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Gay TikTok couple arrested in Russia

Haoyang Xu faces deportation to China

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Haoyang Xu and Gela Gogishvili, gay couple and TikTok stars in Russia. (YouTube screenshot)

A young gay couple has been arrested with one facing deportation back to his native China after running afoul of Russiaā€™s ā€œgay propagandaā€ law signed byĀ Russian President Vladimir Putin last December, for their videos on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.

Gela Gogishvili, 23, a Russian national and his boyfriend, Chinese national Haoyang Xu, 21,Ā live in Kazan, the fifth largest city in Russia located on the banks of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in southwest Russia. The young coupleĀ had been documenting their everyday lives with their 740,000 followers on TikTok and 64,900 subscribers on YouTube.

The couple was arrested this past Thursday and although Gogishvili was released, Xu remains being held in a Russian detention center for migrants before being deported in seven days.

In an interview with Newsweek’s Shannon Power “We were very scared … it became a living hell because the impossible happened,” Gogishvili said.

According to Moscow-based LGBTQ group, DELO LGBT+ a local citizen tipped off police to Gogishvili and Xu’s social media content.

“The ‘gay propaganda’ law falls under the Administrative Code, but the Kazan police’s criminal investigation department has been looking for these guys … and they are treated like they are dangerous criminal offenders,” Vladimir Komov, senior partner and a spokesperson for the organization said.

In a court hearing Friday, Xu who had moved to Russia to study Russian at university, was found guilty of violating the enhanced ā€œgay propagandaā€ law and sentenced to a week in the detention center for migrants before being deported. The couple’s attorneys are appealing that decision.

Gogishvili comforts Xu outside the courtroom and after the hearing Xu being escorted to a detention center before his extradition to China.
(Photo Credit: Gela Gogishvili)

According to Newsweek: Police stopped the couple in the street after they had attended a museum with friends and demanded Xu present his papers, such as passport and student visa, but he couldn’t because he did not carry them on him. The officers then escorted them to get his documentation and took them in a police car to the Yapeyeva police station.

But once they got there, police informed the men they were being charged under Article 6.21 of Russia’s Administrative Offenses Code, otherwise known as the “gay propaganda” law.

“The policeman told us that it’s not that Haoyang didn’t have his papers on him but we will be prosecuted for ‘gay propaganda’ and … Haoyang could be deported,” Gogishvili said.

DELO LGBT+‘s Komov said that he could not understand why the couple had been arrested because they were “quite popular” on their social media platforms and their content was “not erotic” by any standard.

“They do TikToks about their everyday life as a gay couple, how they do chores, how they wash the dishes, how they communicate and only share a few romantic moments such as kissing … and some cuddling,” Komov said.

“How did the police informer and the Kazan police deem there was LGBT+ ‘propaganda’ on their social media? These guys just posted videos in which they kiss, hug and show their favorite sleeping poses.

“All this was considered an inappropriate demonstration of ‘homosexual intimacy’.”

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin issued a decree last December that directs the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, abbreviated as Roskomnadzor, to ban any websites that contain information about LGBTQ identities without a court order.

As a part of the stepped up enhancements of the law, ā€œInformation propagating non-traditional sexual relations and (or) preferencesā€ now serves as grounds for blacklisting any website in Russia and more recently used as a tool by Russian police and prosecutors against those posting prohibited material on their personal social media platforms.

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Vladimir Putin takes office for fifth term as Russia’s president

Kremlin’s crackdown on LGBTQ people expected to continue

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Russian President Vladimir Putin takes his 5th presidential oath of office on May 7, 2024. (Photo by Alexander Kazakov/RIA Novosti)

On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin took his oath of office becoming the second ever longest serving leader of the modern Russian state since Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, who held power from 1922 until his death in 1953.

Putin’s tenure in office has been marked by his acquisition of concentrated political power in part due to his eradication and imprisonment or the deaths of his political opponents, such as his rumored unproven involvement in the assassination of fierce Putin critic Boris NemtsovĀ on Feb. 27, 2015, just steps away from the gate to the Kremlin, and more recently in the prosecution and imprisonment of another high profile Putin critic, Alexei Navalny, who died on Feb. 16 at a penal colony north of the Arctic Circle.

Putin ordered military operations in August 2008, which led to the Russo-Georgian War and diplomatic relations were broken. To this day, the two countries have maintained no formal diplomatic relations. Then in February and March 2014, Russian troops at his direction invaded the Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and annexed it. The resulting hostilities also spread to the far-eastern Ukrainian oblasts, [provinces] which culminated with Russia invading Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that started in 2014. The invasion became the largest attack on a European country since the end of World War II in 1945.

As the war drags on Putin’s threats of military escalation against NATO countries and use of battlefield nuclear weapons has created a tense relationship with a majority of the European Union as well as with the United States. Russia has been heavily sanctioned by the West and is turning to other totalitarian regimes like China, Iran, and North Korea for support.

In his inaugural speech Putin made oblique reference to his oft stated desire to recreate a hybrid of the former Soviet Union:

“In these solemn and crucial moments of assuming the office of the president, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the citizens of Russia across all regions of our country, as well as those living in the historical territories of Russia who have won their right to stand united with our Motherland.”

The Russian president then thanked the forces fighting in the invasion of Ukraine saying:

“IĀ humbly honor our heroes, theĀ participants inĀ theĀ special military operation, andĀ all those who are fighting forĀ our Fatherland. IĀ would like toĀ thank you again forĀ theĀ trust you have placed inĀ me andĀ forĀ your unwavering support. These words are directed toĀ every citizen ofĀ Russia.”

On the domestic front Putin has stifled media outlets with draconian laws passed designed to keep the Russian population largely ignorant of the cost both human lives and governmental spending as the warfare in Ukraine drags on and losses to the Russian military continue.

The Associated Press reported neither the U.S., U.K. nor German ambassadors attended. The U.S. Embassy said Amb. Lynne Tracy was out of the country on ā€œprescheduled, personal travel.ā€

A handful of EU envoys attended even though top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said he told them ā€œthe right thing to do is not to attend this inauguration,ā€ because Putin is the subject of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine.

In his speech Putin issued a veiled threat to critics of his regime that dissention would not be tolerated:

“We can see that the atmosphere in society has changed, and how much we now value reliability, responsibility, sincerity, integrity, generosity, and courage. I will do everything in my power to ensure that those who have displayed these admirable human and professional traits, and who have proved their loyalty to the fatherland through their deeds, achieve leading positions in state governance, the economy and all other spheres.

We must ensure reliable continuity in the development of our country for decades to come and bring up new generations who will strengthen Russiaā€™s might and develop our state based on interethnic accord, the preservation of the traditions of all ethnic groups living in Russia, a civilizational nation united by the Russian language and our multi-ethnic culture.”

The Russian president has also targeted the country’s LGBTQ community with passage of multiple laws that forbid public mention or acknowledgment of queer Russians. In his speech he emphasized his commitment to maintaining “family values.”

“Our top priority is the preservation of the people. I am confident that the support of centuries-old family values and traditions will continue to unite public and religious associations, political parties, and all levels of government.

Our decisions regarding the development of the country and its regions must be effective and fair and must promote the prosperity of Russian families and improve their quality of life,” he said.

The Wilson Center, a nonpartisan think tank in D.C., noted recently:

“Escalating state discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community in Russia is directly informed by the Putin regimeā€™s struggle to maintain legitimacy and public support, especially as Russiaā€™s war in Ukraine drags on. Russian federal elections are scheduled for 2024, and officials are reportedly planning to project record levels of public support for Putin.”

The war in Ukraine and discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community are both popular policies among the socially conservative interest groups that make up Putinā€™s strongest base of support, and Russian policymakers draw clear connections between the Kremlin’s narrative that Russia is fighting Western ideology by proxy in Ukraine and the Kremlinā€™s attack on the LGBTQ+ experience in Russia.

Putin’s inaugural speech today signaled his future intentions on conducting the war in Ukraine and his ongoing persecution of LGBTQ+ Russians.”

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Transgender journalist who enlisted in Ukrainian military designated a terrorist by Russia

Sarah Ashton-Cirillo is from the US

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Sarah Ashton-Cirillo in D.C. on May 19, 2023. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

A transgender journalist from the U.S. who enlisted in the Ukrainian military has been designated a terrorist by Russia.

“The Kremlin added me to Russia’s official international terrorism list,” wrote Sarah Ashton-Cirillo in a Feb. 5 post on her X account.

Russia launched its war against Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. 

Ashton-Cirillo was a journalist when she began to cover the Armed Forces of Ukraineā€™s Kharkiv Defense Forces. She later enlisted and is now a junior sergeant. Ashton-Cirillo has also traveled to the U.S. several times on behalf of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

Shrapnel from a Russian artillery shell wounded Ashton-Cirillo last February while she was working as a senior combat medic in a trench near Kreminna, a city in eastern Ukraine.Ā 

“For Russia to name me as an officially sanctioned terrorist is laughable enough, however what was truly indicative of the hate coming from the Kremlin’s regime was that every press release and article in Russia about my being placed on Putin’s terrorism list was prefaced with the fact that I am trans,” Ashton-Cirillo told the Washington Blade on Friday. “The Russian government is genocidal and hate ridden and this is why it will collapse.” 

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Putin signs law banning transition therapy and surgery in Russia

Lawmakers approved measure earlier this month

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Russian President Vladimir Putin in July 2023. (Photo courtesy of the Russian government/Office of the Russian President)

Legislation that will effectively ban the existence of transgender Russians was signed on Monday as expected by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The new law, which takes effective immediately, was passed earlier this month by the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, and then last week by the Federal Council, which is its upper body.

The law now bans Russians from changing their gender on official government identity documents including internal and external passports, driverā€™s licenses and birth certificates, although gender marker changes had been legal since 1997.

Medical healthcare providers are now banned from ā€œperforming medical interventions designed to change the sex of a person,ā€ including surgery and prescribing hormone therapy.

The law, which human rights organizations have labeled draconian and barbaric, also bans individuals who have undergone gender reassignment from adopting children and annuls marriages in which one of the partners is trans.Ā 

LGBTQ activists have warned that the law will lead to a further increase in already high rates of suicide and suicide attempts among trans Russians. Worse, say sympathetic physicians and trans rights advocates, it will foment an underground market for surgeries and medications, which are dangerous as unproven drugs or outright fake drugs may cause irreparable harm.

LGBTQ activists also said that this law will lead to an increase in attempted suicides among trans youth unable to access medical care.

ā€œThe way how these people see their future is collapsing,ā€ Yan Dvorkin, the head of Center-T, a group that helps trans and nonbinary people in Russia, said in an interview with The Moscow Times earlier this month. 

During debate over the law, Deputy Duma Speaker Pytor Tolstoy, a co-sponsor of the legislation, pointed out that banning the ā€œpractice of transgenderismā€ was in the interest of national security.

The diagnosis of ā€œtranssexualism,ā€ he added, refers to gender identity disorders and is the basis for recognizing a citizen as unfit for military service. In addition, ā€œwe must not forget that by changing the sex of one of the partners, a homosexual couple gets the right to adopt a child. Unfortunately, there are already such cases in Russia,ā€ he said.

LGBTQ and human rights organization ILGA-Europe issued a statement condemning the actions of the Duma and offered support and solidarity with the Russian trans and queer communities.

ā€œWe firmly assert that such legislation flagrantly violates fundamental human rights standards and principles.

ILGA-Europe firmly believe in the inherent dignity and equal rights of all individuals, regardless of their gender identity or expression. International human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, emphasize that everyone has the right to self-determination, privacy and the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. Denying trans and gender diverse individuals access to trans-specific healthcare and legal gender recognition blatantly disregards the international human rights framework,ā€ ILGA-Europe wrote.

A young woman who only identified herself to Russian freelance journalist Sergei Dimitrov by the name Elena, told him in an interview in St. Petersburg earlier this month:

ā€œThere is no safety anymore, soon they will openly hunt us like swine, we no right to exist they say,ā€ she said.

The young woman also said that since the latest passage of laws including expansion of the Russiaā€™s ā€œgay propagandaā€ law to include adults last December, coupled with the crackdown by the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, abbreviated as Roskomnadzor, on any websites and on popular phone apps that cater to LGBTQ people, she has now begun efforts in earnest to leave the country.

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