This diary is comprised of two posts originally posted at my blog. Click here to view compelling photos from the gays in Saint Petersburg of their powerful protest. Part 1 is about the arrest and release of two protesters; Part 2 is the full text of the hateful law that is forcing the activists to act up. Please spread the text far and wide, to better show everyone the actual language that must be overturned.
Part 1
Members of the Coming Out advocacy group in Saint Petersburg are taking to the streets in creative ways, to send a message to the government and their fellow citizens that they are fighting against the new law prohibiting promotion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender propaganda. Full text of the law in English is here.
Coming Out designed some fabulous posters featuring iconic gay Russians including Peter Tchaikovsky, Rudolph Nureyev and Marina Tsvetaeva, and paid to have them plastered around the city but the outdoor advertising agency controlling billboards refused to display the posters.
The activist report that the signs were used for a public demonstration, and another act of civil disobedience happened on the street:
On 7 April at noon in front of the Oktyabrsky concert hall in Saint Petersburg a series of single person pickets were carried out. The pickets were dedicated to the Day of Silence. Seven people with sealed mouths took their turns protesting against discrimination and violence against LGBT people, against homophobia of the government which silenced and outlawed LGBT community with a new anti-LGBT law.
Vague wording of the law made police think over and discuss each slogan deciding whether it were a violation of the law or not.
Two protesters were arrested for “propaganda of sodomy and lesbianism” and after a few hours of detention were released. Both men were taken to the 76 police department of Saint Petersburg. The protesters must appear in court on 9 April.
Apart from the banners with slogans there were pictures of the famous poet Tsvetaeva and composer Tchaikovsky with quotes from their poems and letters which proved their homosexual love. Earlier one of the advertising agencies refused to put those banners in the city center on the advertisement stands fearing the fine of half a million rubles (equal of about 13 thousand euros). Around 30 people applauded to the brave picketing people expressing their solidarity and respect.
Part 2
The horribly discriminatory and stigmatizing new anti-LGBT statute of St. Petersburg is a shameful blot against Russia's commitment to international human rights norms, and has been receiving proper attention from gay and straight Western news media outlets and bloggers. One thing I couldn't locate in the stories was the actual text of the statute in English or a link to it, so I contacted leaders at the Coming Out group in St. Petersburg.
Those leaders have spent months organizing against the new statute, and now that it's in effect, street protests are taking place and activists are engaging in civil disobedience. However, Olga Lenkova, communications director for Coming Out, took the time to send me the text in English. Thanks, Olga!
To better educate Westerners about the law, Coming Out has posted the English version here on their web site. Lenkova also said the Russian language version is posted here on the web site of the city's administration. Here's the complete text of the statute:
Adopted by the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg on February 29, 2012
Article 1
To introduce into the Law of St. Petersburg on March 12, 2012, No. 273-70 "On administrative offenses in St. Petersburg" the following changes:
1. Add Articles 7_1 and 7_2 reading as follows:
Article 7_1. Public actions aimed at propaganda of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexualism, transgenderism amongst minors
Public actions aimed at propaganda of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexualism, transgenderism amongst minors incur an administrative fine for citizens in the amount of five thousand rubles; for officials -- fifty thousand rubles; for legal entities -- from two thousand fifty to five hundred thousand rubles.
Note. As public actions at propaganda of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexualism, transgenderism amongst minors in this article should be understood activities on purposeful and uncontrolled dissemination of information in a publicly accessible way that can be harmful to the health, moral and spiritual development of minors, including forming in their mind a distorted perception of social equality of traditional and nontraditional marital relationships.
Article 7_2. Public actions aimed at propaganda of pedophilia
Public actions aimed propaganda of pedophilia amongst minors incur an administrative fine for citizens in the amount of five thousand rubles; for officials -- fifty thousand rubles; for legal entities -- from five hundred thousand to one million rubles.
Note: As public actions aimed at propaganda of pedophilia amongst minors in this article should be understood activities on purposeful and uncontrolled dissemination of information in a publicly accessible way aimed at forming in the society a distorted perception of the consistency with the social norms of intimate relationships between adults and minors.
Article 2
The law of St. Petersburg takes effect 10 days after the day of its official publication.
Georgy Sergeyevich Poltavchenko
Governor of St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, Russia
March 7, 2012