Talk:Russian LGBT Network

How to organize the activity section a little.

In the activities section of the article it's a little messy and bit hard to read. In my opinion it would be easier on the readers if the dates where organized like with bullet points or different fonts to let the key words stand out. Or even in the categorizes section where someone can click on the date and it would take them straight to the information they are looking for.--Natd14 (talk) 16:39, 10 October 2019 (UTC)

Hi, I think that's a splendid idea that dates should be at least highlighted somehow if the activities are splitted in little 'stories', how it is done in the article, because there are moments which don't look nice (for example, the second paragraph of Activities starts with mentioning of February 2009, proceeds to July 2009 and then the third paragraph suddenly starts with the May 2009), it can be confusing. But i don't think that the separate sections with dates are needed at the moment, since there is very little info there. — Preceding unsigned comment added by AndreiViktorovich.SPbPU (talk • contribs) 16:34, 11 October 2019 (UTC)

Feedback on article

Listening to some of the editors say that they don't know much about Wikipedia is surprising because I think the article is great! I think it is well organized but it could us more sections and information but I strongly believe that with time and further research the article would look like a professional did it. Keep up the good work guys!--Rabbitlover12 (talk) 17:37, 10 October 2019 (UTC)

Hello! Thank you very much! But unfortunately, the article itself was written by other people. We edit it. Therefore, any suggestions you may have will be considered to improve the content! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Liza.SPbSTU (talk • contribs) 16:31, 11 October 2019 (UTC)

Suggestions

Igor Kochetkov is mentioned twice in the article, I notice that he is the chair man, I think there should be more information about Igor Kochetkov. I think the picture of Igor Kochetkov should be posted directly on the page along with other pictures of the LGBT community.--Lindalark (talk) 17:48, 10 October 2019 (UTC)

I propose to add information about activities in international organizations. Because the LGBT organization provides information for yhe reports of the UN, OSCE and the Council of Europe, as well as take an active part in the meetings of these organization. It is better to add to the English and Russian version of the article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Liza.SPbSTU (talk • contribs) 16:00, 11 October 2019 (UTC)

suggestion for goals

I think Goals section should be more expended with activities and more vital details.I think articles need more citation so that reader can find more information about LGBT and its activities.--Simon Chowdhury007 (talk) 17:52, 10 October 2019 (UTC)

I guess more information about the activities and details should be in the "activities" section, what we can expend with the addition of more relevant information. — Preceding unsigned comment added by OlyaAlex.SPbPU (talk • contribs) 16:24, 11 October 2019 (UTC)

Feedback about this article

I believe you should add links about Iva Nova, S'nega and Dita Karelina. This article is interesting. You should add more images of the structures. I would be interested to know more about Iva Nova, S'nega and Dita Karelina. — Preceding unsigned comment added by AbhayVader (talk • contribs) 17:54, 10 October 2019 (UTC)

There actually is an article for Iva Nova (Ива Нова) on Russian wiki. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Alex18moroz.SPbPU (talk • contribs) 16:03, 11 October 2019 (UTC)

Maybe someone could link the two articles if they are not yet? --DrX (talk) 13:59, 14 October 2019 (UTC)

Russian LGBT Network Article Feedback

Hey all !

I think for the Russian LGBT Network article each paragraph should be separated so its easier for readers to read, also it should include more citations so people can reference other articles to learn about the LGBT Network, also it would be great to add more photos!

--Rayvxp (talk) 17:56, 10 October 2019 (UTC)

Hey, i didn't catch what you meant in the first part since the paragraphs are separated already, could you please explain if I misunderstood you there. However, I don't really think that all the paragraphs should be separated, but i think that they should be reorganized: for example, there are lots of facts about the events of 2009-2019, I think that they should be replaced to a new section called something like "events" or "actions". And I think we should have goals and activities combined, so a person who just opened the article is able to see what objectives the organization has and how they are being achieved. Also I completely agree with you about the lack of citations and pictures, thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by AndreiViktorovich.SPbPU (talk • contribs) 15:53, 11 October 2019 (UTC)

more details

This article is really interesting but I think it need some more details. Also can someone can write about how is the LGBT in Russian, if the people accept this or there is exist some rights for them and if there are some activities for them like here in New York June is pride month so LGBT can celebrate their month and the people do a colorful and pretty parade for them and everybody assist to there to support them.--EcuaDen (talk) 17:57, 10 October 2019 (UTC)

The article is informative, however it is missing a part about critisism of LGBT in Russia, and in general there is no information about how people and government are taking this network. It would be good to update English and Russian version of arcticle with last events related to the law against "gay propagabda"(2013), and ban of two major LGBT networking sites (3.10.2019).

Images

comparing to other country's LGBT articles i see lots of pictures and actual people been proud, i would to know why this article does not have this kind of images .--RodriguezLuis7631 (talk) 17:58, 10 October 2019 (UTC)

Hey! Yes, in Russia there is not a lot of pictures, what can show people who are proud, because in our country LGBT is not welcomed and something is restricted by law. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Valery.SPbPU (talk • contribs) 16:20, 11 October 2019 (UTC)

Hi, Luis. There are LGBT-people in Russia, but there are also some difficulties with so-called Pride parades. In order to organize a parade, meeting or gather a lot of people for some reason, you have to get the agreement and permission from the officials, but you won't get it, because Pride parade will be classified as the gay-propaganda, which is illegal. The same way, as the meeting and any parade without official permission is illegal and punished by fines generally. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Alex18moroz.SPbPU (talk • contribs) 16:27, 11 October 2019 (UTC)

Suggestions for article contents

The both articles lack a ton of information about the period between 2009 and present days. However, a lot of really significant stuff for Russian LGBT have happened. For example, the anti gay-propaganda law and law against foreign agents and financing. We can add some information on how this laws influenced the work of this organisation.

Also, I would edit some information about Chechnya at the bottom of the article. Not everything in the story about that girl from Chechya is certain, and it's kinda complicated. At least, we need some uptades on that topic, if it really has something to do with LGBT. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Alex18moroz.SPbPU (talk • contribs) 15:47, 11 October 2019 (UTC)

03.10.2019 A Russian court has ruled that two popular LGBT networking sites be blocked for disseminating "anti-family values", including a major online group with aroun 200.000 members. — Preceding unsigned comment added by OlyaAlex.SPbPU (talk • contribs) 16:36, 11 October 2019 (UTC)

Russia in 2013 introduced a law against 'gay propaganda', which officially bans the 'promotion of non-traditional lifestyles to minors' but in effct outlaws LGBT activism. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Liza.SPbSTU (talk • contribs) 16:43, 11 October 2019 (UTC)

LGBT organization provides information for reports of the OSCE, UN and the Council of Europe. It also prepares report on the situation with LGBT rights. For example, ‘Protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity’ (adopted on 30 June 2016). Representatives of this organization take part in meetings of international organization. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Liza.SPbSTU (talk • contribs) 13:50, 12 October 2019 (UTC)

Talking about year 2017: 1) There was an LGBT Forum in 2017, lots of infromation about it here (https://www.lgbtnet.org/ru/newseng/forum-2017), also I have found several pictures from some kind of pride of 2017. and this whole arcticle about Chechnya can be mentioned in our arcticle but in a short and summarized way (https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B0_%D0%9B%D0%93%D0%91%D0%A2_%D0%B2_%D0%A7%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%BD%D0%B5) Oduvan19.SPbPU (talk) 15:40, 18 October 2019 (UTC)

In 2019 again activated a work of website, promoted as a “game” - identify gay people, upload their photos and information to database, and then proceed to hunt them down and torture them, as in the gruesome “Saw” movies that inspired the site’s name. In July 2019, LGBTQ activist Yelena Grigorieva, who was among this list, was found dead near her home in St.Petersburg. The website that targeted Grigorieva, Kochetkov and others began operating in April 2018, welcoming “gay hunters” to participate in “Chechnya’s Comeback”. — Preceding unsigned comment added by OlyaAlex.SPbPU (talk • contribs) 15:05, 13 October 2019 (UTC)

In 2019 was a survey among the Russians and 47% of them voted for equal rights of LGBT. It is important to note, that this is the most high indicator for the last 14 years. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Valery.SPbPU (talk • contribs) 15:32, 13 October 2019 (UTC)

In April 2019 in Russia was created project "We accept". In this project people tell own stories of their life. Author and coordinator of project, Anastasiia Sechina, planned to publish anonymous stories, but people decided to "call their names" and "open their faces". On the website of project there are a lot of stories from different countries. And everyone from LGBT community can tell own story. "We accept" is directed on support of gay people and another who belong to LGBT community. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Valery.SPbPU (talk • contribs) 16:00, 13 October 2019 (UTC)

On the website I've found some information about annual forums, which they organise. It is one of their biggest projects, so, it's something worth mentioning!

Apart from that, we can also add a list of all the articles, brochures, etc they are publishing with links attached!

comment added by ElizavetaKalaeva.SPbPU (talk • contribs) 02:15, 15 October 2019 (UTC)

In Barnaul (Russian city), the court decided to block the website of 'the Children 404 project', which was created in the spring of 2013 to provide support and psychological assistance to LGBT adolescents. The founder of the project, Elena Klimova, urged readers to use the means of bypassing locks and said that the site will continue to work as a library.

During the meeting, the Russian LGBT Network reports, a representative of the prosecutor's office provided documents stating that the community of the project on the VKontakte social network has already been blocked by a decision of the Kaluga District Court, which appears in the case against Elena Klimova and the project for helping LGBT teenagers for the first time. Despite this, the prosecutor's office did not abandon its demand to block the group.

The court refused to recognize the group in VKontakte social network as forbidden (most likely the reason is that the group was already recognized as such by the decision of the Kaluga court), but it satisfied the requirements of the prosecutor in so far as the project site is concerned. According to Maria Kozlovskaya, senior lawyer of the Russian LGBT Network, “apparently, the decision was made in advance, and no expert opinions were of any importance”.

The decisions of the Central District Court of Barnaul and the Kaluga District Court will be appealed to higher instances. [article- web-site 'Kyrgyz Indigo'-https://indigo.kg/prokuratura-barnaula-dobilas-blokirovki-sayta-proekta-deti-404-za-yavnuyu-propagandu.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by Liza.SPbSTU (talk • contribs) 15:32, 18 October 2019 (UTC)

1.In 2015 the Russian LGBT Network has documented 284 reported cases of violence and discrimination against LGBT people in Russia. These cases included those that were recorded by monitoring teams in nine Russian cities as well as the results of the processing of reportings to the legal aid service of the Russian LGBT Network and reports of violations via the website of the Russian LGBT Network. Physical violence – 52 cases One of the largest problems with monitoring violations based on SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) is that often survivors of these violations are not open about theiridentity,resulting in an unwillingness to resort to law enforcement authorities.Abuses by law enforcement officials – 21 cases.Monitoring shows that the fears faced by survivors of violence and discrimination are not at all baseless. In 2015, 21 abuses by law enforcement agencies were recorded. Those abuses include refusals to accept reports, psychological violence against the victims, humiliation, and illegal detention.Violations of labor law – 22 cases.Violations of labor law include instances of illegal dismissals, refusal to hire a potential employee, and harassment at the workplace due to SOGI. Layoffs or changing a decision to hire in these cases took place after the individual came out or was outed to employers, which confirms their homophobic motive. Examples of such cases are listedbelow, the first of which occurred in Omsk.Discrimination and violence against transgender people – 20 cases.In this group the following cases are documented:physical violence (6 cases);violation of labor rights (6 cases);restricted access to goods and services due to transphobia (6 cases);unjustified refusal to change documents (2 cases).Violation of the right to freedom of assembly – 26 cases.Types of documented cases: unreasonable refusals to harmonize public LGBT actions, public actions breakings by law enforcement officials, and illegal detention of participants and pressure on the organizers. Family violence, violation of parental rights – 9 cases.The section includes physical violence, restriction of freedom of movement, and turning LGBT teenagers and young adults (under 20 years old) out of house by parents. Of course, there are many more cases like these. A project “Children-404” alone, that works on this topic, recorded thousands of stories. [MONITORING OFDISCRIMINATION AND VIOLENCE BASED ON SOGI IN RUSSIA IN 2015: GENERAL INFORMATION ]

2. IDAHOT 2015 in Russia On May 17, various events devoted to the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia took place all over the world. In Russia, Rainbow flashmobs and other events took place in 16 cities - in Arkhangelsk, Voronezh, Ekaterinburg, Krasnodar, Moscow, Nakhodka, Novosibirsk, Murmansk, Samara, St. Petersburg, Omsk, Perm, Tolyatti, Tomsk, Tyumen and Khabarovsk. Most rallies took place without serious incidents.The first flashmobs in Russia went in the Far East, in Nakhodka and Khabarovsk. And while in Nakhodka the event passed without any disturbances, the organizer of the Rainbow flashmob in Khabarovsk Alexander Ermoshkin was attacked just before the demonstration.“Over 350 people celebrated IDAHO in the center of St. Petersburg on Marsovo Pole, this event becoming the largest LGBT rally as of today in Russia. Representatives of “Coming Out”, the Russian LGBT Network, Side by Side LGBT festival, the Youth Human Rights Group, and the Center for Development of Democracy and Human Rights spoke of the importance of solidarity within civil society, support of vulnerable groups, and the growing strength of the LGBT movement in our common struggle for peace and human rights in Russia”. LGBT initiative group “Coming Out” organized the event. In Krasnodar the LGBT organization “Revers” and the regional branch of the Russian LGBT Network organized the Rainbow flashmob.In Novosibirsk, on May 17, a seminar “Together against xenophobia” and the event called “New generation” took place. The events were organized to attract new people to the movement and to tell them what is done by now and what is to be done. The Novosibirsk regional branch of the Russian LGBT Network and Transgender project «T9 NSK» organized the events.[1]

3.As part of the "Week against homophobia and transphobia" April 4, 2015 Arkhangelsk LGBT activists held an action "Angels of Death". During this action, information was distributed to residents of the city and explanatory conversations were held.Blood on Angels as a symbol of multiple murders and attacks on LGBT people of Arkhangelsk. What is homophobia? How many brutal attacks have people been subjected to? All this could be learned from these leaflets. "Say words of encouragement, as did many stars of show business, people of culture and science, doctors and teachers, our moms and dads, our children. We are waiting for your kind words " - reads the text of the leaflet. On March 28, as part of the Week against homophobia and transphobia-2015, the Novosibirsk branch of the Russian LGBT Network and the service project for transgender people "T9 NSK" held a seminar "Stop discrimination".The presenters spoke in detail about the concepts of "stigma" and "discrimination" - what it is in General, about the reflection in the cultures of some peoples and about the origins of stigma, originating from ancient times. A detailed analysis of concepts and a heated discussion made it clear that the manifestation and content of stigma and discrimination are always equally destructive and any xenophobia is unacceptable.[2]

1. On September 5-7, a meeting of the Interregional Coordination Council (ICC) of the Russian LGBT Network took place in Moscow. Among other things, the results of the work in 2014 were summed up: in 2014, activists of the Russian LGBT Network organized 165 events devoted to the work with LGBT community and with the wider population to inform people about the problems of lesbians, gays and bisexual and transgender people in Russia. ICC is new form of interregional cooperation, established in 2013 in order enhance the effectiveness of work in the regions; it consists of the elected members of the regional and collective members. This time 25 people took part in the work of the Council. The results of the work in 2014 and future of the organization were among the topics discussed during the meeting. In 2014, the following actions were organized in various regions of Russia: 53 events to spread information about LGBT rights and problems, 144 events for the members of LGBT community, 33 street actions and 21 advocacy events; the lawyers of the Network worked with 12 cases in the courts. It turned out that Tyumen LGBT organization “Raduzhny Dom”, Murmansk regional organization “Maximum” and Sverdlovsk and Voronezh regional branches of Russian LGBT Network were the most active in 2014. The chairperson of the Russian LGBT Network Igor Kochetkov stated: “This meeting was an inspiration for all of us. Despite of numerous difficulties, our activists have ideas and resources to make it fly. Right now many human rights activist are quite pessimistic, but the Network works on and ready to face the future with confidence”. (Article - Russian LGBT Network)

2. In November 2014,the following members of the Board were elected:Tatiana Vinnichenkois the Chairperson of the Board of the Russian LGBT Network; she isalso a human rights defender and feminist. In 2014, Tatiana Vinnichenko was elected into the Board of the Movement for the second time –she became the Chairperson of the Board and replaced Igor Kochetkov in thatcapacity. Igor Kochetkovis a public figure, human rights defender. Since 2004, Igor Kochetkov is an activist of the Russian LGBT movement. In 2008, he was elected to be the first Chairperson of the Russian LGBT Network and held this position until November 2014. In 2013, he was included in the list of The Leading Global Thinkers (by Foreign Policy magazine). In 2014, Igor Kochetkov was a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. In addition, he is a member of the St. Petersburg Human Rights Council. Kseniya Kirichenkois a legal expert and human rights defender. Since 2012, Kseniya is the coordinator of the strategic litigation program and the program on international advocacy in the LGBT initiative group “Coming Out”. She is also the Director of the Transgender LegalDefense Project. Elena Shakhovais the Chairperson of the Citizens Watch, which is a St. Petersburg human rights NGO founded in 1992. Elena Shakhova is involved in various projects devoted to the formation of independent and impartialcourt, legal aid, work with young human rights activists, and distribution of information about NGOs in Russia. Moreover, Elena actively participates in the work of EU-Russia Civil Society Forum, Human Rights and the Rule of Law working group.For a long time the Citizens Watch supports the Russian LGBT Network and Elena Shakhova –supports various LGBT-related projects aimed at the civil society in Russia. Anna Gizullinais is the head of the Sverdlovsk regional branch of the Russian LGBT Network. For the years when Anna Gizullina was the head of the Sverdlovsk regional branch of the Russian LGBT Network,this regional division became one of the most effective in the Movement. Mikhail Tumasovis an LGBT activist and human rights defender. Mikhail has an extensive managerial experience. In 2011, he founded Samara’s social LGBT-movement “Avers” and Samara’s regional branch of the Russian LGBT Network. Over the 3 years when Mikhail was the head of Avers, the organization became well known in the region and all over the country. Polina Balyavahas a lot of experience of work with NGOs. Over last ten years, she is coordinating various social projects. Polina Balyaeva is an individual member of the Russian LGBT Network since the creation of the Movement. Moreover, Polina Balyaeva is a trainer of the Russian LGBT Network, specialist in fundraising and teambuilding. She worked with more than 25 projects in various NGOs. (https://lgbtnet.org/sites/default/files/board.pdf)

3. The Russian LGBT Network summarized the results of the poll devoted to the violation of LGBT’ human rights in Russia. The survey showed that almost half of the respondents faced psychological violence in 2014. The survey showed that in 2014, 47% of LGBT faced psychological violence, 15% - physical violence; 21% of respondents encountered violation of their rights related to personal data protection, 37% had difficulties with employment or with the employer because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. At the same time, only 7% of respondents stated that they are willing to report to the police if their rights are violated. The survey also showed that this year more people than before know about the services of the Russian LGBT Network. Thus, 23% of respondents new about the hotline, 28% - about free psychological counselling and legal aid at the time surveyed. PR manager of the Russian LGBT Network Svetlana Zakharova stated that “The survey shows that the so-called “propaganda law” adopted in 2013 negatively affected LGBT community in Russia. Moreover, over the years the research proves that the statements of some politicians that LGBT in Russia don’t face any discrimination are unfounded”. Starting from 2007, the Russian LGBT Network conducts an annual anonymous survey devoted to the violation of human rights and discrimination based on SOGI. Every year 1000-3000 people participate. In 2014, the survey was conducted from the beginning of August until the end of September, 1092 people participated. (Article - Russian LGBT Network)