the legislation will not affect those attending or taking part in the Games.

So that’s OK then.

Some gay rights groups are also trying to organise a boycott of Russian vodka. It remains to be seen how effective this will be.

It’s a sad reminder that, while the LGBT community here is celebrating equal marriage becoming law, life for gay people elsewhere is often far from rosy.

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One Response
  1. Pingback by Miller Time « Robert Hampton
    23rd August 2013 at 7:44 pm

    […] decision to open up about his sexuality was motivated, at least in part, by the current situation in Russia. He outed himself in an open letter to an invitation from the organisers of the St Petersburg Film […]