30. Mai 2018

 

Ausführliche Informationen zur Lage von Homosexuellen im Nordkaukasus und insbesondere in Tschetschenien entnehmen Sie bitte auch den folgenden Berichten:

·      HRW – Human Rights Watch: Russia: Anti-Gay Purge in Chechnya, 26. Mai 2017
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1400829/5228_1496394209_chechnya0517-web.pdf

·      Landinfo – Norwegian Country of Origin Information Centre: Tsjetsjenia: Situasjonen for homofile, 11. Mai 2017
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1400606/1226_1496314695_3557-1.pdf

·      Russisches LGBT-Netzwerk: Sie sagten mir, ich sei kein Mensch, sondern ein Nichts; dass es besser sei, ich wäre Terrorist als eine Schwuchtel. Bericht über die Verfolgung von LGBT-Personen im nördlichen Kaukasus, 2017 (mit aktuellen Informationen vom April 2018)
https://lgbtnet.org/sites/default/files/01_lgbt-bericht-deutsch_update_0.pdf

Lage von LGBT-Personen tschetschenischer oder inguschetischer Herkunft

·      Russisches LGBT-Netzwerk: Sie sagten mir, ich sei kein Mensch, sondern ein Nichts; dass es besser sei, wäre Terrorist als eine Schwuchtel. Bericht über die Verfolgung von LGBT-Personen im nördlichen Kaukasus, 2017 (mit aktuellen Informationen vom April 2018)
https://lgbtnet.org/sites/default/files/01_lgbt-bericht-deutsch_update_0.pdf

„Am 3. April 2018 fand in Moskau eine Pressekonferenz zum Thema ‚Verfolgung von LGBT- Personen in Tschetschenien‘ statt. Im Rahmen der Konferenz erklärten die Mitbegründer des Russischen LGBT-Netzwerks, Igor Kochetkov und die Sonderkorrespondentin der Novaya Gazeta, Elena Milashina, die Ereignisse des vergangenen Jahres und präsentierten die Ergebnisse der vorläufigen Untersuchung.

Igor Kochetkov stellte dar, dass das Russische LGBT-Netzwerk seit dem 1. April 2017 114 Tschetschenen aus der Region herausgebracht hatte und dass 92 Personen Russland bereits verlassen haben. 41 Personen wurden rechtswidrig gefangen gehalten und waren Folter sowie schwerer körperlicher Gewalt ausgesetzt. 14 Personen wandten sich ans Russische LGBT- Netzwerk, weil sie von Strafverfolgungsbehörden bedroht wurden. Weitere 7 Personen kontaktierten das Netzwerk, weil ihre Bekannten verhaftet wurden und sie damit rechneten, als Nächstes inhaftiert zu werden. 7 weitere Personen wurden von ihren Verwandten bedroht, welche ihnen mit Ermordung drohten. 35 Personen sind nahe Angehörige von LGBT-Opfern; für sie war es ebenfalls gefährlich, in Tschetschenien zu bleiben.

Bedauerlicherweise wurden drei Personen, die bereits aus Tschetschenien evakuiert worden waren, von Verwandten entführt und gegen ihren Willen nach Tschetschenien zurückgebracht. Nach Informationen des Russischen LGBT-Netzwerks ist mindestens eine von ihnen bereits verstorben. 5 weitere Personen kehrten eigenständig aus anderen Gründen nach Tschetschenien zurück; eine von ihnen ist verstorben. Weiterhin wurde das Russische LGBT-Netzwerk von 8 Personen aus den anderen kaukasischen Republiken kontaktiert, die aufgrund ihrer Kontakte zu Tschetschenen ebenfalls von den tschetschenischen Strafverfolgungsbehörden verfolgt wurden.“ (Russisches LGBT-Netzwerk, 2017 (mit aktuellen Informationen vom April 2018), S. 2)

·      Russisches LGBT-Netzwerk: Any Information Regarding the Exact Location of the Victims, who Fled Persecution in the Chechen Republic, Should not be Revealed: A Statement from the Russian LGBT Network, 5. September 2017
https://lgbtnet.org/en/content/any-information-regarding-exact-location-victims-who-fled-persecution-chechen-republic

„Recently various media outlets published information on LGBT people who fled persecution in the Chechen Republic and found sanctuary in Canada. The Russian LGBT Network has warned its counterparts that revealing detailed information on the exact location of the victims might be harmful. Yet this information became available through multiple sources. The information, presented in the recent media coverage of the Chechnya crisis, was not approved by all the parties involved in the relocation of the victims.

The Russian LGBT Network multiple times highlighted that no one should disclose detailed information about the current location of the victims in open sources. We kindly asked our partnering organizations and media outlets to refrain from revealing this information in the future.

People, who suffered persecution in the Chechen Republic, fled Russia fearing that the persecutions will continue. They fear not only the Chechen authorities, but also the members of the Chechen diaspora, that continues their efforts to track the victims. Any information regarding the exact location of these people can harm their safety and security.“ (Russisches LGBT-Netzwerk, 5. September 2017)

·      NEE - New Eastern Europe: Chechen homosexuals do exist, 21. Juni 2017
http://neweasterneurope.eu/2017/06/21/chechen-homosexuals-do-exist/

„Interview with Misha Cherniak, a Russian musician and activist. Interviewer: Kaja Puto. […]

If that is the case, could Russia give shelter to Chechen homosexuals in other regions of the country?

I think that an evacuation of these people from the country is necessary, ideally overseas, as there is a large Chechen diaspora in Europe, where Kadyrov’s agents might operate. The same goes for Moscow and St. Petersburg, where Kadyrov has a sort of army, an armed network of agents. And this is not only a problem of the persecuted gay people, but all Chechen political refugees who are deadly afraid that they will be caught by the regime even outside of the Chechen Republic. This time Putin has reacted thanks to the international pressure, but his attitude towards LGBTQI people is well-known. Pro-government media does not report on this topic and everyone wants to sweep it under the rug.“ (NEE, 21. Juni 2017)

·      HRW – Human Rights Watch: “They Have Long Arms and They Can Find Me”, 26. Mai 2017
https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/05/26/they-have-long-arms-and-they-can-find-me/anti-gay-purge-local-authorities-russias

„People targeted by the anti-gay purge in Chechnya are not safe in Russia. They remain at great risk of being hounded by Chechen authorities or their own relatives as long as they remain in Russia. The families of anyone who might step forward, and families who refuse to meet demands of officials or relatives to force their gay loved ones to return to Chechnya, may also be at acute risk of threats, harassment, and retaliation.“ (HRW, 26. Mai 2017)

·      HRW – Human Rights Watch: Chechnya’s Long Arm of Retaliation Against Gay Men, 5. Oktober 2017
https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/1411228.html

„I recently met two Chechen gay men living as refugees in Western Europe in a bustling café. Both were in their early twenties, both looked around nervously. After we shared some pleasantries, ‘Bula’ and ‘Zelim’ (not their real names) cut to the chase.

‘We were abducted, tortured in Grozny. The police extorted us for money because we are gay. They threatened to disclose our sexual orientation to our families. We paid them a lot to avoid that,’ Bula and Zelim said. They had fled Grozny before this year’s purge against gay men. Bula, handed me his cell phone, showing me a picture of himself with a broken nose and a black eye. ‘This happened in Moscow where I was hiding after I fled from Grozny. I was attacked by two Chechens who came to look for me. After that I escaped to Western Europe in 2016.’

Even then, the threats continued. ‘A few days ago,’ Bula said, ‘the police came to my parent’s house in Chechnya. They demanded that I come back. If not, they said they would return to take revenge and arrest my father. Arrest means torture or worse.’ […]

‘We received text messages from people we met only once or twice in Grozny. They say they want to meet with us here in this country or elsewhere in Western Europe. But we suspect they want to trick us and abduct us to Chechnya.’ Bula wiped the sweat from his palms with a napkin. They had fled far from home. But it seemed Chechen authorities knew where to find them.

Bula’s eyes filled with tears. ‘We violated the honour and reputation of our country by asking for asylum based on our sexual orientation and now they want to punish us. If not the government, then our families are expected to kill us. This happened to some of our friends.’

We were quiet for some time, letting these words sink in. Then Zelim said: ‘I miss my mother.’ Canada, France, Germany, and the Netherlands all accepted gay refugees from Chechnya after pressure from human rights organizations. It’s a small success, but safety is relative. Although Bula and Zelim have escaped immediate danger, their problems are far from over.“ (HRW, 5. Oktober 2017)

Lage von LGBT-Personen in Russland allgemein (insbesondere in Moskau und St. Petersburg)

Allgemeine Informationen zur Lage von LGBT-Personen entnehmen Sie bitte auch dem folgenden Bericht mehrerer russischer NGOs vom August 2017 sowie einem Bericht des russischen LGBT-Netzwerks vom April 2018:

·      Russisches LGBT-Netzwerk: Monitoring of Discrimination and Violence based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Russia in 2016-2017, 26. April 2018
https://lgbtnet.org/sites/default/files/discrimination.pdf

·      Stimul; Phoenix PLUS; Russian LGBT Network; Transgender Legal Defense Project; Coming Out: Written submission related to the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons and men who have sex with men in Russia, August 2017 (veröffentlicht von CESCR)
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1409351/1930_1505906903_int-cescr-css-rus-28824-e.pdf

 

·      Buyantueva, Radzhana: Analyse: LGBT-Bewegung und Homophobie in Russland, 19. Februar 2018 (veröffentlicht von bpb)
http://www.bpb.de/internationales/europa/russland/analysen/264904/analyse-lgbt-bewegung-und-homophobie-in-russland

„Meinungsumfragen zufolge haben sich die Einstellungen gegenüber LGBT-Personen seit der Zeit der Perestroika nicht erheblich geändert und sind weiterhin konstant negativ. […]

Die negativen Haltungen mündeten in der Verabschiedung von Gesetzen, durch die die Propagierung nichttraditioneller geschlechtlicher Beziehungen (‚Propagierung von Homosexualismus‘) vor Kindern verboten wurde.

Zunehmende Ablehnung

Die Politik des Staates bedeutet für die LGBT-Bewegung eine erhebliche Beeinträchtigung. Konservative und nationalistische Rhetorik tritt im politischen und gesellschaftlichen Leben Russlands immer stärker in den Vordergrund. Hinzu kommt der zunehmende Einfluss der Russischen Orthodoxen Kirche auf Politik und Gesellschaft sowie der Umstand, dass die Kirche gleichgeschlechtliche Beziehungen ablehnt – beides ist für eine erhöhte Toleranz gegenüber LGBT-Personen keineswegs förderlich. So dankte Erzpriester Wsewolod Tschaplin, seinerzeit Leiter des Synodalamtes der Orthodoxen Kirche für die Beziehungen der Kirche zur Gesellschaft, den Behörden der Stadt Moskau im Namen der Kirche für die gewaltsame Auflösung des Versuchs vom Mai 2011, eine Pride-Parade zu veranstalten.

Ein Ergebnis des Tandems aus Staat und Religion war das Konzept der ‚traditionellen Werte‘. Es gibt kein genaues Übereinkommen, was diese ‚traditionellen‘ Werte eigentlich sind. Sie beschränken sich allerdings nicht auf die Ablehnung gleichgeschlechtlicher Ehen und die Förderung der traditionellen Familie. Präsident Wladimir Putin beispielsweise betrachtet sie als moralische Grundlage menschlichen Lebens, wie er im Dezember 2013 in seiner jährlichen Ansprache an die Föderalversammlung verkündete. Die religiöse und politische Elite setzt das Konzept der ‚traditionellen Werte‘ ein, um die Einzigartigkeit der russischen Kultur (die Traditionalismus und Moralität beweist) dem Westen gegenüber zu betonen (der Liberalismus und Individualismus demonstriert). Die Kultur und die Einzigartigkeit der Nation sollen gewahrt und vor fremdem Einfluss geschützt werden. LGBT-Personen werden als Bestandteil dieses aus dem Westen kommenden negativen kulturellen Einflusses und als Gefahr für Sitte und Moral betrachtet.

Die zunehmend ablehnenden Haltungen und der konservative Diskurs mündeten auf föderaler und regionaler Eben in die Verabschiedung von Gesetzen gegen ‚homosexuelle Propaganda‘. Diese Gesetze können als Manifestation von Russlands Herausforderung gegenüber der Dominanz des Westens betrachtet werden, wie auch als Versuch, sich auf der internationalen Bühne einen wichtigen Platz als Hüterin der Traditionen zu sichern. Die Behörden wenden diese Gesetze an, indem verschiedene LGBT-Veranstaltungen und -Projekte unter dem Vorwand des Kinderschutzes verboten werden. So wurden beispielsweise verschiedene Interpreten (u. a. Madonna und Lady Gaga) und Aktivisten für LGBT-Rechte mit Geldstrafen belegt, weil sie ihre Unterstützung für LGBT-Personen demonstriert haben. Die Gruppe ‚Deti-404‘ (dt.: ‚Kinder-404‘, ein Internetprojekt das LGBT-Jugendlichen psychologische Hilfe anbietet) ist ein weiteres Beispiel. 2016 sperrte ein Gericht in Barnaul die Website wegen ‚Propagierung von Homosexualismus‘.

Neben diesen Gesetzen sind noch andere verabschiedet worden, die die Entwicklung oppositioneller Tätigkeit insgesamt hemmen, auch die der LGBT-Bewegung:

·         Nichtkommerzielle Organisationen, die eine Finanzierung aus dem Ausland erhalten und sich politisch betätigen, wurden verpflichtet, sich als ausländische Agenten registrieren zu lassen;

·         verwaltungsrechtliche Sanktionen für Verstöße gegen das Versammlungsrecht: Erhöhung der Geldstrafen (10 – 20.000 Rubel, zum aktuellem Wechselkurs etwa 150 – 300 Euro.), Administrativarrest (bis zu 10 Tage) und Einführung neuer Strafen in Form von obligatorischer Arbeit (bis zu 50 Stunden);

·         Einführung strafrechtlicher Sanktionen für wiederholte Verstöße gegen das Versammlungsrecht (Organisation und Durchführung von Protesten) in Form von bis zu fünf Jahren Gefängnis;

·         Verbot unerwünschter internationaler Organisationen, die eine Gefahr für die Sicherheit des Staates sowie die öffentliche Ordnung und Gesundheit darstellen.

Diese rechtlichen Änderungen sind sogar noch bedrohlicher für die Bewegung, da sie es den Behörden ermöglichen, LGBT-Organisationen aufzulösen, ausländische Finanzierung zu blockieren und die Bereitschaft von LGBT-Personen zum Engagement auf ein Minimum zu reduzieren, indem letztere nicht nur Gewalt und Verfolgung zu fürchten haben, sondern auch Strafverfahren und/oder Ordnungsstrafen.

Folgen für die LGBT-Bewegung

Die Verabschiedung der Gesetze gegen ‚Propagierung von Homosexualismus‘ führte zu einer Intensivierung von Diskriminierung und Hassverbrechen gegen LGBT-Personen. Homophobe Einzelgänger und Gruppen nutzen diese Gesetze als Rechtfertigung für ihre Aktionen. Diese Hassverbrechen werden oft von Personen verübt, die aus jenen nationalistischen Anti-LGBT-Gruppen kommen, die 2011–2012 entstanden und sich über das ganze Land ausgebreitet haben. So wurde die homophobe Gruppe ‚Occupy Pedophelia‘ 2011 gegründet und hat bis 2014 landesweit rund 40 Filialen eingerichtet. Diese Gruppen suchen im Internet nach ihren Opfern, locken sie unter dem Vorwand eines Dates zu einem Treffen, erniedrigen und verprügeln sie dann und nehmen alles auf, um es online zu stellen. Diese Gruppen erkennen keinen Unterschied zwischen ‚schwul‘ und ‚pädophil‘. Unter dem Vorwand des Schutzes von Kindern vor Pädophilen werden gewöhnlich (meist schwule) Jugendliche und Erwachsene aus der LGBT-Community ins Visier genommen.

Opfer entschließen sich oft dagegen, zur Polizei zu gehen, weil sie fürchten, exponiert, erniedrigt oder weiter drangsaliert zu werden. Selbst dann, wenn tatsächlich Aussagen aufgenommen werden, unternimmt die Polizei keine angemessene Untersuchung dieser Hassverbrechen, vor allem deshalb, weil bei der Polizei ebenfalls Homophobie vorherrscht. So ist die Drangsalierung von LGBT-Personen durch die Polizei nichts Ungewöhnliches. Das Russische LGBT-Netzwerk hat 2015 insgesamt 21 Fälle von Fehlverhalten und Misshandlung durch die Polizei dokumentiert, beispielweise verweigerte Aufnahme von Anzeigen und Aussagen, psychische Gewalt gegen Opfer, erniedrigende Behandlung oder rechtswidrige Festnahmen. Die tatsächliche Zahl ist aller Wahrscheinlichkeit nach höher, doch auch hier besteht das Problem der Dokumentation, weil Opfer Bloßstellung und weitere Erniedrigung fürchten. Ein Fall aus Krasnodar kann als Beispiel für Fehlverhalten durch Angehörige der Polizei gelten: Im Juli 2016 hatten zwei Polizisten einen jungen Mann ohne jeden Grund festgenommen; als sie herausfanden, dass dieser schwul ist, fingen sie an, ihn zu beleidigen und drohten sogar mit Vergewaltigung.

LGBT-Veranstaltungen und Büros von LGBT-Organisationen befinden sich in ständiger Gefahr, von homophoben Personen oder Gruppen attackiert zu werden. So gab es im August 2016 einen Angriff auf eine Veranstaltung des LGBT-Sportverbandes, drei Personen wurden verletzt. Auch die Behörden haben ihren Anteil an der Einschüchterung und Drangsalierung von LGBT-Aktivisten. So stellten die Behörden unter verschiedenen Vorwänden Teilnehmern einer Protestveranstaltung nach, die 2014 am Internationalen Tag der Solidarität mit LGBT-Jugendlichen in Samara organisiert worden war: Die Polizei suchte die Wohnung der Mutter eines der Aktivisten auf; ein anderer Aktivist wurde zum Wehrdienst eingezogen, obwohl er aus gesundheitlichen Gründen zurückgestellt war.

Aktivisten für LGBT-Rechte befinden sich in Russland in einer feindlichen Umgebung. Dadurch ist der Zustrom neuer Aktivisten in die LGBT-Bewegung zurückgegangen, da Aktivismus oft ein in höherem Maße sichtbares, öffentliches Leben bedeutet. Es gibt sogar viele LGBT-Personen, die ihre Unterstützung für die Aktivisten und deren Engagement nicht zum Ausdruck bringen. Und viele LGBT-Personen riskieren es lieber nicht, sich der Bewegung anzuschließen, weil sie sich nicht trauen, sich vor ihren Familien, Freunden, Arbeitskollegen und einer breiteren Öffentlichkeit zu exponieren. Eine wachsende Zahl von LGBT-Personen (auch Aktivisten) verlässt das Land und sucht im Ausland politisches Asyl, um den Attacken, der Drangsalierung und Erniedrigung zu entgehen. LGBT-Gruppen und -Organisationen sind nun genötigt, nicht an ihrer Weiterentwicklung zu arbeiten, sondern sich vor allem um das eigene Überleben zu kümmern.“ (Buyantueva, 19. Februar 2018)

·      USDOS – US Department of State: Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2017 - Russia, 20. April 2018
https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/1430116.html

„During the year there were reports of both societal and government violence motivated by the sexual orientation or gender identity of the victim. Human rights activists and NGOs reported torture and killings of LGBTI persons in the North Caucasus by security services (see section 1.a. for information on Chechnya).

Openly gay men were particular targets of violence, and police often failed to respond adequately to such incidents. On August 12, attackers used pepper spray against participants of the eighth annual St. Petersburg gay pride march, injuring 10. According to media reports, police did not take steps to stop the attackers. Authorities opened a criminal investigation of the incident on August 15 and, on August 19, detained one of the alleged attackers. On November 11, four young men wearing hoods attacked two LGBTI activists taking part in an inclusive family conference in Moscow.

There were reports police abused and harassed individuals whom they perceived to be LGBTI. A report by the LGBT Network in 2016 documented 21 cases of alleged violations of LGBTI person’s rights by law enforcement officials in 2015.

On May 11, authorities detained five LGBTI activists in Moscow while they attempted to submit to the prosecutor general’s office a petition signed by two million persons calling for an investigation into the torture of gay men in Chechnya. Authorities charged the activists with an administrative violation for holding a public event without permission; they were released later in the day.

LGBTI individuals often declined to report attacks against them due to fears police would subject them to mistreatment or publicize their sexual orientation or gender identity. There continued to be reports of groups and individuals luring gay men on fake dates to beat and rob them.

The law criminalizes the distribution of ‘propaganda’ of nontraditional sexual relations to minors and effectively limits the rights of free expression and assembly for citizens who wished to advocate publicly for rights or express the opinion that homosexuality is normal. Examples of what the government considered LGBTI propaganda included materials that ‘directly or indirectly approve of persons who are in nontraditional sexual relationships’ (see section 2.a.).

Since 2015 the Ministry of Justice added at least three LGBTI organizations to the foreign agents’ list (see section 2.b., Freedom of Association), including the St. Petersburg NGO Sfera, which provided social and legal services to members of the LGBTI community, and Rakurs, an LGBTI advocacy organization in Arkhangelsk.

Many events planned by members of the LGBTI community were officially unsanctioned and conducted in private due to security concerns. Nevertheless, in 2016 the LGBT Network reported that in at least four cases during the year LGBTI-related events were disrupted, sometimes through anonymous calls alleging bomb threats.

Moscow authorities refused to allow a gay pride parade for the 12th consecutive year, notwithstanding a 2010 ECHR ruling that the denial violated the rights to freedom of assembly and freedom from discrimination.

Police stopped as many as 300 persons from participating in an LGBTI pride event called Polar Pride scheduled for January 29 in the town of Salekhard. On September 24, authorities briefly detained three individuals crossing the border back into Russia by bus following participation in a Norwegian gay pride event.

A homophobic campaign continued in state-controlled media in which officials, journalists, and others called LGBTI persons ‘perverts,’ ‘sodomites,’ and ‘abnormal’ and conflated homosexuality with pedophilia.

LGBTI persons reported heightened societal stigma and discrimination, which some attributed to increasing official promotion of intolerance and homophobia. Activists asserted that the majority of LGBTI persons hid their sexual orientation or gender identity due to fear of losing their jobs or homes as well as the threat of violence. Medical practitioners reportedly continued to limit or deny LGBTI persons health services due to intolerance and prejudice. There were reports that high levels of employment discrimination against LGBTI persons persisted (see section 7.d.) and that LGBTI persons continued to seek asylum abroad due to the domestic environment.

During the year a chain of shops called Khleb i Sol (Bread and Salt), hung signs in their shop windows reading, ‘No Entry for [Slur Referring to LGBTI Persons].’ In response to complaints from members of the public in the city of Perm about the sign, local police determined that there was no grounds for an investigation because they considered the slur to be a scientific term and thus inoffensive. According to press reports, on September 25, the Perm regional human rights ombudsman urged the local prosecutor’s office to investigate the matter. […]

There were some isolated positive developments during the year for the LGBTI community. […] On August 4, the Pervomayskiy District Court in Omsk ruled that a sport shop should pay Eduard Myra 30,000 rubles ($514) in compensation for denying him employment on the basis of his ‘feminine manner’ and being ‘too well groomed,’ which the company stated suggested he was part of the LGBTI community.“ (USDOS, 20. April 2018, Section 6)

„The law does not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, gender identity, or disability. Employment discrimination laws were not always effectively enforced. […] Employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity was a problem, especially in the public sector and education. Employers fired LGBTI persons for their sexual orientation, gender identity, or public activism in support of LGBTI rights. If they expected to be fired, some LGBTI persons chose to resign preemptively to avoid having their future prospects hindered by a dismissal on their resumes. Primary and secondary school teachers were often the targets of such pressure due to the law’s focus on so-called propaganda targeted at minors (see section 6, Acts of Violence, Discrimination, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity).“ (USDOS, 20. April 2018, Section 7d)

·      Heinrich Böll Stiftung: LSBTI in Russland: Eine Geschichte von Erfolgen, Chancen und Herausforderungen, 31. Mai 2017
https://www.boell.de/de/2017/05/31/lsbt-russland-eine-geschichte-von-erfolgen-chancen-und-herausforderungen

„Im Juni 2013 wurde in zweiter und endgültig in dritter Lesung ein Gesetzentwurf verabschiedet, der die ‚Propaganda für Homosexualität in Anwesenheit von Minderjährigen‘ zu einer Straftat machte, die mit einer Geldbuße (von umgerechnet 10.000 bis 15.000 Euro) geahndet wurde oder ein 90-tägiges Verbot der Geschäftstätigkeit als juristische Person nach sich zog. Ausländer_innen und staatenlose Personen, die gegen das Gesetz verstießen, konnten 15 Tage lang in Polizeigewahrsam genommen und anschließend des Landes verwiesen werden. Die Verabschiedung dieses Gesetzes machte Menschen aufgrund ihrer sexuellen Orientierung und ihrer Geschlechtsidentität zu Straftätern, was zu heftigem Protesten seitens der LSBTI-Aktivist_innen führte. Aber auch Journalist_innen und andere Vertreter_innen der Zivilgesellschaft brachten ihre Kritik an dem Gesetz öffentlich zum Ausdruck.

Gewalt gegen Aktivist_innen, gegen nicht Aktive und gegen Minderjährige

Die Verabschiedung des Gesetzes leistete hassmotivierten Verbrechen gegen LSBTI und einer neuen Welle an Homophobie Vorschub. Im Sommer 2013 wurden in verschiedenen Regionen Russland zwei Schwule wegen ihrer Homosexualität brutal ermordet.

Natalya Zorskaya, eine wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Lewada-Zentrum glaubt, dass die LSBTI-Gemeinde den Behörden als probates Mittel erscheint, an dem die Unterschichten ihre Aggressionen abarbeiten können. Sie ist ein leichtes Ziel, auf das sich Hass und soziale Aggression richten können, die sich zuvor in einem weit verbreiteten Antisemitismus äußerten.

Eine weitere fürchterliche Konsequenz des ‚Propaganda-Gesetzes‘ war die zunehmende Schikanierung von minderjährigen LSBTI in Schulen und Familien (die einige von ihnen in den Selbstmord trieb). Als dieses Problem alarmierende Ausmaße annahm, wurden Hilfsmaßnahmen für diejenigen Minderjährigen initiiert, die alleine dastanden und nicht wussten, wie sie mit ihrer Identität umgehen und sich ihrem Umfeld mitteilen sollten. Die im März 2013 nach der ersten Lesung des ‚Propaganda-Gesetzes‘ ins Leben gerufene Initiative ‚Children 404. LGBT teens. We exist!‘ war die erste dieser Maßnahmen zur Unterstützung von Kindern. Sie begann mit einer Gruppe im sozialen Netzwerk Vkontakte, auf der die Initiatorin Lena Klimova Briefe von minderjährigen LSBTI veröffentlichte. Später kamen unterstützende Briefe von Erwachsenen hinzu, darunter auch von Eltern minderjähriger LSBTI. Heute ist daraus eine unabhängige Webseite geworden, die von sechs Redakteur_innen betrieben wird.

Daten des Lewada-Zentrums zufolge sind die Menschen in Russland zwischen 2013 und 2015 trotz des Höhepunkts der ukrainisch-russischen Krise und dem Anstieg von nach außen gerichteter Fremdenfeindlichkeit, die den Blickpunkt der Mehrheit von ‚internen‘ auf ‚externe‘ Feinde richtete, nicht toleranter gegenüber Schwulen, Lesben, Bisexuellen und Transsexuellen geworden: 37% der russischen Bevölkerung waren der Ansicht, LSBTI sollten ärztlich behandelt werden, und 18% sprachen sich für Einführung von Gesetzen zu ihrer strafrechtlichen Verfolgung aus.

Das LSBTI-Netzwerk führte 2015 in mehreren russischen Regionen eine Untersuchung über die wichtigsten Verstöße gegen die Rechte von LSBTI durch und veröffentlichte einen Bericht mit ihren Analysen. Als erstes führten die Autor_innen Auffälligkeiten der Strafverfolgungsbehörden im Umgang mit LSBTI an: Mit Verweis auf das ‚Propaganda-Gesetz‘ schränkten Gerichte die Versammlungsfreiheit und das Recht auf freie Meinungsäußerung ein und mischten sich sogar mit der Beschneidung von Erziehungsrechten in das Privatleben von Eltern ein. Der LSBTI-Gemeinschaft angehörende Lehrer_innen wurden öffentlich angeprangert und mussten ihre Lehrerstellen aufgeben. Transgender haben Schwierigkeiten, eine qualifizierte ärztliche Behandlung zu bekommen. Sie erfahren keinerlei Unterstützung seitens der Behörden und selbst die Ausstellung von Ausweispapieren nach ihrer Geschlechtsumwandlung ist aufgrund fehlender Richtlinien problematisch. Es gibt Gruppen, die über Online-Partnervermittlungen und Themengruppen in sozialen Netzwerken Jagd auf Homosexuelle machen. In der Regel nehmen LSBTI in diesen Fällen allerdings Abstand davon, sich an die Strafverfolgungsbehörden zu wenden, da die Polizei offensichtlich keine angemessenen Ermittlungen wegen Diskriminierung durchführte, sondern die Straftaten gegen LSBTI in der Regel als ungebührliches Benehmen und nicht als Hassverbrechen einstufte.“ (Heinrich Böll Stiftung, 31. Mai 2017)

·      The Independent: It may seem like LGBT rights aren’t important to Putin – but if you look closer, you’ll see they’re central to the Russian election, 14. März 2018
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/russia-election-putin-win-anti-lgbt-propaganda-chechnya-persecution-homophobia-a8255186.html

„A quick search recently for LGBT news on Yandex – the largest Russian search engine – threw up a very depressing list: ‘Users are outraged by the new LGBT-friendly ad for iPhone’, ‘Russian actor gets kicked out after supporting LGBT people’, ‘Berlinale-2018: perverts and russophobes are occupying modern cinema’.

A whole stack of news is dedicated to a new online game called ‘Play for the President: help Putin kill naked men with a rainbow flag’. The game allows you to become ‘a former KGB agent’ and destroy ‘enemies of the state’, which ‘naturally’ includes the LGBT community, opposition leader Navalny and US President Donald Trump. It reminds me of another recent game published by a popular Russian news site Lenta.ru, where readers were asked to like photos of celebrities who were ‘lucky enough’ to be ‘raped and made famous’ by Harvey Weinstein.

In other countries such online games might have caused a big backlash from the public and commercial partners, but in Russia for many they seem to serve as yet another reinforcement of a very conservative and disempowering belief system. A system in which women are given flowers but also beaten by their husbands, and where it’s widely believed that the immoral influence of the LGBT community should be immediately mitigated for the sake of the children.

Meanwhile, Russia is heading for presidential elections beginning 18 March. Even though on the surface it may seem that LGBT issues are not on the agenda of any of the candidates, including Putin, if you look closer it feels like their stance on LGBT rights remains central to the stability of the Russian government.

Evidence to this is an allegedly state funded election video, which went live three weeks ago, urging Russians to go out and vote. In the video, viewers are shown an alternative reality in which the newly elected government openly supports LGBT rights and lets black people serve in its forces. The video intends to scare voters who are doubting whether to vote for the current political setup and might support more liberal thinking candidates.

Ksenia Sobchak, the only oppositional candidate to openly support LGBT rights in Russia, called the video homophobic: ‘To turn LGBT people into a threat in a homophobic country is not a joke. It once again fuels discrimination of the minority’. The reality of such propaganda is indeed horrific.

Last week Amnesty International reported that 106 people who survived the horrific mass persecution of gay men in Chechnya in March-May 2017 were able to escape Russia. But many more of the hundreds suffered and those who are still being threatened remain in hiding or continue to live in their hometowns. Many have protested against the Chechnyan authorities – but to date no visible developments have been made.

Apart from the government’s reluctance to investigate these crimes, another difficulty is that only one person agreed to identify himself and come forward in the Russian investigation. It is not surprising since, as the journalists of Novaya Gazeta uncovered, the Chechen government was not the only one persecuting its LGBT people, but also, tragically, ‘ashamed’ families of those men and women who were outed.

Those 106 victims, who managed to escape Russia, now have a chance to testify but only if the case goes to the European Court of Human Rights.

Any propaganda goes way beyond just words and has a very dark side. And in Russia’s attempt to contain the LGBT community, it seems, all the means possible serve the purpose. As the events of the past year in Chechnya have shown, mass abduction, torture and even murder of gay men and women is also an option for some.“ (The Independent, 14. März 2018)

·      Pink News: A Russian website is asking users to ‘report’ and torture gay people, 30. April 2018
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/04/30/a-russian-website-is-asking-users-to-report-and-torture-gay-people/

„A Russian website is publicly calling for users to support ‘Chechnya’s comeback‘ and list and ‘hunt’ gay people. The domain, which is called ‘Saw’ and based on the horror film series in which victims are tortured and the events streamed live, launched last week. Asking users to join in their ‘game,’ the website has set a different target of attack for each day of the month.

At the moment, the website says it is targeting people in the province of Ufa, in south-east Russia, reports Gay Star News. Users can pay a sum of 200 roubles (£2.32) to find personal information, said the publication. However, if your name is on the database and you need it to be removed, you have to pay a fee of 1500 Rubles (£7.38).

‘I was in school when this first started happening,’ a lesbian Russian national told PinkNews. ‘It is a very popular game for straight Russian men. It has been in action in some way since 2007, 2008, but it has normally taken place in closed groups. But now, there are no protections for Russians. It can happen in broad daylight,’ she added. However, the woman, who chose not to be named, believes that this is the first website of its kind to enter the public domain. Although the hunters used to operate on VKontakte (VK), which is Russia’s version of Facebook, this is the first time they have had a listed website. A host of these sites live on Russia’s dark web, she explains. ‘These people no longer have to hide, because they know if they beat any LGBT+ person the court will be on their side,’ she added.

One of the first victims of the game is seen in hospital with a head injury, which has been posted to the website. As Russians have not had any legal anti-discrimination protections since 2013, there is nothing enshrined in law to stop the website targeting LGBT+ people specifically.

Although the website was recently blocked, its demands can still be seen on social media.

‘This is terrifying,’ Mikhail Tumasov, chairperson of the Russia LGBT Network, told Gay Star News. ‘I’ve never seen anything like this. The killing and torturing of gay people, they call it a game.’“ (Pink News, 30. April 2018)

·      RFE/RL – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Bashkir Activists Say Police Idle As Gay-Bashing Campaign Gains Steam, 5. Mai 2018
https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/1431977.html

„On April 20, Kristina Abramicheva, who heads the Alliance of Heterosexuals and LGBT for Equal Rights in the Bashkortostan capital, Ufa, posted an alarming warning on her Facebook page.

‘In Ufa there is a hunt for gays going on under the name of Saw,’ she wrote. ‘It is a classic scheme: acquaintance through the Internet, harassment, filming, blackmail, and extortion. Although there have been victims and people have been appealing to our Alliance for legal and psychiatric help, the story is being hushed up and victims and witnesses are being forced to sign nondisclosure orders [by the authorities].’

Sometime in mid-March, Abramicheva told RFE/RL, her activists noticed online announcements touting ‘Saw: A Homophobic Game’ and featuring an image of a character in the horror-film series Saw. The announcements declare the opening of the ‘Bashkir Season’ on hunting LGBTs from March 3 until June 30.

‘More homophobia, more frame-ups, more violence,’ the announcement proclaims.

Some of the announcements declare that ‘more than 50 of Chechnya's best homophobes’ have come to Bashkortostan, a reference to widespread reports beginning in April 2017 that security forces and vigilantes in Chechnya were rounding up and persecuting gay men. More than two dozen suspected gay men were reportedly killed in the North Caucasus republic during the crackdown, although Chechen officials denied the reports and even the existence of gay men in Chechnya at all.

‘We have had isolated incidents of attacks on gays in [Bashkortostan] since at least 2007,’ Abramicheva said. ‘But now this has become a mass phenomenon. We are talking about dozens of cases.’

‘Victims are afraid to go to the police because they don't want information about themselves made public,’ she added, explaining why she felt it was important to go public with this information.“ (RFE/RL, 5. Mai 2018)

·      DW – Deutsche Welle: Homosexualität: "Ich dachte, meine Tochter sei ein Monster", 9. Oktober 2017
http://www.dw.com/de/homosexualit%C3%A4t-ich-dachte-meine-tochter-sei-ein-monster/a-40879043

„‚Ihre Herzen sollen verbrannt und vergraben werden‘: Dieser Vorschlag kam vom prominenten russischen Fernsehmoderator Dmitri Kisjelow zur besten Sendezeit im Ersten Russischen Fernsehen. Er galt Menschen ‚mit einer nicht-traditionellen sexuellen Orientierung‘, so nennt man in Russland Schwule und Lesben. Kisjelow ist die Lichtgestalt der russischen Medienpropaganda. Er lügt, hetzt, beleidigt und wird dafür verehrt. Für seinen Vorschlag der Herzverbrennung bekam er Applaus im Studio. Die Hetzjagd auf Schwule begann. Das war im Jahr 2012.

Ein Jahr später wurde im südrussischen Wolgograd ein 20-jähriger Mann ermordet. Weil er schwul war. Sein Kopf wurde mit einem 20 Kilogramm schweren Stein zertrümmert. Aus Hass.

Kurz darauf verabschiedete die Duma, das russische Parlament, das sogenannte Anti-Schwulen-Gesetz. Wer sich in Anwesenheit von Minderjährigen positiv über Homosexuelle äußerte, machte sich von heute auf morgen strafbar. Der Staat wollte damit die sogenannte ‚Propaganda der nicht-traditionellen sexuellen Orientierung‘ bekämpfen.

Kein Schutz für Homosexuelle

Im Umkehrschluss hieß es aber: Jeder, der die schwulen Opfer der Gewalt öffentlich verteidigte, konnte sich strafbar machen. Russische Homosexuelle konnten nicht mehr damit rechnen, dass der Staat sie gegen Einschüchterungen, Erniedrigungen und Aggressionen schützt. Und das, obwohl homosexuelle Beziehungen in Russland offiziell erlaubt sind.

Fünf Jahre sind vergangen. Homophobie, die in Russland quasi per Gesetz erlaubt wurde, ist weit verbreitet. Heute kann man mit Schwulenhass nicht nur Geld in Talkshows verdienen, sondern offenbar auch bei Wählern punkten. Zumindest bei ihrem ganz bestimmten orthodoxen Teil. Wer in Russland öffentlich gegen Schwule hetzt, wähnt sich nicht nur als Verteidiger der sogenannten traditionellen Werte, sondern als Unterstützter der moralischen Säulen der ganzen russischen Gesellschaft, die von außen, aus dem ‚faulen Westen‘, angegriffen wird. Nicht mehr und nicht weniger.

Eltern verjagen ihre Kinder

Das Resultat: Der Duma-Abgeordnete der Russischen Föderation Witali Milonow darf den Bürger der Russischen Föderation Boris Konakow in aller Öffentlichkeit beleidigen. Ungestraft. Herr Milonow nennt Herrn Konakow eine ‚AIDS-verseuchte Schwuchtel‘ - weil der junge Mann gegen die Verfolgung von Schwulen in der Teilrepublik Tschetschenien protestierte. Er kettete sich mit Handschellen für eine Stunde an das Gelände einer Brücke in Sankt Petersburg. Einer Brücke, die den Namen des Vaters des Tschetschenien-Führers Kadyrow trägt.

Das Resultat: Die Mutter einer Jugendlichen namens Natalia gesteht, dass sie bereit sei, ‚auf Knien zu kriechen und Gott zu bitten, ihre Tochter normal wie alle anderen zu machen‘. Dann gesteht sie, dass sie sich vor ihrer eigenen Tochter ‚wie vor einem Monster‘ ekelte, als Natalia ihr erzählte, dass sie Mädels statt Jungs liebt. Am Ende aber konnte sich die Mutter doch überwinden. Ein Glück für Natalia, das viele andere Jugendliche nicht haben. Andere Töchter werden von den eigenen Vätern geschlagen. Andere Eltern verjagen ihre homosexuellen Kinder. Menschenrechtsorganisationen dokumentieren Fälle von ‚korrigierenden Vergewaltigungen‘. Dabei werden lesbische Töchter in einen Raum mit einem Vergewaltiger gesperrt.

Die Flucht als letzter Ausweg

Das Resultat: Der Millionär German Sterligow eröffnet in ganz Russland Brotläden mit dem Eingangsschild ‚Schwuchteln Zutritt verboten‘. Niemanden interessiert die widerliche Äußerung, die an die Nazi-Schilder ‚Juden Zutritt verboten‘ erinnert. Strafanzeige? Fehlanzeige! Russische Medien empören sich lieber über die extrem hohen Brotpreise. Der Geschäftsmann Sterligow, der einst Präsidentschaftsambitionen hatte, propagiert den gleichen Lebensstil wie der Abgeordnete Milonow: Kinder, Küche, Kirche. Dabei geben sich seine eigenen Mitarbeiter durchaus tolerant, stellte der junge, offen schwule Blogger Kyrill Egor fest. Egor nahm seine Kamera und ging in einen der Sterligow-Läden rein. Dorthin, wo ihm der Zutritt verboten war. Eigentlich.

Das Resultat schließlich: Niemand fragt nach dem Schicksal der mehr als hundert schwulen Männer, die in einem geheimen Gefängnis in Tschetschenien gedemütigt, missbraucht, geschlagen wurden. Die regierungskritische Zeitung Novaja Gazeta berichtet monatelang darüber. Als beinahe einziges Medium in Russland. Im Ausland dagegen breitet sich der Skandal aus. Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel spricht in Anwesenheit von Russlands Präsident Wladimir Putin vor laufenden Kameras das Problem bei ihrem Besuch im russischen Sotschi an. Zu dem Zeitpunkt ist ‚Viktor‘, ein junger Schwuler aus dem tschetschenischen Städtchen Argun, bereits aus seiner Heimat Tschetschenien geflohen.

Sie alle, Boris, Natalia, Kyrill und der tschetschenische Schwule, den wir aus Sicherheitsgründen ‚Viktor‘ nennen, erzählen mir ihre Geschichten in Moskau und Sankt Petersburg. Geschichten voller Schmerz, Verzweiflung, aber auch Mut. Geschichten über ihre homosexuelle Liebe, die in diesem Land für Tausende Männer und Frauen schutzlos ist.“ (DW, 9. Oktober 2017)

·      Queer.de: Russland: Hassverbrechen gegen LGBT stark angestiegen, 24. November 2017
http://www.queer.de/detail.php?article_id=30158

„In Russland hat sich die Anzahl schwerer Gewaltverbrechen gegen LGBT nach Verabschiedung des landesweiten Gesetzes gegen Homo-‚Propaganda‘ im Jahr 2013 so gut wie verdoppelt. Das ergab eine Auswertung von Gerichtsakten des Center for Independent Social Research.

Die bereits im Sommer veröffentlichte Studie, die nach einer Reuters-Meldung derzeit internationale Schlagzeilen macht, bezieht sich auf insgesamt 250 Verurteilungen aus den Jahren 2010 bis 2015. Die Forscher analysierten dazu detailliert die Dokumente der Justiz und legten strenge Definitionsmaßstäbe an, um – mit einer belastbaren Mindestanzahl (!) der Taten – vergleichbare Zahlen zu gewinnen.

Nach diesen Zahlen hatte es 2010 insgesamt 18, im Jahr darauf 32 und 2012 schließlich 33 Hassverbrechen gegen LGBTI gegeben. 2013 sei dann ein Anstieg auf 50 zu verzeichnen gewesen, gefolgt von 52 in 2014 und 65 im Jahr 2015. Die meisten Taten richteten sich gegen Männer wegen ihrer tatsächlichen oder vermeintlichen Homosexualität, acht gegen Lesben und zwei gegen Transpersonen – die Forscher betonen, dass aufgrund unklarer Definitionen und unaufgeklärter Richter der Anteil dieser Personengruppen unter den gemeldeten Opfern in Wirklichkeit größer sein kann und diese auch eine größere Rolle spielen können bei Taten, die nicht als Hassverbrechen in den Akten deutlich oder nie vor Gericht gebracht wurden.

Anstieg auch bei Morden

Zu den berücksichtigten Hassverbrechen, die aus fast allen Teilen des Landes gemeldet wurden, zählen Morde, schwere Gewalttaten sowie Raub, Diebstahl und Erpressung, bei denen die sexuelle Orientierung oder Identität der Opfer eine Rolle spielten. Nicht berücksichtigt sind weniger schwere Gewalttaten, Volksverhetzungen und Beleidigungen (oder Akte durch den Staat wie homofeindliche Propaganda, Verurteilungen nach dem ‚Propaganda‘-Gesetz, Verbote von LGBT-Demonstrationen und Festnahme von Teilnehmern oder Einschränkungen von Organisationen durch das Gesetz gegen ‚ausländische Agenten‘ – auch die Ersteller der Studie mussten sich so kennzeichnen).

Bei den meisten in der Statistik berücksichtigten Verbrechen handelte es sich um Mord, und auch hier zeigt sich eine Steigerung: Wurden zwischen 2010 und 2012 insgesamt 43 LGBT ermordet, waren es zwischen 2013 und 2015 schon 76. Die Forscher betonen, dass die Mordrate an LGTBI bis einschließlich 2012 mit der in den USA vergleichbar gewesen sei. Seit 2013 habe Russland die USA in dem Bereich allerdings sowohl in absoluten Zahlen als auch prozentual zur Bevölkerung überholt, seit 2015 ist die Rate 2,5 mal so hoch wie in den USA.

Einen leichten Anstieg von Gewalttaten zeigen Gerichtsakten den Forschern zufolge auch bei sogenannten ‚homosexuellen Konflikten‘: Taten, bei denen sich etwa jemand, oft in einer Gruppe, mit plötzlicher schwerer Gewalt bis hin zum Mord dagegen wehrt, als homosexuell bezeichnet worden zu sein. Hier kam es 2011 zu 99 Taten, 2013 zu 92 und 2015 zu 106. Richter verhängten hier in der Regel im Mordfall 9,34 Jahre Haft, bei Hassverbrechen gegen LGBT mit Todesfolge 10,45 Jahre und bei Tötungen insgesamt 9,66 Jahre. Die Zahlen ließen laut den Forschern nur bedingt Rückschlüsse zu, ob Hass als Motiv schwerer geahndet werde oder ob die Taten bereits wegen ihrer grundsätzlichen Schwere, etwa ihrer Brutalität, entsprechend härter bestraft würden.

Homofeindliche Debatte mit Folgen

Die Forscher schließen aus ihrer Untersuchung, dass Gewalt gegen LGBTI in Russland systematisch und konstant auftrete, ansteige und es vermutlich ein hohes Dunkelfeld gebe. Ab dem Jahr 2013 lasse sich eine klare Steigerung der Taten feststellen – analog zu Studien, die aufgrund der Debatte um das Gesetz gegen Homo-‚Propaganda‘ negativere Einstellungen der Bevölkerung zu Homosexuellen festmachten.

‚Die Täter wurden aggressiver und weniger ängstlich‘, kommentierte nun Swetlana Sacharowa vom Russian LGBT Network die Studie und die Auswirkungen des Gesetzes gegenüber Reuters. ‚Für sie scheint es so, zumindest bis zu einem gewissen Grad, als würde die Regierung ihre Handlungen unterstützen. Viele Täter sprechen offen über ihre Verbrechen als seien es noble Heldentaten.‘“ (Queer.de, 24. November 2017)

·      Deutschlandfunk Kultur: Die Verteidiger der Vielfalt im russischen Sport, 11. Juni 2017
http://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/der-schwere-kampf-der-aktivisten-die-verteidiger-der.966.de.html?dram:article_id=388407

„Es war eine sportliche Demonstration für Respekt. 2010 fanden in Köln die Gay Games statt mit mehr als 10.000 Lesben, Schwulen und Transsexuellen. Viele führen in ihren Heimatländern ein Leben im Versteck. In Köln mit dabei war Konstantin Jablozki. Er stammt aus Archangelsk, einer Hafenstadt in Nordrussland: […] Konstantin Jablozki gewann damals den Eiskunstlauf. Es war die erste Goldmedaille für Russland in der Geschichte der Gay Games seit 1982. Journalisten interviewten seine Eltern und Freunde. In einer Fernsehshow wurde Jablozki geoutet, landesweit. Damals, 2010, hatten es Homosexuelle in Russland nicht so schwer wie heute. Jablozki und seine Freunde gründeten ein Jahr später einen nationalen Sportverband für Lesben und Schwule, einen Schutzraum mit Training, Wettbewerben, Begegnungen.

Das Klima hat sich in den Jahren verschärft

Doch das Klima verschärfte sich. Befördert von der orthodoxen Kirche und begünstigt 2013 durch ein neues Gesetz. Es verbietet, gegenüber Minderjährigen positiv über Homosexualität zu sprechen. Seitdem sind Demonstrationen, Angriffe und Diskriminierungen gegen Schwule gestiegen, auch in Moskau, wo Konstantin Jablozki inzwischen als Chemielehrer arbeitet und von seinen Eltern berichtet: ‚Sie machen sich Sorgen um meine Gesundheit und sie denken an meine Zukunftsperspektiven. Nach meinem Coming-out bin ich auf große Probleme gestoßen. Im Eiskunstlauf wurde ich als Wertungsrichter auf Regionalniveau degradiert. In meiner Schule forderte der Direktor, ich solle als Lehrer zurücktreten - nicht weil er das wollte, sondern weil das Moskauer Bildungsbüro Druck gemacht hatte. Doch meine Lehrerkollegen hielten zu mir.‘ […]

Vor wenigen Wochen zeigte der schwullesbische Verband den Film Wonderkid, in dem es um schwule Fußballer geht. Die US-amerikanische Botschaft in Moskau half beim Visa-Antrag für den englischen Regisseur Rhys Chapman. Die Vorstellung fand an einem ruhigen Sonntagnachmittag im deutschen Goethe-Institut statt. Alle Zuschauer erhielten die Anfahrtsbeschreibung durch eine persönliche E-Mail. Das sei Standard, berichtet Alexander Agapov.

‚Wir können nicht den Titel oder die genaue Adresse unserer Veranstaltung veröffentlichen. Sonst könnte man uns kurzfristig die Sportstätte entziehen oder es gibt eine falsche Bombendrohung. Es ist auch schwer für mich, einen neuen Job zu finden. Denn ich bin als Aktivist öffentlich und nicht jeder Arbeitgeber wäre damit glücklich. Es wird zwar schwer, aber ich möchte einen Weg finden, mit Aktivismus Geld zu verdienen.‘“ (Deutschlandfunk Kultur, 11. Juni 2017)

·      Kondakov, Alexander/Shtorn, Evgeny: Charting Russia’s most dangerous cities for LGBT people, 29. Juni 2017 (veröffentlicht von openDemocracy)
https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/alexander-kondakov-evgeny-shtorn/charting-russia-s-most-dangerous-cities-for-lgbt-people

„One of the effects of Russia’s ‘propaganda’ law was not simply the rise in violence against LGBT people. It also led to more frequent ewspaper publications on LGBT topics, hence public discussion on a topic which still remains taboo for many people. This was not entirely what legislators intended. We benefitted from this situation by researching the details and contexts of violence against LGBT in Russia as they were reported in media. The Sexuality Lab studied almost 4,500 media publications about violence against LGBT people in Russia between 2011 and 2016. We categorised all newspaper articles in accordance with the sexuality of the victims reported and the locations of crimes committed. All cities were then classified by population, making it possible for us to calculate an index of safety for every urban settlement.

The data reveal that the most dangerous places for LGBT people are villages in the countryside and small towns with a population below 100,000: they are characterised by the highest rates of violence against LGBT people per 1,000 persons. The safest locations are the largest cities (Moscow and St Petersburg): despite the greater number of crimes against LGBT in these cities, their relative indexes are actually the lowest. This can be explained by understanding the circumstances of these hate crimes.

Very often, hate crimes are committed as soon as perpetrators learn about the victim’s sexuality, which is usually revealed in a conversation in a private space over a drink or meal. These social gatherings occur more frequently in smaller settlements, because that way of life is simply more common there: there are fewer bars to go to, fewer crowds to blend into, and more free time to kill. People drink alcohol and talk about their personal lives as there’s no other way to spend one’s spare time. Alhough many people in Russia actually do not give a damn about LGBT issues, some still react violently to a person’s coming out – and such reactions are more common in smaller towns and cities.

The graph below shows incidents of violence against LGBT people in different towns and cities of Russia. We compare capital cities, big cities (of 500,000 people and above) and smaller cities (of between 100-500,000 people). This graph shows that the smaller a city, the bigger the probability of violence against LGBT people. Statistically, a gay person is safer in St Petersburg than in a smaller city like Nizhnevartovsk. This could explain why the mayor of Svetlogorsk thinks there are no gay men in his town – anybody with half a mind

in that position would leave the place as soon as they felt threatened.

These results aren’t surprising; they just prove once again that homophobia is on the rise in Russia and that hate crimes are supported in its remote regions. We have based our claims on a survey of media publications, which limits the whole picture only to material in the public domain. As a result, there will be many hate crimes which went unreported, and some remote regions not covered in our media survey. However, it is no exaggeration to say that there are parts of the country which are simply not safe for LGBT citizens.

One of the ways to protect oneself is to keep silent about one’s sexuality, concealing it from the public in order not to become a victim of violence. So this secrecy around the existence of homosexuals is reinforced not only by political decisions, but also by individual moves as many LGBT people opt to hide their sexuality. While their response contributes to a culture of silence, they cannot and must not be blamed for it – simply put, they fear for their lives.“ (Kondakov/Shtorn, 29. Juni 2017)

·      HRW – Human Rights Watch: Moscow Police Fail to Effectively Investigate Brutal Attack on LGBT Activists, 22. November 2017
https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/1419471.html

„On the evening of November 11, four burly young men wearing hoods brutally attacked two lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights activists – Zoya Matisova, 42, and Nadezhda Aronchik, 23. Both were taking part in an inclusive family conference in Moscow.

Matisova, a psychologist and board member of the Russian LGBT Network, told me that the assailants approached them not far from the conference venue as she and Aronchik were on their way to the metro. The men first asked if they had anything to do with the conference and without waiting for an answer, sprayed something in Matisova’s eyes and punched Aronchik in the face, shouting homophobic slurs. Then they fled. ‘My eyes were burning and the pain was just hellish,’ Matisova said.

Matisova started rinsing her eyes with bottled water, but Aronchik saw the attackers come back. The women ran in the direction of the conference venue. One of the men jumped Matisova from behind. She fell down, and Aronchik stumbled right over her. The men left again. Aronchik and Matisova got up and continued to the conference venue. As soon as they arrived, they called an ambulance and the police.

Police officials arrived promptly but made no move to search for the attackers. Aronchik filed a complaint with the police straight away. Matisova, who had to go to a hospital to receive treatment for temporary blindness caused by a mild chemical burn from an acetone-based substance, filed a complaint with the police the next day. She also suffered minor injuries to her shoulder and knee as a result of the fall and shared her medical records with police officials. After the attack, the organizers had to cancel the rest of the conference when the venue administrators, fearful of possible security incidents, suspended the lease agreement.

Matisova told me there were security cameras at the site of the attacks. She and Aronchik also kept the clothes they wore that night unwashed so that the police could gather forensic evidence, including traces of the spray the attackers had used. While there appears to be little doubt the two were victims of a violent hate crime, two weeks after the attack there is no sign that the police have opened a criminal case. Authorities should act immediately and ensure that this brutal crime does not go unpunished.“ (HRW, 22. November 2017)

Der folgende Artikel von Dekoder vom April 2016 ist die Übersetzung eines Artikels von Colta.ru, der aus vier Interviews mit einem Polizisten, einer Juristin und zwei schwulen Männern zum Thema homosexuellenfeindlicher Gewalt besteht. In dem Artikel geht es auch konkret um Sankt Petersburg:

·      Dekoder: „Das fehlte noch, die Schwulen schützen“, 13. April 2016
https://www.dekoder.org/de/article/das-fehlte-noch-die-schwulen-schuetzen

 

Ältere Informationen zu dem Thema entnehmen Sie bitte auch der folgenden ACCORD-Anfragebeantwortung vom Jänner 2017:

·      ACCORD – Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation: Anfragebeantwortung zur Russischen Föderation: Lage von männlichen Homosexuellen in St. Petersburg und Moskau [a-9976-2 (a-9977)], 13. Jänner 2017
https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/1145816.html

Lage von Regenbogenfamilien

·      Russisches LGBT-Netzwerk: Monitoring of Discrimination and Violence based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Russia in 2016-2017, 26. April 2018
https://lgbtnet.org/sites/default/files/discrimination.pdf

„The following story can be given as an example of a manifestation of hate speeches on a personal level:

Survivor’s father passed away. At his funeral service, the woman was being insulted with homophobic language either by her relatives or passers-by. It all started with discussion of her sexuality and appearance – that a woman should not look ‘like that’, that she should wear dresses. It ended with discussion of survivor’s personal life. The relatives called her to change her mind, saying: ‚Why do you need this? You should live a normal life! Change your mind!‘ The woman was trying to talk to them until she realized there was no point. During the talks, 8 aunts had tried to educate her how to live: ‘Do you understand what your children will become? They are ashamed of you! They cannot tell who their mother is around people! Your son is about to get married – how would he introduce you to his fiancée’s parents? What would they say? How could this influence their relationships?’ The woman was being put on an intense psychological pressure (around 8 hours). After staying with her relatives for 2 days the woman was advised to visit church and a doctor.

This example illustrates a widespread homonegativistic rhetoric based on the idea of protecting children and teenagers. According to this discourse, besides being ‘ashamed’ of being related to LGBT people, non-adults should be guarded from LGBT people’s supposedly bad and corruptive influence on their immature psyche and sexuality. Most of all, specialists, working with children, are obsessed with those ideas.” (Russisches LGBT-Netzwerk, 26. April 2018, S. 17)

„In other service industries, both commercial and social, LGBT people often face discrimination as well. For example, for same-sex families there are difficulties connected with the inability to officially register a marriage and receive benefits provided to families for the purchase of housing. In the case when official registration could confirm the family status of partners, same-sex couples have nothing to assert against devaluation of their experience as a family.

On January 7, at the ‘Chaika’ skiing base, in the suburbs of Samara, a same-sex couple with children was denied services on the same terms as the rest of the applicants. In the rules of providing services of this institution – the price list – there was a discount on the provision of services (rental of winter sports equipment) ‘Family’, which was defined as ‘two adults and two children’. In the presence of the young family, the discount was provided not only to married couples with children, but also to people who weren’t even a family, and possibly not even related, but who came together and represented themselves as a family. […] Workers of the base did not ask for any documents, especially certificates of marriage. The victims (a bi-couple with two children of one of them) in the presence of other visitors of ‘Chaika’ asked to give them the discount as well, explaining that they were a couple living together as a family. However, the person responsible for issuing the inventory and payment for services denied, explaining to them: ‘No, girls, I cannot. We live in Russia!‘ At the same time, they obviously could have just introduced themselves as sisters to get the discount.” (Russisches LGBT-Netzwerk, 26. April 2018, S. 22)

„LGBT families with children not only can be restricted from access to various services, but also can be at risk of interference of guardianship authorities into their family life. In 2016-2017 within the monitoring program, we documented four cases of violation of parental rights. The public perceives homosexuals and transgender people as people who are unable to be loving and caring parents. Moreover, they are considered to be able to ‘impose’ their SOGI to children because of the homophobic prejudices and images of LGBT people in the media as non-permanent partners and simply strange and unpleasant characters. Sometimes this distorted perception turns into action against specific families: for example, the homophobic activist Timur Bulatov, well known for blackmail campaigns of LGBT teachers, purposefully influences the guardianship authorities to prevent LGBT people from raising their children.

In 2016 a transgender woman, the guardian of three children, became Bulatov’s victim. She was subjected to numerous insults and outing by the activist on his page in VK social network, where he expressed his disapproval of the fact that transgender people can have a family in derogatory form. According to the materials that Bulatov posted, he contacted the guardianship authorities in order to deprive D. of parental rights.

Open LGBT families are a rare phenomenon in Russia not only because of the lack of opportunity to formally register a marriage or partnership. Despite the fact that there are no formal prohibitions on restricting LGBT people from parental rights acquiring, many LGBT families are concerned about the propaganda law because of the broad interpretation of the ‘propaganda of non-traditional relations’ concept. It is not entirely clear what exactly in accordance with this law can be considered as information that can harm children health. For this reason, LGBT parents try to remain unnoticed: often lesbian couples show their relationship off as friendship, male gay couples pretend to be blood relatives in order to avoid suspicion.

However, the risk of government and guardianship agencies interference in family affairs exists not only for LGBT people: suspicions of homosexuality or transgenderness of parents are enough to attract the attention of custody to the family. This happened to Yuliya Savinovskikh from Ekaterinburg:

On August 7, 2017 the Custody and Guardianship service officers in Ekaterinburg illegally took away two adopted children from the family of Savinovskikh on the grounds of suspicion that Yuliya was ostensibly a transgender person – she carried out mastectomy and had a blog on behalf of a man. Custody and guardianship service staff did not conclude any deeds and did not assert any lawful charges. On September 21, 2017 the court approved the Custody and guardianship service actions legal and refused the adopting family to get the children back. On December 06, 2017 Ekaterinburg court considered the appeal filed by the family, abolished the previous decision and forwarded a new case for the consideration. The next court, held on February 5, 2018, also did not decide to return the children to Yuliya and her husband, motivating its decision by the fact that ‘self-identification of Savinovskikh Yuliya as a male representative, taking into account her marriage with a man and the desire to accept the social role inherent to men, contradicts the principles of the family law of the country, the traditions and mentality of the society’. Parents are struggling to restore their rights, while their adopted children are in the orphanage for more than six months.

The level of non-acceptance of LGBT people in society is interlinked with the categorical division of gender norms into male and female. As the Savinovskikh’s case shows, some deviations from the image of the ‘real woman’ can be read as sufficient grounds for the destruction of the family. It should be noted that this position of guardianship agencies and courts is very specific about the observance of the norms, since it affirms the non-acceptance of LGBT parents being more important rather than a well-being and quiet life of two young children and one big happy family.” (Russisches LGBT-Netzwerk, 26. April 2018, S. 23-24)

·      Russisches LGBT-Netzwerk: Statement of the Russian LGBT Network Board on the fact that Pavel Stotsko and Evgeniy Voytsekhovsky had to leave Russia, 31. Jänner 2018
https://lgbtnet.org/en/content/statement-russian-lgbt-network-board-fact-pavel-stotsko-and-evgeniy-voytsekhovsky-had-leave

„The Russian LGBT Network confirms that Pavel Stotsko and Evgeniy Voytsekhovsky had to leave the Russian Federation because of the pressure and unlawful actions of the Russian law enforcement agencies. Pavel and Evgeniy did not expect such an outcome, and it was the real threat to their freedom and security that forced them to leave.

Few days ago, Pavel and Evgeniy got a confirmation of their marriage in Russia (the marriage was initially registered on January 4, in Copenhagen), at one of the local Moscow departments of the Ministry of Interior. The officer who put the stamps confirming the marriage in their passport did not break any law. According to the Article 14 of the Family Code of Russia, the Russian Federation acknowledges the marriages registered in other countries if there are no obstacles, which are listed in the very same article. Taking into account the fact that Pavel and Evgeniy were adult and fully capable, were not married and did not have close family relations with each other, there were no legal obstacles to confirm their family status in Russia.

The right to marry and found a family is a human right that cannot be restricted on the grounds of sex, sexual orientation or gender identity. Even if the national legislation does not provide a possibility for the same-sex marriages, such a marriage registered legally in other countries must be recognized by the Russian authorities.

The reaction of the law enforcement agencies on fully legitimate activities of Pavel and Evgeniy were unlawful and reflected prejudiced personal opinions of some state officials who believe that same-sex marriages are ‘unacceptable’ in Russia.

The trumped-up nature of the charges against Pavel and Evgeniy (they were accused of the damage of the documents) confirms the lawlessness of the law enforcement agencies. Physical and psychological violence and threats of the police officers have no justifications.

The police blocked the entrance to the apartments where Pavel and Evgeniy reside, did not allow friends and activists who came to support them to enter the apartment, cut off electricity and connection to internet. The police even told to the lawyers that Pavel and Evgeniy would not be able to leave the apartment at all if they would refuse to pass to them their stamped passports. They even were threatening Pavel and Evgeniy with the opening of the criminal proceedings against them.

One of big Moscow police officers (Andrey Zakharov) came to negotiate this situation. He said that if Pavel and Evgeniy would pass their passport to him, the police officers would unblock the apartments, and the administrative charges would be taken away. The Russian LGBT Network possess the video of these negotiations.

The police officers also stated that even though there would be no state persecutions of Pavel and Evgeniy, homophobic attacks are possible. And the police cannot guarantee their safety and protection. It is another evidence of the fact that the Russian authorities do not consider homosexual, bisexual and transgender people as equal full-fledged citizens, do not guarantee their security and equality before the law.

The monitoring program of the Russian LGBT Network regularly detects inaction of the law enforcements agencies in cases when they are supposed to protect LGBT citizens, or the conscious choice not to investigate hate crimes against LGBT. Even though we are receiving an information about such hate crimes almost every day. Few days ago, on January 28, two popular androgynous bloggers were beaten in the Moscow city-center.” (Russisches LGBT-Netzwerk, 31. Jänner 2018)

·      Them: This Lesbian Couple and Their Daughter Escaped Russia for Spain, 6. Dezember 2017
https://www.them.us/story/this-lesbian-couple-and-their-daughter-escaped-russia

„When Natalia and Oksana first became a couple ten years ago, nobody questioned them.

They lived in Moscow, working as an IT analyst and an interior designer, and living what they described as a fairly ‘normal’ life. Although homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1993, homophobia is still rampant in Russian society - Natalia and Oksana didn’t go around talking openly about their relationship or sexual orientation. But their living together wasn’t met with threats, and they say they lived a relatively stress-free existence. Back then, they claim, there was hope for ‘building a society based on human rights, where everyone would have been equal.’

But after 2013, that all changed. That year, Russia passed a law that made it illegal to publicly promote information about homosexuality. Known as the gay propaganda law, it bans ‘creating a distorted image of the social equivalence of traditional and nontraditional sexual relationships.’ It was passed under the guise of protecting children and traditional family values, but instead has resulted in increased discrimination and persecution against the gay community.

Natalia and Oksana experienced this surge of homophobia first-hand. In late 2016, Oksana was forced to leave her job because of her sexual orientation after coming out to her boss, who she had gained trust in. Their neighbors, who they previously had a good relationship with, started speaking openly about how LGBTQ+ people are ‘sick’ and should be imprisoned. But the tipping point came when Natalia's childhood teacher, with whom she maintained a relationship through the years, found out about her and Oksana’s relationship. She threatened to take Dasha away from Natalia - the girl’s biological mother - if she didn’t find a man instead.

‘We, as decent and absolutely normal citizens, were put in the position of criminals in our own country and were forced to hide our ‘crime’ on an everyday basis,’ said Natalia, who wishes not to disclose her last name - her family still doesn’t know her full story.

In March 2017, Natalia and her family - who asked to go by the names of Oksana and Dasha to protect their identities - fled to Spain to seek political asylum. Little by little, they’ve begun to rebuild their lives and form new communities. […]

‘We lived in Russia as secretly as possible, and still, we were subjected to moral pressure, both directly and indirectly,’ says Natalia. ‘The main reason for our departure was the desire that our family, and especially our child, are safe. And that our child grow up with the understanding that her family is normal, not a crime, and she can be proud of it, just like any other family.’ […]

Olga Baranova is the head of the Russian LGBT Network’s Moscow branch. […] Baranova says that while the situation in Russia was always difficult for the LGBTQ+ community, it’s gotten worse since the 2013 gay propaganda law. ‘In 2010 or 2011 we thought it was getting better, but no,’ she said. ‘Now, each year, it becomes worse.’

Since the implementation of the law, Baranova says that some Russians feel empowered to attack LGBTQ+ people, usually without reproach from the police. That’s why the network provides community support, access to mental health care, and guidance to lawyers that can represent people in cases of discrimination, among other things.

Baranova says that gay women in Russia face persecution as much as men, even though the male experience has gained more international attention in the media. She says that, from what she’s seen in helping the community, there are actually more women than men that leave the country as LGBTQ+ refugees. The most often heard reason for leaving, she says, is echoed by Natalia: the fear of having their child taken away, just because the mother is gay.” (Them, 6. Dezember 2017)

·      Dekoder: Video #14: Erste Homoehe in Russland registriert, 7. Februar 2018
https://www.dekoder.org/de/article/erste-homoehe-russland-lgbt

„Zwei Stempel im russischen Pass, da steht es schwarz auf weiß: Pawel Stozko und Jewgeni Wojciechowski sind miteinander verheiratet. Das schwule Paar gab sich in Kopenhagen das Jawort, wie es viele homosexuelle Russen tun, ließ die Ehe aber in Russland anerkennen, was noch niemand versucht hat. In ihrem Fall ging es allerdings problemlos – zunächst. Im Fernsehsender Doshd erzählen sie von dem ungewöhnlichen Vorgehen und erklären ihre Beweggründe, die Ehe in Russland offiziell registrieren zu lassen.

Doch unmittelbar nach Publikwerden des ungewöhnlichen Falles erklärte die Sprecherin des Innenministeriums Irina Wolk die Pässe für ungültig. Der zuständigen Behördenmitarbeiterin, die die Ehe anerkannt hatte, und ihrer Vorgesetzten werde gekündigt, so Wolk. Die Wohnung des Paares wurde belagert von Polizisten, die von ihnen verlangten, die Pässe herauszugeben. Zwischenzeitlich wurde der Strom abgedreht, um Druck auf sie auszuüben. Den beiden wurde eine ‚Ordnungswidrigkeit‘ vorgeworfen, nämlich das ‚vorsätzliche Beschädigen von Dokumenten‘. Die Eltern von Pawel Stozko erhielten anonyme Drohanrufe, sogar die Polizei kam bei ihnen vorbei – ohne Durchsuchungsbefehl, unter dem Vorwand, es sei ein Verbrechen im Hof des Hauses begangen worden.

Vorwürfe, die gleichgeschlechtliche Ehe sei verboten in Russland, wo es das sogenannte Anti-Propagandagesetz gibt, sind allerdings haltlos. Das erklärte auch Jelena Lukjanowa, Professorin an der MGU und spezialisiert auf Verfassungsrecht, auf dem Radiosender Echo Moskwy: ‚Sie haben ihre Ehe in genauer Übereinstimmung mit dem russischen Familienrecht registrieren lassen, in dem nicht steht, welches Geschlecht die Bürger haben müssen, die ihre im Ausland geschlossene Ehe in Russland anerkennen lassen.‘

Pawel Stozko und Jewgeni Wojciechowski jedenfalls haben inzwischen das Land verlassen. In einer Stellungnahme dazu schreibt das Russian LGBT Network, das Paar habe sich aufgrund des ‚großen Drucks‘ zu diesem Schritt gezwungen gesehen.“ (Dekoder, 7. Februar 2018)

·      Quarteera: Erste Umfrage zur Situation von LGBT-Familien in Russland, 27. März 2014
http://www.quarteera.de/news/ersteumfragezursituationvonlgbt-familieninrussland

„Die St. Petersburger LGBT-Organisation ‚Coming Out‘ hatte eine Untersuchung über die Bedürfnisse gleichgeschlechtlicher Familien mit Kindern in Russland durchgeführt. An der Online-Umfrage nahmen 98 Personen aus 22 Städten Russlands teil. Die meisten Teilnehmer waren Frauen im Alter zwischen 25 und 40 Jahren. Außerdem kamen die meisten Teilnehmer aus St. Petersburg und Moskau. 95% der Befragten lebt mit Kindern, 5% planen Eltern zu werden. […]

‚Coming Out‘ befragte die Teilnehmer auch, ob sie ihre sexuelle Orientierung offen leben oder sie verstecken. Mehr als die Hälfte der Befragten (67%) verstecken ihre sexuelle Orientierung teilweise, 30% verschweigen sie vollständig. Nur 3% der Befragten antworteten, dass sie sich vollständig offen als gleichgeschlechtliche Familie in der Öffentlichkeit zeigen.

Allerdings zeigte sich, dass die Hälfte der Befragten erst nach der Verabschiedung des Gesetzes über die sogenannte ‚Propaganda von Homosexualität‘ und dem Beginn der öffentlichen Hetzjagd auf Schwule und Lesben zurückhaltender beim coming out wurden. Wie die Teilnehmer betonten, erfahren sie den größten gesellschaftlichen Druck durch die Annahme, ihre Familie sei illegitim, und durch die erhöhte gesellschaftliche Aufmerksamkeit für ihre sexuelle Orientierung. Nur 2% der Befragte hatten physische Gewalt erlebt.

Interessant ist außerdem, dass nur 12% der Kinder in gleichgeschlechtlichen Familien eine indirekte Diskriminierung spürten. In den meisten Fällen beträfe das das Aufzwingen einer heterosexuellen Norm. Die meisten Eltern gaben an, dass ihre Kinder nicht diskriminiert würden. […]

Gleichgeschlechtliche Eltern berichten von ständigen Behinderungen im alltäglichen Leben. In erster Linie hängt das damit zusammen, dass die gesamte Verantwortung für das Kind ausschließlich auf der biologischen Mutter liegt, da das zweite Elternteil keinerlei Rechte im Bezug auf das Kind hat. ‚Man kann dem Co-Elternteil jederzeit sagen: Du bist hier niemand. Das zweite Elternteil gibt es für die Gesellschaft nicht und es hat keine Rechte im Bezug auf das Kind. Einen großen Teil der Arbeit im Zusammenhang mit staatlichen, städtischen, medizinischen Einrichtungen trägt darum immer die biologische Mutter allein. Das ist physisch und psychisch sehr schwer,‘ kommentiert Sasha Semenowa.

Außerdem, so berichtet sie, muss man ständig darauf achten, was man sagt. „Wir bemühen uns, unser Kind offen zu erziehen. Die zweite Mutter ist keine ‚Tante‘, keine ‚Freundin‘, sondern auch Mutter. Aber sobald wir aus der Wohnungstür gehen, müssen wir anfangen genau nachzudenken: hier sage ich es, hier schweige ich lieber, hier tue ich so, als ob ich nichts gehört habe, und hier ist es am wichtigsten, dass das Kind nichts hört. Man hat das Gefühl, dass man ständig riskiert, nicht nur, dass man etwas nicht korrekt sagt und das Kind es hören könnte. Seit das Gesetz zum Verbot der Homo-Propaganda erlassen ist, kann auch jeder behaupten, dass das Gesetz auf seiner Seite ist und deshalb einen Skandal machen, der für uns Folgen hat.““ (Quarteera, 27. März 2014)

Lage von Trans-Personen

Informationen zu diesem Thema entnehmen Sie bitte auch dem folgenden Kurzbericht vom August 2017:

·      Transgender Legal Defense Project: The situation of transgender persons in Russia, August 2017 (veröffentlicht von CESCR)
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1409315/1930_1505908015_int-cescr-css-rus-28825-e.pdf

 

·      USDOS – US Department of State: Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2017 - Russia, 20. April 2018
https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/1430116.html

„Although the law allows transgender individuals to change their names and gender classifications on government documents, they faced difficulties doing so because the government had not established standard procedures and many civil registry offices denied their requests. When their documents failed to reflect their gender accurately, transgender persons often faced harassment by law enforcement officers and discrimination in accessing health care, education, housing, transportation, and employment.

There were some isolated positive developments during the year for the LGBTI community. In some instances courts found in favor of LGBTI persons seeking to exercise their human rights. According to Human Rights Watch, in December 2016 three men attacked and forced a transgender woman from Uzbekistan into a car where they gang-raped her. The perpetrators filmed it and extorted money from her by threatening to publish the video. In May a court in Murmansk found the men guilty of extortion with the use of violence and sentenced them to four years in prison. They were not charged with rape, but the court did recognize it as a hate crime on the basis of her gender identity.” (USDOS, 20. April 2018, Section 6)

·      Russisches LGBT-Netzwerk: Monitoring of Discrimination and Violence based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Russia in 2016-2017, 26. April 2018
https://lgbtnet.org/sites/default/files/discrimination.pdf

„The traditionalist course on rigid gender and sexual guidelines leads to the fact that transgender people are becoming and especially vulnerable group of discrimination. The monitoring team has documented 46 cases of discrimination on the grounds of transphobia. Discrepancy between the gender marker in the passport and their changed appearance during hormonotherapy leads to difficulties to get services that require showing passport. Disclosure of transgender status may cause improper questions, insults, public humiliation and physical violence; therefore, transgender people frequently avoid situations that involve passport conformation. For example, due to discrepancy between a passport gender marker and appearance, transgender man from Tolyatti had to dispute with bank workers for 40 minutes in order to withdraw money from his bank account.

Replacement of documents would solve this kind of issues, although such procedure implies whole number of difficulties. It requires physical examination that would confirm presence of F64.0 (ICD-10) diagnosis – ‘Transsexualism’ – to get permission for replacement of documents. Monitoring shows that transgender people encounter transphobia even at this stage when talking to specialists:

Transgender woman got an appointment to a specialist’s consultation to have psychiatric diagnosis set. Before that, she underwent a hormone therapy that took 2 years. Her appearance was transformed according to female gender standards; besides, her hormonal background was affirmed by endocrinologist. In fact, she only had to pass formal procedure to get her gender marker changed in documents. As the victim claims, consultation at a local psychoneurological dispensary was horrible. The questions that qualified doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists asked the woman, who recently lost her job because of transition, were unprofessional and highly emotional: ‘Do you know that you will have 5-10 years to live? Do you know that you will not be 100% woman? Do you realize that you condemn yourself to loneliness? The questioning that took a few hours without a break brought the woman to tears several times and devastated her emotionally.

In another case, a victim went to a local endocrinologist in order to get a prescription for hormones and medical report on his hormonal background (hormonal gender reassignment). The doctor refused to provide both, acted coldly with disgust. Afterwards, the doctor gave a referral to another clinic.

However, even successful obtaining of all medical documents does not guarantee gender marker change in documents. Until 2018, registry offices widely denied transgender people referring to the lack of medical certificate that confirms gender reassignment that is required by law. The problem lied in the fact that the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation for many years still did not establish any standardized medical certificate template for such inquiries. Having received a formal waiver from the registry office, the transgender person went to court, using all collected medical documents to prove that his/her hormonal and social gender does not correspond to the passport gender marker. After getting a positive decree, registry office changes person’s passport gender marker on the basis of a court decision.

In October, 2017 the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation finally submitted a draft of a gender recognition certificate for discussion, and in January, 2018 it was approved. The approved form of the certificate, in comparison with the draft, contains positive amendments. For example, the draft stated that there would be a year and half long examination period at psychiatrist’s, however, there are no clinical guidelines on what a psychiatrist needs to do with a transgender patient, especially for such a long period. The approved certificate does not have this term. In general, the approval of the certificate significantly simplified the process of changing documents, now transgender people do not need to assert their right to change their passport gender marker in court. However, a number of other characteristics of the document remained the same, which would provoke difficulties for transgender people. The certificate is valid for only one year, and if a person for some reason was not able to replace documents during that time, it remains unclear whether it would be possible to update the certificate or it would be necessary to undergo the entire procedure to get it from the very beginning again. According to the document, there must be three specialists in a medical board: a psychiatrist, a sexologist and a medical psychologist. Nevertheless, for example, a sexologist is a rare specialist, especially for small towns. It is likely that people would need to independently find and pay such specialist of the medical board out of their own money.

This forms a vicious circle: documents replacement process (as well as hormone therapy and required surgeries) requires significant amount of money, although a mismatch between actual appearance of transgender people and their documents, they face employment discrimination and cannot earn enough money to pass the medical commission and change their passport gender marker.

O. had several attempts to get a job in the field of IT in companies that specialize in website creation and promotion, but each time she faced denial. There were about seven interviews; however, O. does not remember the exact names of the companies. During each interview, employers were willing to hire O. saying_ ‘You can start tomorrow’, but as soon as O. showed her passport with a male name in it, she immediately got a denial: ‘Replace your documents and come again.’, ‘We’ll call you back soon’. Due to the fact she did not manage to get a job by her speciality within four months, she got a job of a courier-registrar (she was registering fictitious organizations herself). This led to conflicts and fines by the tax service. O. says that employment problems caused her depression.

Problems with employment often force transgender women to go into the industry, where their psychological characteristics are desirable and demanded – sex work. At the same time, like any sex worker, they are at a high risk of being subjected to physical and sexual violence, being exploited by pimps, getting drug or alcohol addiction. Transgender women are subjected to violence much more often, since they are perceived as the quintessence of homosexuality in heteropatriarchal culture.” (Russisches LGBT-Netzwerk, 26. April 2018, S. 26-29)

·      CoE-ECSR – Council of Europe - European Committee of Social Rights: European Committee of Social Rights Conclusions 2017; Russian Federation, Jänner 2018
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1425567/1226_1519804583_cr-2017-rus-eng.pdf

„As regards the right to protection of health of transgender persons, the Committee previously received submissions from the International Lesbian and Gay Association (European Region) (ILGA) stating that ‘in the Russian Federation the practice requires transgender people to undergo medical treatment (sterilisation) as a condition of legal gender recognition’. Moreover, ILGA claimed that ‘the authorities fail to provide adequate medical facilities for gender reassignment treatment (or the alternative of such treatment abroad), and to ensure that medical insurance covers, or contributes to the coverage of such medically necessary treatment, on a non-discriminatory basis’. In this respect, the Committee asked whether in the Russian Federation legal gender recognition for transgender persons requires (in law or in practice) that they undergo sterilisation or any other invasive medical treatment which could impair their health or physical integrity (Conclusions 2013). The Committee takes note of the comments submitted by Transgender Europe and ILGA-Europe on the implementation of Article 11 of the Charter in the current cycle stating that the Russian Federation is one of the states that requires sterilisation as a condition for legal gender recognition.

The report indicates that medical services for gender reassignment are not included in the program of state guarantees of free medical care financed by compulsory medical insurance funds and, in most cases, almost all costs associated with the gender reassignment are paid by transgender persons independently. The report adds that medical sterilisation can only be performed upon a written request from a person over the age of thirty-five or a person with at least two children, and in case of medical indications and informed consent of the person regardless of age and children. Transgender persons are not mentioned in the list of medical indications for medical sterilisation. The Committee reiterates its question whether legal gender recognition for transgender persons requires (in law or in practice) that they undergo sterilization or any other invasive medical treatment which could impair their health or physical integrity.“ (CoE-ECSR, Jänner 2018, S. 17)

·      Stimul/Phoenix PLUS/Russian LGBT Network/Transgender Legal Defense Project/Coming Out: Written submission related to the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons and men who have sex with men in Russia, August 2017 (veröffentlicht von CESCR)
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1409351/1930_1505906903_int-cescr-css-rus-28824-e.pdf

„As already mentioned in the Section 1 of the present submission, the Russian Federation in its response to the questions raised by the Committee stated that ‘between 2013 and 2016, no reports of unjustified restriction of access to employment, health and education services for persons classified as sexual minorities (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) were received’.

However, transgender persons are one of the most vulnerable and discriminated groups of the Russian population, due to having specific medical needs and being unable to hide their transgender status because of the absence of swift, transparent and accessible procedure of legal gender recognition. Thus, transgender persons often face discrimination when they are asked to show their IDs.

(a) Employment discrimination of transgender persons

Many transgender persons face denial of employment due to mismatch between their IDs and appearance/gender identity. Often it is the only stated reason for rejection (see cases 4.1-4.4). Finding even a low-paid job may take a very long time for a transgender person. Without a steady source of income transgender persons are forced either to depend on their partners, friends and relatives or to find illegal job opportunities (such as sex-work) in order to survive and afford hormonal treatment, medical examinations and surgeries (see case 4.4).

Employed transgender persons risk facing harassment, demotion and dismissal when starting their transition (see case 4.5).

75% of respondents among transgender people who were looking for employment in the period since June 2016 to August 2017 stated that they had faced rejection. At the same time 29% of respondents were confident that they had been denied a job explicitly because of them being transgender. Also, 66% of respondents evaluated the chances of a transgender person without legal gender recognition finding a paid job in Russia as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.

Case 4.1. Vladislav, a transgender man from Novosibirsk, was denied a job after showing his ID during the interview in 2016. The denial was expressed in an aggressive and offensive manner.

Case 4.2. Diana, a transgender woman from Saint Petersburg, faced four rejections when applying for different jobs in 2014. The company ‘Yarkiy Fotomarket’ refused to employ her, openly stating the mismatch between her male ID and appearance as the reason. The company ‘Sakura’ was initially willing to give her the job, informed her of the time and place of probation, gave her job instructions and assured her that her ID was not a problem. Later, however, they informed her that a mistake seemed to have occurred and the job was not actually vacant. The companies ‘MosIgra’ and ‘Bukvoed’ denied Diana employment without explanations.

Case 4.3. Alexander, a transgender man from Tver, was denied a job at an amusement park in 2016. The only reason for rejection was his appearance, as he was told: ‘Children come here, they will not understand if you are a man or a woman’.

Case 4.4. Natalia, a transgender woman from Saint Petersburg, faced several denials of employment in 2015. During an interview for the company ‘Lush’, on realizing that Natalia was a transgender woman, the employer rejected her with the comment that they ‘would go to jail if they gave her a job with this ID’. During an interview for a job of call-center operator at ‘Rostelecom’ she was denied employment and was requested to come back after obtaining female ID. During an interview for the ‘Interyerny’ Theater she was told that her experience qualified her for the job, but later she was rejected without any specific reasons being given. After filling the application form for a job in the store chain ‘Pyaterochka’ she heard that she was suitable for the job. However, after finding out her transgender status, she was denied the job without any explanation. Later she was given a job at the ‘Floral Fantasy’ (‘Tsvetochnaya Fantasia’) company. However, after her first probation day she was rejected without any reasons given. Natalia also went to an interview in the cafe-bar ‘Firebird’ (‘Zhar-Ptitsa’). During the interview, the cafe owner found fault with Natalia’s appearance, noting that ‘their staff must look perfectly ordinary’ and also stating that in case of inspection the establishment might have trouble. Natalia did not get the job.

Case 4.5. Anastasia, a transgender woman from the Moscow Region, in 2015 was dismissed from her job after having worked for 1,5 years in a construction company when she started her transition. She was demanded to resign with ‘department optimization’ as the official reason. However, Anastasia's colleague told her of a corporate meeting, which took place without Anastasia. During the meeting, the company's CEO stated that he ‘was not going to tolerate sex change’.

(b) Discrimination of transgender people in health care

Many transgender people experience significant problems with receiving a diagnosis of ‘transsexualism’. Obtaining this diagnosis is necessary for prescription of hormonal replacement treatment, observation of an endocrinologist as well as for undergoing sex reassignment surgeries. Moreover, without obtaining this diagnosis, it is impossible to change one’s legal gender marker. However, healthcare specialists’ attitude towards transgender persons is often degrading, and the latter’s attempt to receive a diagnosis of ‘transsexualism’ results in a loss of time and money (see case 4.6).

The discrepancy between the gender marker indicated in the transgender person’s documents and their gender identity may result in a denial of medical care and even be a reason of aggression on the part of healthcare specialists. Lack of timely medical assistance or enforced self-treatment may threaten the health and life of transgender persons (see cases 4.7, 4.8).

Sometimes transgender people, even if diagnosed with ‘transsexualism’, cannot receive prescriptions for hormonal replacement treatment because of prejudice and unprofessionalism of healthcare specialists. This makes transgender people purchase drugs illegally, which may lead to buying fake drugs and, thus to harm to transgender persons’ health (see case 4.9).

Case 4.6. In July 2017, Alexey, a transgender man from Yekaterinburg, was undergoing examination in the ‘Sosnovy Bor’ psychoneurological hospital in order to receive a diagnosis of ‘transsexualism’. His attending doctor repeatedly expressed doubts about his gender identity and said that Alexei was trying to deceive him, and that his behavior was ‘not male.’ Alexey was also hospitalized, which he considers to be unreasonable for confirming the diagnosis of transsexualism. Eventually, Alexey was told that he won’t be diagnosed with transsexualism unless he gets a job.

Case 4.7. In December 2015, U., a transgender woman, was hospitalized to perform a routine surgery to repair her nasal septum. However, after consulting her, the medical specialists refused to perform the surgery due to U.’s ‘psycho-emotional instability’. However, U. was not examined by either a psychologist or psychiatrist. Instead of it, she was examined by an urologist who examined her genitals. During U.’s stay in hospital, doctors and nurses on numerous occasions suggested her ‘to cut hair short and not behave herself so strangely.’

Case 4.8. In 2015, Irina, a transgender woman from St. Petersburg, visited a medical center. She was denied medical assistance due to the discrepancy between her legal gender marker and appearance. The medical specialists suggested that her documents did not belong to her. When she explained that she was a transgender woman, she was insulted and made to leave the center.

Case 4.9. In June 2017, Eric, a transgender man from Novosibirsk, was trying to receive a prescription for hormonal drugs in several clinics (‘Healthy Family’, ‘Panacea’, ‘Reproductive Health+’, ‘Rainbow of Health’, ‘Zdravnitsa’, ‘Yunona’). The endocrinologists refused to give him a prescription despite the fact that Eric was diagnosed with transsexualism, and, moreover, had a certificate stating that he was already taking hormonal replacement treatment. The reason for the refusal was that these clinics did not ‘deal with such issues’ and did not ‘have experience with transgender people’. Unable to get a prescription, Eric had to buy hormonal drugs illegally.

(c) Discrimination of transgender people in education

Bulling and harassment of transgender people are widespread in Russian schools, colleges and universities. These actions can be committed by other students, as well as by teachers and administration officials. Discrimination against transgender students may take form of refusal for internships, outing (disclosure of one’s transgender status to a third party), insults, humiliation and even physical abuse (see cases 4.10-4.12). This often makes transgender students to leave school, college or university.

51% of transgender people who were students between June 2016 and August 2017 indicated that they experienced problems during the studies because of their transgenderness (negative attitude from other students and/or teachers, difficulties with visiting toilets and locker rooms).

Case 4.10. In October 2014, Andrey, a transgender man from Moscow, was passing an internship at a school for children with special needs. After about a month, Andrey was told that he could not continue his internship, as he could ‘promote transsexuality’ to the children who were especially vulnerable. The school administration suggested that the school would submit that Andrey had passed the internship if he did not complain anywhere about the violation of his rights.

Case 4.11. Kira, a transgender woman from St. Petersburg, studied at the college of the St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation. In autumn 2015 other students started bullying her. Teachers, in their turn, not only did not make any attempts to stop them, but also took part in the bullying. Kira had to leave the college.

Case 4.12. In 2015-2016, Alexandra, a transgender woman from Irkutsk, was an eighth-grade student. She was beaten up twice by a group of male students. Teachers learned about this and promised to talk to the abusers, but insults, humiliation and bullying continued. Moreover, the teachers themselves said that transgenderness was ‘a perversion’ and openly condemned the behaviour and appearance of Alexandra. In addition, Alexandra was forced to wear a school uniform designed for male students.“ (Stimul/Phoenix PLUS/Russian LGBT Network/Transgender Legal Defense Project/Coming Out, August 2017, S. 12-15)

·      HRW – Human Rights Watch: ‘I Only Wish I Could Exchange My Life for Another’, 2. August 2017
https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/1405059.html

„‘Lilly,’ a transgender woman from Uzbekistan, traveled to northern Russia in 2015, in search of work, hoping to earn money for her transition. In December 2016, three men attacked her on the street, forced her into a car, and gang-raped her. They also filmed the rape and extorted money from Lilly by threatening to publish the video online.

Police promptly arrested two of the perpetrators hours later. In May of this year, a court in Murmansk found the two men guilty of extortion with the use of violence and sentenced them to four years in prison. They were never charged with the rape – the rape that changed Lilly’s life irretrievably. ‘I only wish I could exchange my life for another,’ Lilly told me. But the court did recognize that the men targeted Lilly because of ‘hate’ – hatred for her gender identity – a rare breakthrough in Russia.

It’s significant that hostility towards LGBT people was acknowledged as a motivating factor precisely because hate crimes are a serious issue in Russia, and something that the United Nations experts who monitor Russia’s compliance with the International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) will examine in Geneva this week.“ (HRW, 2. August 2017)

·      BBC News: Transgender Kyrgyz seek unlikely refuge in Russia, 10. April 2018
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41437866

„Homosexuality was decriminalised in Russia in 1993. However, prejudice against LGBT people has remained widespread. In 2013 a federal statute, widely knows as the Gay Propaganda Bill, criminalised the promotion of ‚non-traditional sexual relations’ to children. Like in Kyrgyzstan, these anti-gay laws contributed to a surge in vigilantism across the country, with gay people often lured to meetings where they would be beaten and humiliated.

‘Transgender people face all kinds of violations in everyday life, more than homosexual or bisexual people,’ warns Svetlana Zakharova from the Russian LGBT Network. ‘But the problem here is more with society as a whole rather than the police - they do not care if someone is transsexual unless they violate some societal norm by speaking out publicly.’“ (BBC News, 10. April 2018)

·      Queer.de: Russland: Trans-Aktivistin brutal ermordet, 1. April 2018
http://www.queer.de/detail.php?article_id=30904

„Russische Medien haben am Samstag, dem Internationalen Tag zur Sichtbarkeit von Transpersonen (‚International Transgender Day of Visibility‘), über den Tod der Trans-Aktivistin Nastja Sapaew berichtet. ‚Einige Hooligans in Moskau mochten ihr Aussehen nicht – sie wurde zu Tode geprügelt‘, sagte eine Freundin der 42-Jährigen, Julia Busirewa, gegenüber dem Magazin ‚Starhit‘.

Nähere Details und den Zeitpunkt der Tat nannten die Berichte zunächst nicht. Busirewa sagte, sie habe kürzlich von dem Tod erfahren. Die meisten Medien berichteten über Sapaew durchgehend mit männlichem Personalpronomen, was vom russischen LGBT Network als Misgendern kritisiert wurde, und dem früheren Namen Ewgenij, unter dem Sapaew bekannt wurde.

2010 hatte Sapaew eine Nebenrolle als Soldat in der Fortsetzung des Erfolg-Kinodramas ‚Die Sonne, die uns täuscht‘. Drei Jahre später begann sie ihre Transition – mit einer selbst durchgeführten Operation. In Talkshows berichtete sie später davon, wie sie sich selbst, in mehreren Schritten, mit einem Messer den Penis abschnitt, nach dem Studium von Medizinbüchern und unter Schmerzmitteln. Wie sie mit Blutungen ins Krankenhaus eingeliefert wurde, wo Ärzte ihr Leben retteten. Als Grund für die Selbstbehandlung, die Ansätze für Nachfolge-Behandlungen berücksichtigte, hatte sie Geldnot angegeben.

Nach der verzweifelten Selbst-OP, zu der sie zuvor vier Mal angesetzt, ihr aber letztlich zunächst der Mut gefehlt habe, beendete Sapaew die Schauspiel-Karriere, zog nach Moskau, trug jetzt Frauenkleidung und gab sich den weiblichen Vornamen. Später zog sie in die Heimat Welikowo in der Region Wladimir zurück, besuchte die rund 200 Kilometer entfernte Hauptstadt nur noch selten. […]

Sapaew trank nicht, rauchte nicht und nahm keine Drogen, berichtet eine Korrespondentin der Zeitung ‚Komsomolskaja Prawda‘. Spott und Beleidigungen habe sie ertragen und sei sich für keine Arbeit zu schade gewesen, habe als Netzelektrikerin ebenso gearbeitet wie als Reinigungskraft in einem Kuhstall. Sie habe Demütigungen in Talkshows ertragen – nicht für den Ruhm, so die Korrespondentin, aber um die Lage für sich und andere zu verbessern. Und für das dringend benötigte Geld für weitere Behandlungen. All das habe sie erduldet für ihren Traum, als Frau zu leben, so die Zeitung. ‚Für diesen Traum wurde sie ermordet.‘ […]

Anfang des Jahres hatte Russland bekannt gegeben, dass Personen demnächst einfacher eine rechtliche Änderung ihrers offiziellen Geschlechts erwirken können; ein komplizierteres, langwieriges und in der Praxis willkürliches und demütigendes Prozedere war bereits seit 1997 möglich. Für die Änderung des rechtlichen Geschlechts ist ein medizinisches Attest, aber keine geschlechtsangleichende Operation mehr notwendig. Diese medizinischen Leistungen werden ebenso wie Hormontherapien weiter nicht vom staatlichen Gesundheitssystem abgedeckt.“ (Queer.de, 1. April 2018)