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Friday, October 4, 2013
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Anti-gay sentiment troubling to local youth Violence and laws in Russia deeply concerning, they say by Joannie Fu Youth Reporter
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loodied noses. Sobbing couples. Smoke bombs.
What began as a peaceful demonstration in St. Petersburg, Russia in the name of LGBTQ rights on June 29, 2013, quickly disintegrated into violence as the activists were confronted by anti-gay protestors. Youth in Richmond are decrying the increasing aggression against the LGBTQ community. What happened at St. Petersburg is one of the many examples of the brutality that has ensued ever since the Russian government’s passing of a new bill that makes it illegal to support or display homosexuality in the country. This controversial new law has
sparked international outrage, many calling for a boycott on the 2014 Sochi Olympics scheduled in Russia next year. Some youth are concerned about the increasing assaults against the LGBTQ community, with one even comparing it to a second Holocaust. “If enough hate and disgust builds up then you never know what could happen over there… Nobody saw the Holocaust coming so I think it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen now,” says a Richmond Christian Secondary School student who wishes to remain anonymous. For Hugh McRoberts’s student, YanZhan Wen, however, while the situations are “strikingly similar”, he says they “are not analogous because the circumstances are different” with the existence of the United Nations and with social media being so prominent in the modern world. Wen, who will be graduating next year, says “It’s a slippery slope…there’s an assumption of problems compounding until it escalates to dire consequences.”
Conversely, the teens agree that the relocation of the Olympics is not going to work. “Sochi is just hosting the Olympics—it does not necessarily hold the spirit of the Olympics,” says Richmond’s Nick Tu. He will be attending the University of British Columbia this month and says that while he does not condone the Russian government’s actions, he feels that the Olympics are often used as a political platform when it should be purely sports based. Russia is not the only country to have enforced harsh laws on homosexuality. Most countries in Africa look down on homosexuality; in Uganda, the punishment for homosexuality can range from jail time to the death penalty. Even in developed countries, the LGBTQ community has only recently slowly gained acceptance, with the United States declaring DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) unconstitutional, as well as striking down Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California. Canada itself legalized gay marriage 8
“Sochi is just hosting the Olympics—it does not necessarily hold the spirit of the Olympics.” — Nick Tu
years ago. Megan Boyd, a student at Steveston London Secondary, suggests the best way is for activists to stay “passive in their resistance.” “Just show the world that the (LGBTQ) community is just filled with people who just want to
love each other,” says Boyd who will be going into Grade 11 this September. All the youth who were interviewed expressed deep concern of what is happening in Russia, and care for the LGBTQ community despite coming from different backgrounds. “I’ve always been strong about equality, being a Christian, the Bible tells you to accept…” says Tu, “…for me friends who are gay or bisexual, I don’t see them differently, I don’t see them as ‘that gay friend’ or as ‘that bi friend’, it doesn’t change them as who they are as a person.” The fight for equality is a treacherous road, and it has never been easy for any oppressed group, be it women’s rights, black rights, and now: gay rights, but in the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it—always.”
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