The Day of Silence in Russia
07/05/2008
By
Russian LGBT Network (lgbtnet.ru)
On May 3, for the first time in Russia, rallies dedicated to the International Day of Silence took place in the cities of St. Petersburg, Novokuznetsk, and Yaroslavl.
The International Day of Silence is an annual action of nonviolent protest that started in the US in 1996 and in Europe in 2007 and is dedicated to the problem of silencing the discrimination, emotional harassment, violence, hate crimes, and intolerance based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
This year, the International Day of Silence took place in the USA, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, and the Netherlands and was dedicated to the memory of Lawrence King, a 15-year old California 8th-grader who was shot and killed in February of this year by his 14-year old classmate because he was gay. In Russia, the Day of Silence took place on May 3.
In St. Petersburg, the Day of Silence was held in the form of a series of individual rallies from 12 to 2 pm in the Chernyshevskiy Park. The rally participants, their mouths taped shut, took turns to put on a banner entitled “I am silent to be heard” and hand out flyers to the passerby. The rally had 25 participants, people who decided to take a public stand on the issue. The rallies took place in accordance with the Russian legislation - individual rallies do not require preliminary approval by the authorities.
The Day of Silence was completed at 2 pm by a Breaking of Silence event in the form of mass applause and cheering, symbolizing that the wall of silence would be brought down. After the completion of the event, the rally participants walked to the metro station Ploschad Vosstaniya, escorted by a militia (Russian police) vehicle.
Unfortunately, the event did not go without some negative incidents. Already after the end of the rally, as the participants were heading for a café, the executive director of the Russian LGBT Organization Network and the co-organizer of the Day of Silence in St. Petersburg Igor Petrov and the press secretary of the International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival "Side by Side" Ignat Fialkovskiy were attacked by three strangers. Fortunately, the activists got away with only a couple of bumps and bruises that were confirmed at a trauma center, and the fact of the attack was reported to the militia.
The Day of Silence on May 3 also took place in Novokuznetsk and Yaroslavl in the form of a “flash mob.” The Novokuznetsk event had 20 participants, volunteers who joined thanks to an invite sent through social networks. Despite the bad weather, the “flash mob” was a success - many citizens received flyers explaining why the issue of silencing is relevant and what consequences it has. This event also did not go trouble-free – the “flash mob” participants were attacked by a group of skinheads, one young man was injured.
The organizer initiative group from Yaroslavl reports that 9 people took part in the “flash mob”; the participants divided into groups of 2-3 people and headed in different directions. Only a few people reacted negatively to the offered flyers; they were three young men who, per their own words, turned out to be Nazis, and one very religious old woman. All in all, more than 600 flyers were distributed by the Day of Silence participants in Yaroslavl.
Despite the fact that the actual participants of the events held in the three cities were not very numerous, the organizers consider the Day of Silence in Russia a success. We were able to achieve the most important thing – the word about the problem of emotional harassment and violence, discrimination and intolerance based on sexual orientation and gender identity reached many people, while the attacks on the participants of the event in St. Petersburg and Novokuznetsk confirmed the relevance of the problem.
We would like to stress one more time that it was important for the organizers of the Day of Silence in Russia to hold the event in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation and to ensure maximum safety for the event participants, which was achieved.
The organizers of the Day of Silence in Russia would like to thank all the event participants, as well as those who provided informational support, and those who believe that positive changes in Russia are possible.
lgbtnet.ru
The Day of Silence Organizers in Russia:
The Russian LGBT Network (http://lgbtnet.ru);
"Nuntiare et Recreare" Ministry (http://nuntiare.org);
Youth Initiative LGBT-Group in St. Petersburg, Novokuzneck, Yaroslavl.
Contact Info:
The Official Site for the Day of Silence in Russia: http://dayofsilence.lgbtnet.ru
Photo and Video:
Saint Petersburg
http://gaynews.ru/photo/section.php?&SECTION_ID=386
http://news.ntv.ru/spb/131542/
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/vi...5/03/vo.russia.gay.rights.prot.aptn?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2lCXfYqhADA
Novokuznetsk
http://gaynews.ru/photo/section.php?&SECTION_ID=387
The International Day of Silence is an annual action of nonviolent protest that started in the US in 1996 and in Europe in 2007 and is dedicated to the problem of silencing the discrimination, emotional harassment, violence, hate crimes, and intolerance based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
This year, the International Day of Silence took place in the USA, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, and the Netherlands and was dedicated to the memory of Lawrence King, a 15-year old California 8th-grader who was shot and killed in February of this year by his 14-year old classmate because he was gay. In Russia, the Day of Silence took place on May 3.
In St. Petersburg, the Day of Silence was held in the form of a series of individual rallies from 12 to 2 pm in the Chernyshevskiy Park. The rally participants, their mouths taped shut, took turns to put on a banner entitled “I am silent to be heard” and hand out flyers to the passerby. The rally had 25 participants, people who decided to take a public stand on the issue. The rallies took place in accordance with the Russian legislation - individual rallies do not require preliminary approval by the authorities.
The Day of Silence was completed at 2 pm by a Breaking of Silence event in the form of mass applause and cheering, symbolizing that the wall of silence would be brought down. After the completion of the event, the rally participants walked to the metro station Ploschad Vosstaniya, escorted by a militia (Russian police) vehicle.
Unfortunately, the event did not go without some negative incidents. Already after the end of the rally, as the participants were heading for a café, the executive director of the Russian LGBT Organization Network and the co-organizer of the Day of Silence in St. Petersburg Igor Petrov and the press secretary of the International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival "Side by Side" Ignat Fialkovskiy were attacked by three strangers. Fortunately, the activists got away with only a couple of bumps and bruises that were confirmed at a trauma center, and the fact of the attack was reported to the militia.
The Day of Silence on May 3 also took place in Novokuznetsk and Yaroslavl in the form of a “flash mob.” The Novokuznetsk event had 20 participants, volunteers who joined thanks to an invite sent through social networks. Despite the bad weather, the “flash mob” was a success - many citizens received flyers explaining why the issue of silencing is relevant and what consequences it has. This event also did not go trouble-free – the “flash mob” participants were attacked by a group of skinheads, one young man was injured.
The organizer initiative group from Yaroslavl reports that 9 people took part in the “flash mob”; the participants divided into groups of 2-3 people and headed in different directions. Only a few people reacted negatively to the offered flyers; they were three young men who, per their own words, turned out to be Nazis, and one very religious old woman. All in all, more than 600 flyers were distributed by the Day of Silence participants in Yaroslavl.
Despite the fact that the actual participants of the events held in the three cities were not very numerous, the organizers consider the Day of Silence in Russia a success. We were able to achieve the most important thing – the word about the problem of emotional harassment and violence, discrimination and intolerance based on sexual orientation and gender identity reached many people, while the attacks on the participants of the event in St. Petersburg and Novokuznetsk confirmed the relevance of the problem.
We would like to stress one more time that it was important for the organizers of the Day of Silence in Russia to hold the event in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation and to ensure maximum safety for the event participants, which was achieved.
The organizers of the Day of Silence in Russia would like to thank all the event participants, as well as those who provided informational support, and those who believe that positive changes in Russia are possible.
lgbtnet.ru
The Day of Silence Organizers in Russia:
The Russian LGBT Network (http://lgbtnet.ru);
"Nuntiare et Recreare" Ministry (http://nuntiare.org);
Youth Initiative LGBT-Group in St. Petersburg, Novokuzneck, Yaroslavl.
Contact Info:
The Official Site for the Day of Silence in Russia: http://dayofsilence.lgbtnet.ru
Photo and Video:
Saint Petersburg
http://gaynews.ru/photo/section.php?&SECTION_ID=386
http://news.ntv.ru/spb/131542/
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/vi...5/03/vo.russia.gay.rights.prot.aptn?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2lCXfYqhADA
Novokuznetsk
http://gaynews.ru/photo/section.php?&SECTION_ID=387
