More than 100 gay men have been detained “in connection with their nontraditional sexual orientation, or suspicion of such,”according to the New York Times, which cites the opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta. The Russian newspaper says it confirmed the news with government officials and an analyst of the region also confirmed the news to the Times with her own sources.
Three men are known to have been murdered, although the real number is likely to be higher.
in almost every genocide, the first “act” is the rounding up and killing of a group of men, specifically.
In “root and branch”
genocides they [”civilian men of ‘battle age’”] are often the first group to be separated out and massacred, paving the
way for the murder of women, children, and elderly men. In more common articulations
of genocide, however, they can be the only group slated for outright massacre, while
women, children, and elderly men suffer a range of alternative fates involving rape, sexual
exploitation, torture, forced maternity, murder, and expulsion.
as the rest of this article explains this isn’t to say that men have it worst in a genocide, but that it’s important when you see a very common red flag for genocide to pay attention to the “conflict” in case any more markers of an impending genocide occur.
the g word is really loaded and i’m not bringing this up because i want to start an avalanche of “CHECHNYA IS COMMITTING GENOCIDE AGAINST GAY PEOPLE” fear mongering (that is the absolute last thing that i want). it’s just not possible to prevent any genocide without questioning whether a current conflict might eventually get there. and i do not think it’s nothing that genocide watch is reporting on this.
Russian newspapers and human rights groups report that more than 100 gay men have been detained “in connection with their non-traditional sexual orientation, or suspicion of such” as part of a purge. Several people were also reportedly feared dead following violent raids.
In a chilling response, a Chechen government spokesperson denied that there are any gay people to detain, insisting that “you can’t detain and harass someone who doesn’t exist in the republic”. The Kremlin denied any knowledge of a purge.
But reports have since emerged that the men arrested are being kept in horrific concentration camp prisons, where violent abuse and torture is common.
Based on interviews with eyewitnesses and survivors, Novaya Gazeta reports that a secret prison has been set up in the town of Argun to detain the men arrested in the purge.
One man who was released from the camp told the newspaper that he was subjected to violent “interrogations” at the camp, as Chechen officials attempted to get him to confess the names and locations of more gay men.
The officials also seized his mobile phone, targeting his network of contacts regardless of whether they were gay or not.
The camp was reportedly set up by Chechen forces in a former military headquarters in the town.
The newspaper reports allegations that the Speaker of the Parliament of Chechnya was among officials to visit the site, though the claims have not been substantiated.
The detainees face electric shock torture and violent beatings, while some of them have been held to ransom and used to extort their families.
Tanya Lokshina of Human Rights Watch wrote: “For several weeks now, a brutal campaign against LGBT people has been sweeping through Chechnya.
She continued: “Law enforcement and security agency officials under control of the ruthless head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, have rounded up dozens of men on suspicion of being gay, torturing and humiliating the victims.
“Some of the men have forcibly disappeared. Others were returned to their families barely alive from beatings. At least three men apparently have died since this brutal campaign began.”
She added: “These days, very few people in Chechnya dare speak to human rights monitors or journalists even anonymously because the climate of fear is overwhelming and people have been largely intimidated into silence.
“Filing an official complaint against local security officials is extremely dangerous, as retaliation by local authorities is practically inevitable.
“It is difficult to overstate just how vulnerable LGBT people are in Chechnya, where homophobia is intense and rampant.
“LGBT people are in danger not only of persecution by the authorities but also of falling victim to ‘honour killings’ by their own relatives for tarnishing family honour.”
Alexander Artmyev from Amnesty International spoke to Metro.co.uk.
He said that people who are not in Russia can help by joining the charity’s Urgent Action on Chechnya.
The action encourages people to write in Russian or your own language to Chairman of the Investigation Committee and Acting Head of the Investigation Committee for the Chechen Republic.
Amnesty has also asked the letter, which should ask for an investigation and appeal for protection for LGBT individuals, to be copied into Human Rights groups and diplomatic missions from your country.
Well… thats about it! Of course there’s a whole bunch of useful resources which I just couldn’t include in this post because it was getting too long.
Even if you yourself aren’t trans and wouldn’t find this content useful, please reblog because it may be of great help to some of your followers.
And if you ever have any trans-related questions or need some advice or support, feel free to message me at my main blog here or at my personal/transition blog here.
but trans!woman Tony Stark- Toni Stark, she doesn’t wanna change her name really, she’s never gone by “Anthony” anyway and there was a reason for it- and Pepper Potts. trans!Tony Pepperony!
Pepper finds out because she catches Toni dressing up, nylons, heels, makeup on and gets flustered and thinks it’s some sexual fetish thing but Toni stumbles over her words to get out “It’s not what you think!” and the two of them just stare at each other for a moment before Toni breaks down everything
Pepper’s the only one who knows that Toni’s a trans woman for a long time. She always calls her Toni, and no one understands “Why does his assistant call him by his first name?” and Toni always calls Pepper “Ms. Potts” still.
When Toni comes out, Pepper being the first person to correct anyone in the press on her pronouns and shut any transphobic bullshit down.
When Toni asks Pepper if it changes anything about their relationship- “because there’s been something here, hasn’t there, Miss Potts?” Toni tries to smirk, but it’s too earnest- Pepper doesn’t hesitate to reassure her. “I’m still your girl, Toni.” They share their first real kiss as soon as the words have left Pepper’s mouth.
As soon as Toni gets back from Afghanistan, she starts estrogen. It’s one thing Pepper doesn’t have to remind her of. She forgets to eat while in her workshop more often than she forgets to take her hormones.
When their relationship goes public, Pepper fields questions about her sexuality by just giving a stare and taking a question from a different reporter. She blacklists reporters if they bring it up more than once.
Toni’s body dysmorphia gets really terrible when her PTSD hits and she keeps building suits to fight it, some of them being noticeably “feminine” in shape, but she hates those worst of all and Pepper tries her hardest to remind Toni that she’s beautiful and sometimes those conversations do nothing and make Toni more upset, but she knows Pepper’s trying and eventually she goes back to bed and let’s Pepper be the big spoon.
Pepper Potts and trans woman!Toni Stark!!!!!!!!!!!!
what im saying is that bisexuals, pansexual, and asexuals should all join together so we can be in the fictitious trifecta. enough people will say we’re not real and we’ll all converge together in a massive, fierce mass only spoken of in myth. dont come near us or you too will cease to exist
can we include aromantics?
triforce of fabulousness
There we go, a shield to protect against the negativity
Great Britain and the Netherlands opened their tournaments at the IIHF Division IIA Women’s World Championship on Sunday, with the Netherlands taking the game 5-4.
Dutch defender Cloë Keijzer’s team came away with the victory and British forward Katie Henry recorded two assists in a losing effort, but both of them came away winners.
After the game, 24-year-old Keijzer proposed to Henry, her longtime partner. As she got down on one knee, a group of her teammates pulled off their t-shirts to reveal warm-ups reading “#6 MARRY ME?”, prompting cheers from Dutch and British teammates as Henry accepted.
Though they face off against each other on the world stage, the pair are teammates more often than opponents.
The couple have played their club hockey together since 2012-13, their first of two seasons in the Swedish first division in Norrköping, Sweden. They moved to Stockholm-based SDE HF in the Riksserien (now SDHL), Sweden’s top league, in 2014-15 and have spent the past two years playing with the Solihull Vixens of the English Women’s Elite League, where Henry is team captain and Keijzer wears an ‘A.’
y’all: bisexuals are fake bc they usually end up in m/f relationships
me, an intellectual: it’s easier and statistically more likely to find a straight person who is attracted to you and compatible with you than to find a lgb+ person who is, especially in small towns. not to mention the fact that a big part of lg community won’t date us, because they are biphobic. also a huge number of bis are nb, so m/f rhetoric doesn’t even fit us. also. there is nothing wrong with bis being in a m/f relationship if it’s healthy. also. stop being biphobic it’s 2017 when will this stop
Trans women are women! Trans men are men! Nonbinary and genderqueer people are valid! Intersex people exist! My life would be severely lacking without all of my friends under the umbrella of trans identities and experiences. I see you, I love you, I treasure you. Happy Trans Day of Visibility!
Steel Phoenix Studios 