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Gunmen open fire at Moscow gay nightclub

‘It’s getting scarier each day’

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Central Station, gay club, Russia, Moscow, gay news, Washington Blade
Central Station, gay club, Russia, Moscow, gay news, Washington Blade

Two men with guns tried to gain entry into Central Station, a gay club in Moscow early on Nov. 16, 2013. (Photo courtesy of Sattarov Karimjon)

Two men early on Nov. 16 opened fire on a gay club in the Russian capital after security personnel refused to allow them to enter.

Arkady Gyngazov, who was managing Central Station in Moscow during the incident, told the Washington Blade during a Skype interview from the Russian capital on Monday the men tried to enter the club around 5 a.m., but were turned away because they were “aggressive.” He said they returned with guns a short time later and started shooting.

Gyngazov told the Blade he was not at the club when the shooting happened, but he estimated 500 people were inside during the incident.

He said the men destroyed Central Station’s surveillance camera and left bullet holes on the building’s facade. Gyngazov told the Blade nobody was injured because patrons were not arriving or exiting the establishment during the incident.

“That’s why they didn’t kill anybody,” Gyngazov told the Blade.

The incident took place a week after gay MSNBC host Thomas Roberts co-hosted the annual Miss Universe pageant that took place in Moscow. The shooting also occurred against the backdrop of ongoing outrage over the Kremlin’s LGBT rights record that threatens to overshadow the 2014 Winter Olympics that will take place in Sochi, Russia, in February.

President Vladimir Putin in June signed a vaguely worded law that bans gay propaganda to minors. A second statute that prohibits foreign same-sex couples and any couple from a country in which gays and lesbians can legally marry from adopting Russian children took effect in July.

A 2012 law requires LGBT groups and non-governmental organizations that receive funding from outside Russia to register as a “foreign agent.”

Activists maintain the widely publicized deaths of two men in Volgograd and on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s Far East earlier this year underscore the fact that anti-LGBT violence remains a pervasive problem in the country.

Members of the Russian HIV/AIDS service organization LaSky earlier this month were attacked with air guns and baseball bats during an event at the group’s St. Petersburg office. The two men who attacked Dutch diplomat Onno Elderenbosch inside his Moscow apartment on Oct. 15 drew a heart with an arrow through it and the LGBT acronym in lipstick on a mirror in his home.

LGBT activists and their opponents clashed in St. Petersburg during an Oct. 12 gay rights rally. The city’s police in June arrested more 40 LGBT rights advocates during a similar event.

Authorities in May arrested 30 gay activists who tried to stage a Pride celebration outside Moscow City Hall. Officials in Murmansk nearly two months later detained Kris van der Veen and three other Dutch LGBT rights advocates for violating the country’s gay propaganda law while they were filming a documentary on Russian gay life.

‘Gay club here’ sign placed above Central Station

Gyngazov did not confirm media reports that indicate a Kremlin-controlled railroad company owns the building in which Central Station is located. He said its owners last month placed a large neon sign above the club’s entrance that reads “gay club here” and contains arrows pointing toward the door.

“I’m sure [the attack] is connected to the situation here in Russia with gays and with the advertisement that the owners of the building put in big letters on the building,” Gyngazov told the Blade. “It’s not allowed in Russia because of the law and the aggressive people, homophobes. They have to know that it’s a gay club and it’s dangerous for our clients.”

Gyngazov said patrons have been attacked outside Central Station since he began working at the club in 2010, but nobody had previously opened fire on the building. He told the Blade the police promised to investigate the shooting.

“I’m not sure because when it’s about gays, usually they don’t want to do anything,” Gyngazov said. “Police doesn’t work here, especially if you’re [gay.]”

Gyngazov said he quit his job after the shooting because he is afraid.

“I decided to leave it because it’s getting more dangerous,” Gyngazov told the Blade.

The Associated Press on Monday reported Russia’s sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, told the Russian newspaper RBK that lawmakers should have waited until after the Olympics to pass the country’s gay propaganda law. This statement comes on the heels of reassurances from Putin that gays and lesbians will not experience discrimination during the games, even though Mutko and other Russian officials said authorities plan to enforce the gay propaganda law in Sochi.

Gyngazov, who volunteers for Spectrum Human Rights, which monitors the Kremlin’s gay rights record, became visibly scared as he discussed the future of LGBT Russians after the Sochi games.

“It’s getting scarier each day,” he said.

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Africa

Senegalese NGO claims new president discussed LGBTQ rights with top EU official

Jamra Ong Islamique demands government expedite anti-LGBTQ law

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Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye (Screen capture via Reuters/YouTube)

A Senegalese NGO has called on the government to expedite the process of enacting an anti-LGBTQ law after the country’s new president met with a top EU official.

Jamra Ong Islamique made the call during a press conference last Wednesday after newly elected Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye met with European Council President Charles Michel.

Mamae Makhtar Gueye of Jamra Ong Islamique claimed the meeting between the two dignitaries involved an acknowledgment of LGBTQ rights in Senegal. Gueye said Michel is an LGBTQ ally who wants to change Senegal’s cultural customs that do not condone LGBTQ rights.

“His ardent proselytism for the expansion of LGBT ideology could not leave Jamra indifferent,” said Gueye. “Countries including Gabon, Central African Republic, and Mauritius, amongst others, that underestimated the nuisance of these propagandists of homosexuality paid dearly for it because these global lobbyists ended up legalizing this abomination, so beware.” 

Gueye, however, has received a lot of backlash and has been accused of not raising the same sentiments during the tenure of former President Macky Sall, who also met with Michel.

“Did he come as a defender of the LGBT cause or as a European official? Did he come to talk about LGBT rights or partnership agreement between the European Union and Senegal?,” asked Ahmadou Diaw, a Senegalese academic. “Mr. Gueye should know when to alert and when to shut up.”

Cheikh Maï Niang, a social commentator, described Jamra as a “useless organization” that is focused on restricting the freedom of the Senegalese people.

“They are absolutely good for nothing apart from eating the taxpayer’s money,” said Niang. “Where is the democracy we cry about everyday? Seems like they are here to restrict the freedom of the Senegalese people.”

“Not everyone is interested in religion,” added Niang. “We wasted too much time with these useless things. Let’s talk about developing the country. People should live their lives in the manner they want.”

Jamra has previously made proclamations against the LGBTQ community.

The organization in February — before Senegal’s presidential election that took place on March 24 — accused the EU Electoral Observation Mission to Senegal of wanting to indoctrinate Senegalese people with their pro-LGBTQ narrative.

Senegal does not have a law that specifically criminalizes those who identify as LGBTQ or advocate for them. Article 319 of the country’s penal code criminalizes consensual same-sex sexual relations with a fine and between one and five years in prison.

Some Senegalese lawmakers have sought to increase the prison sentence to 10 years for anyone convicted of engaging in homosexuality. These efforts thus far have not been successful.

Samm Jikko Yi (Together for the Safeguarding of Values), an Islamic lobby group that includes many organizations, in 2022 organized an anti-LGBTQ demonstration in Dakar, the country’s capital. Protesters called for harsher penalties for Senegalese who identify as LGBTQ and/or advocate for LGBTQ rights.

The Washington Blade in 2022 noted LGBTQ people have suffered physical and sexual abuse while in prison.

Senegal’s deep religious roots, which are largely Islamic, have contributed to the lack of tolerance of LGBTQ people in the country. This reality has prompted LGBTQ Senegalese to either flee the country or remain in the closet.

Media reports indicate there are fewer bars, clubs and other places where LGBTQ people can freely socialize.

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Maryland

What Anne Arundel County school board candidates think about book bans

State lawmakers passed Freedom to Read Act in April

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Parents in some Maryland school districts have organized campaigns to restrict the kinds of books allowed in school libraries. (Photo by Kylie Cooper/Baltimore Banner)

BY ROYALE BONDS | Parents’ efforts to restrict content available to students in school libraries has become a contentious issue in Maryland. Conservative parent groups, such as Moms for Liberty, have been working to get books they believe are inappropriate removed from libraries in Carroll and Howard counties, sparking protests, new policies, and even a state law.

The Freedom to Read Act, passed in April, sets standards that books cannot be removed from public and school libraries due to an author’s background. Library staff that uphold the standard are protected under this act. The law, however, does not prohibit removing books deemed “sexually explicit,” the stated reason local Moms for Liberty chapters challenged school library books.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner website.

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District of Columbia

D.C. Council member proposes change for Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs

Parker also seeks increased funding for LGBTQ programs in FY 2025 budget

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D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5) (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), the Council’s only LGBTQ member, has asked his fellow Council members to support a proposal to change the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs to become a “stand-alone entity outside the Executive Office of the Mayor to allow for greater transparency and accountability that reflects its evolution over the years.”

In an April 30 letter to each of his 12 fellow Council members, Parker said he plans to introduce an amendment to the city’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Support Act to make this change for the LGBTQ Affairs Office.

His letter also calls for adding to the city’s FY 2025 budget two specific funding proposals that local LGBTQ activists submitted to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser that the mayor did not include in her budget proposal submitted to the Council. One calls for $1.5 million to fund the completion of the build out and renovation for the D.C. Center for the LGBTQ Community’s new building in the city’s Shaw neighborhood and $300,000 in subsequent years to support the LGBTQ Center’s operations.

Parker’s second budget proposal calls for what he said was about $450,000 to fund 20 additional dedicated LGBTQ housing vouchers as part of the city’s existing program to provide emergency housing support for LGBTQ residents and other residents facing homelessness.

“The Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs currently manages about 90 vouchers across various programs and needs,” Parker said in his letter to fellow Council members. “Adding an additional 20 vouchers will cost roughly $450,000,” he wrote, adding that dedicated vouchers “play a crucial role in ensuring LGBTQ+ residents of the District can navigate the complex process of securing housing placements.”

In her proposed FY ’25 budget, Bowser calls for a 7.6 percent increase in funding for the Office of LGBTQ Affairs, which amounts to an increase of $132,000, bringing the office’s total funding to $1.7 million.

“To be clear, I support the strong work and current leadership of the Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs,” Parker says in his letter to fellow Council members. “This push for change is in recognition of the office’s notable achievements and the significant demands being placed on it, which require a greater level of accountability.”

Parker told the Blade in an April 30 telephone interview that he believes Japer Bowles, the current director of the Office of L|GBTQ Affairs is doing an excellent job in operating the office, but he believes the office would be able to do more for the LGBTQ community under the change he is proposing.

“Making it a stand-alone office versus it being clustered within the Community Affairs division of the mayor’s office, it will get more attention,” Parker told the Blade. “The leadership will have greater flexibility to advocate for the interest of LGBTQ residents, And we will be able to conduct greater oversight of the office,” he said, referring to the Council’s oversight process.

Parker noted that other community constituent offices in the mayor’s office, including the Office of Latino Affairs and the Office of Veterans Affairs are stand-alone offices that he hopes to bring about for the LGBTQ Affairs Office. He said Council member Brianne Nadeau, who chairs the Council committee that has oversight for the LGBTQ Affairs Office, has expressed support for his proposal.

Also expressing support for Parker’s proposal to make the LGBTQ Affairs Office a stand-alone office is the D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commission Rainbow Caucus. Vincent Slatt, the caucus’s chairperson, submitted testimony last week before the D.C. Council Committee on Public Works and Operations, which is chaired by Nadeau, calling for making the LGBTQ Affairs Office a stand-alone office outside the Executive Office of the Mayor.

Slatt also stated in his testimony that the office has a “chronic staffing shortage” and recommended that at least three additional staff members be assigned to the office.

Daniel Gleick, the mayor’s press secretary, told the Blade the mayor’s office is reviewing Parker’s budget proposals, including the proposed change for the Office of LGBTQ Affairs.

But in testimony at a May 1, D.C. Council budget hearing before the Council’s Committee on Executive Administration and Labor, Lindsey Parker, Mayor Bowser’s Chief of Staff, appeared to express skepticism over making the LGBTQ Affairs office a stand-alone office. Parker expressed her thoughts on the proposed change when asked about it by Councilmember Anita Bonds (D-At-Large), who chairs the committee that held the hearing.

“I would proffer that it doesn’t matter whether the agency is within the EOM [Executive Office of the Mayor] or not,” Parker told Bonds. “They will still be reporting up into one would argue the most important agency in the D.C. government, which is the one that supports the mayor,” Parker said. “So, it’s the closest to the mayor that you can get,” she said “So, you could pull it out and have a different budget chapter. I actually think that’s confusing and convoluted.”

Parker added, “The Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, with their six FTEs right now, if they were a stand-alone function they wouldn’t have all the non-personnel services in order to operate. They need to be under sort of the shop of the EOM in order to get those resources.” 

By FETs Parker was referring to the term Full Time Equivalent employees.  

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