LGBT+ community faces challenges

PHOTO CREDIT: Michigan Radio

(Sidenote: for simplicity sake I will be referring to the community as a whole as LGBT+)

The LGBT+ Movement has taken extraordinary strides in the last 20 years. Same-sex relationships have become accepted and displayed in mass media. Marriage equality is legal in several countries and territories, and there has been an increase in a push for legalization and recognition of the community as a whole.

However, several places around the world continue to persecute and allow for legal discrimination against the LGBT+ community. In 72 countries, same-sex relationships are illegal to varying degrees, including capital punishment, in nine countries. In many of these countries, terrifying accounts of violence and negligence by the government have made headlines around the world.

One of the countries that has taken the spotlight on this issue is Russia. While always have been socially conservative throughout modern history, Russia has increasingly taken steps against LGBT+ rights and protections. Currently, there are no protections against discrimination based on sexual or gender orientation in Russia. This has lead to violence and discrimination in recent years. The worst of this discrimination can be found in Chechnya, a semi autonomous region of Russia. In the largely Islamic territory, there has been recent purges in which several hundred gay and bisexual men were abducted by military police and allegedly beaten, tortured, and in some cases, murdered.

The Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, has also encouraged people to act against the LGBT+ community. As a report by Human Rights Watch summarizes, “[i]t 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 honor."

The atmosphere in Russia has created an extremely dangerous atmosphere for LGBT+ people. Several activists have been jailed for protesting conditions of LGBT+ people, and many others live in fear for their lives due the unpopular views of the LGBT+ community in Russia. Polls show the vast majority of Russians do not favor marriage equality, nor LGBT+ equality.

This story is similar to many other in different countries where the LGBT+ community is under suppression. In much of Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, simply identifying publicly as LBGT+ can lead to fines, imprisonment and death. Other such tactics used to intimidate and punish include whipping, stoning and conversion therapy. Many in today's society, particularly in California, often forget the struggles of the outside world, and how people must stand together for all people around the world, for the right to be themselves and to love who they love.