Man Beaten in Moscow Bar for 'Looking Gay'- Page 5

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 8/6/13 at 5:36pm

I wish some teams would get behind that.

[romantico]

Posted: 8/6/13 at 7:13pm

I agree with George!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/george-takei-takes-sides-in-sochi-debate-move-the-olympics

[Wynbish]

Posted: 8/6/13 at 11:00pm

Obama addresses the issue on The Tonight Show, with some pretty encouraging words...

except for the whole "every judgment should be made on the track, or in the swimming pool, or on the balance beam", because this won't be the Summer Olympics.

Other than that (bless his heart), good stuff

http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/obama-says-he-has-no-patience-for-anti-lgbt-laws-or-poor-tre

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/6/13 at 11:09pm

When the President talks about it, it is finally a BIG ISSUE.

And, really, like all of us, he is only interested in the summer Olympic sports.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 8/6/13 at 11:12pm

Cool Runnings made me care about the Winter Olympics. And that's about it.

Is it me, or did the gist of the debate here stop at the end of a typical work day?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/6/13 at 11:23pm

I didn't notice any debate. Huh. Reads to me like we're all on board that Russia is HORRIBLE and this is a nightmare for LGBT people in that country. And now that the president has spoken we see the heat we've been putting on the story is yielding a response.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 8/6/13 at 11:38pm

Well, not so much a debate, but reiterations of good points on the matter, all in general agreement, with good ideas.

Like I said earlier, it's the pessimist in me that feels powerless and the humanity in me that is trying to become positive that this will end soon and well.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/6/13 at 11:44pm

I know. We have to figure out how we can demonstrate our solidarity with the LGBT people in Russia who are living there in this horrible time, as violence continues to escalate against them.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 1:10am

I don't think the idea of moving the Olympics at this point is even remotely feasible. The logistics of another city being ready to host this kind of event with only six months to prepare would be virtually impossible. There is so much that goes into preparing the Olympic host city for the chaos that descends upon it. There's a reason that the site for the 2018 winter games is already announced and that the election for the 2020 summer games will be happening in about a month.

It's basically boycott or cancel completely by this stage.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 1:32am

America's boycott of the Olympics would send a strong message. However since America is actually Corporations I don't see this happening. The only message we can send is not watch it's coverage on NBC. Ratings are the grassroots key.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 10:37am

"And, really, like all of us, he is only interested in the summer Olympic sports."

Speak for yourself, woman! Brian Boitano's triple lutz with his armed raised (the 'Tano triple lutz) has been giving me life since I was 13!!!!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 10:39am

Oh yea, I always loved him for being butch-femme all rolled into one. You're right about the skating though. Why does it have to be a winter sport, since it's indoors? When is ice hockey?

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 11:06am

Well my thread was just deleted on the ballet forum I have been a member of for five+ years--as was a second thread--on the ballet forum due to the fact that apparently (and I didn't know this) one of the moderators (who happens to be Russian) said the forum was not a place to discuss "religion."

Sigh.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 11:07am

Wow.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 11:09am

"Religion"? How?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 11:16am

I was listening to a woman who was a colleague of mine over 20 years ago on the CBC show "Q" last night. Her family is the *only* family in Russia headed by an out same sex couple. The ONLY family in Russia that is out about that. She is a journalist and an activist, and she is sending her oldest son to boarding school in the states and plans to leave with her spouse and two daughters by December, given that there is a proposed new law to remove adopted and birth children from same sex households in Russia. She talked as only somebody who has lived in Russia for 20 years as an out lesbian can.

She talked about how the Russian Orthodox Church and the Kremlin have focussed on the target of choice, the LGBT community, so that there is a scapegoat for people to target. She absolutely is convinced that the increase in violence against LGBT people is related to these two institutions, which are intertwined in the consciousness of the general Russian public.

That's probably why you got that "religion" response.

And that's why I have been making the argument that it's a parallel situation with the right wing "Christians" and right wing politicians in this country.

[suestorm]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 11:22am

im really sorry that happened to you ERIC. you always seem to be pretty level headed and fair with no agenda here

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 11:24am

I heard that on Q as well--though I missed some of it. I think you're exactly right-- For so long Russia and religion were (at least officially) separated, but now it's become something the country clings to.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 11:26am

Eric, did the thread even veer into the subject of religion before it was taken down for that reason?

[suestorm]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 11:27am

its an overreaction to religion being banned during communism, so the pendulum swings too far as usual

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 11:29am

For those interested in hearing the segment I referenced in my post, here's a link to yesterday's Q interview with Masha Gessen. It's instructive to hear from an out lesbian who has been living with this Russian repression for so long. Particularly informative, I thought, was how she thinks the only public discussion of homosexuality in the country began and ended with the overturning of sodomy laws in the early-'90s.

The page also has a link to an earlier interview Gessen did about the jailing of Maria Alekhina, as well as articles she has written about her actual experience. Gessen know what she's talking about, and it's not just dismissable, sweep-under-the-rug and pretend it's not happening kind of stuff.


Masha Gessen: A Russian woman who knows what she's talking about

Updated On: 8/7/13 at 11:29 AM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 11:32am

"Eric, did the thread even veer into the subject of religion before it was taken down for that reason? "

Not even remotely...

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 11:35am

I recommend listening to the Q broadcast, as well. As much as I wish the leader of this country would talk about this issue--the CBC has covered it really well.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 11:37am

Apparently Obama did, on Leno. My brain has a Leno chip, so I didn't watch it.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/7/13 at 11:38am

She is a journalist and an activist, and she is sending her oldest son to boarding school in the states and plans to leave with her spouse and two daughters by December, given that there is a proposed new law to remove adopted and birth children from same sex households in Russia.

I hope she can accomplish that. I fear that openly expressing her intentions may only lead to government intervention and making her an example. It's very hard not to assume the worst.