https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/gay-and-terrified-in-chechnya/2017/04/09/b128822e-18a1-11e7-855e-4824bbb5d748_story.html?utm_term=.a75a525dd3b9
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/01/world/europe/chechen-authorities-arresting-and-killing-gay-men-russian-paper-says.html
Multiple reports now indicate that a province of Russia has opened up a concentration camp for gay men. The articles link to other reports that document the seizure and rounding up of gay men. It appears that information on the issue is scarce, but it does reflect a broader LGBT+ human rights issue within Russia. The NY times article also mentions the closet, which connects back to our conversation on the social construction of a state-sponsored closet.
Hi Hunter,
ReplyDeleteI was also reading a couple of articles about this earlier, and I was shocked when a Russian official said that there couldn't be a gay concentration camp in Chechnya because there are no gay people in Russia. It reminded me a lot of my dad's wife, who is a Chinese woman who has lived in Japan for most of her life. She also holds the belief that there aren't gay people in China, and I think that's because of the role the state plays in suppressing those who do openly express their identity.
This is obviously a very complicated issue, but it reminds me of Jerry's comment in class today about how freedom of speech really is a privilege for us. And it's extremely sad that LGBT+ communities are still going through such awful things.