LGBT event in Moscow went ahead despite the homophobic
This Friday a group of homophobes attacked the Sakharov Center, a human-rights-oriented community center and museum in central Moscow, and beset it for more than 2 hours. Their goal was to disrupt an International Coming-Out Day event organized by the local LGBT community and attended by more than 50 people. The police officers who came much later did not detain or disperse the attackers, but decided to check the documents of participants themselves, looking for potential minors among the attendees. The homophobes, however, did not succeed and in the end the event went ahead.
On October 10, the Sakharov Center was hosting an annual interactive meeting, “Be open - and your world will get broader." Its participants got together to hear the coming-out stories of the openly LGBT people, and share their own experiences related to recognition of sexual orientation and gender identity as well as coming out to relatives and friends.
However, the participants had to face unexpected problems. Soon after the event began, a few dozen aggressive religious homophobes headed by Enteo (Dmitry Tsorionov) arrived at the Center. They were carrying posters and Orthodox icons and started to scream hateful slogans, trying break into the building through the door and the windows. After their attempts failed, they started to throw eggs at the participants who were on their way to the event, threatening with physical violence whoever was trying to leave the building, including the staff of the Sakharov Center. Meanwhile, the homophobes spoke to media present outside of the building and claimed that the organizers of the meeting are molesting children inside.
After half an hour, a police squad arrived to the venue, but they left very soon without taking any measures to protect the attendees. Only an hour and a half later, after the participants called the Moscow Prosecutor’s office, did another police squad arrive and detain several of the most aggressive homophobic activists.
The police were not interested in providing security as much as scrutinizing the event as such. They inquired about the goals of the meeting, who allowed it to be held, and if it violated the “gay propaganda” law. They did not allow anyone to leave the building until all participants showed proof of identification to ensure that there were no minors present at the venue. And some media quoted police as saying that the attackers were "peaceful." The leader of the homophobic group, Dmitry Enteo, tweeted words of appreciation for this cooperation between the police and the Orthodox activists.
The crucial (and most hopeful) thing is that despite the attack and the lack of support on the part of police, the annual interactive meeting “Be open - and your world will get broader” was a success. The organizers received very positive feedback from the participants. And thanks to the efforts of the staff of the Sakharov Center and the LGBT activists, no homophobes made it inside the building and nobody was hurt.
For more information, you can call +7 967 137 02 18, Dmitry Svetlyi, the coordinator of the Moscow LGBT-organization “Rainbow Association”
