Antwerp kiss-in; Photo: @Bouska
Over the weekend, people in cities around the world including London, Antwerp, Stockholm, Tel Aviv and Glasgow protested Russia’s anti-gay propaganda law in a show of support for LGBT Russians.
In London, actor Stephen Fry — who has called on athletes to boycott the 2014 Sochi Olympics — joined hundreds of protesters on Saturday near the Russian embassy. Speaking to BuzzFeed, Fry said he was “under no illusions” that the Olympics would move to “Vancouver or Lake Placid or anywhere else,” but urged athletes to “devise a signal” for every time they won a medal “to show that they are thinking of the oppressed LGBT community.”‘
Tel-Aviv kiss-in; Photo: Mott Kimchi, Ynetnews
Over 300 Belgians staged a kiss-in outside the Russian consulate in Antwerp on Friday, just as Canadians had done in Vancouver a week before. On Saturday, Israelis also locked lips outside of the Russian embassy in Tel Aviv as over 200 protesters gathered to show solidarity with Russian gays. “It is a common fate, it does not matter where a person comes from, he has a right to live with dignity,” a protester told Ynetnews.
Crosswalk in front of Stockhholm’s Russian embassy; Photo: Claes Betsholtz, Street Art Utopia
Meanwhile, in Sweden gay rights supporters lit up the crosswalk outside the Russian embassy with rainbow-colored paint. Earlier in the month, topless feminists stormed the embassy, rainbow flag in tow. Then last week, during a march in protest of Putin’s anti-gay propaganda law, activists recreated a photo of neo-Nazis torturing a gay teen, who later died.
Glasgow Pride in Scotland; Photo: Equality Network
At least 150 protesters showed up to demonstrate in front of the Russian consulate in Edinburgh on Friday, while over the weekend, Glasgow held its annual Pride march, drawing a record turnout of more than 7,000 people. Alastair Smith, Chief Executive of Pride Glasgow told LGBTQ Nation that the parade sent a “message reminding our Russian friends that they are not alone.”
