18 February 2019, 23:43
Stavropol activist complains about persecutions due to his sexual orientation
Artyom Shitukhin, the chairman of the "Solidarity" LGBT Movement, has linked his dismissal from the higher school with his efforts to draw attention to the discrimination of gays in Chechnya; he also stated constant threats received by him.
On November 10, 2018, the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper reported about another wave of persecutions of gays in Chechnya. According to the Russian LGBT Network, from the end of last December, about 40 people were detained in Chechnya for their sexual orientation; two persons were killed.
On January 27, Artyom Shitukhin reported the detention in Pyatigorsk of Ekaterina Danko, a picketer in support of LGBT people in Chechnya.
After filing a notification about a rally in support of LGBTs, law enforcers demanded from Shitukhin to abandon the idea, otherwise he "would have problems at his higher school." The activist is forced to hide because of persecutions, the Radio Liberty has reported.
Artyom also noted that at his higher school they demanded from him to another educational establishment, since his activities "have bad effects on the school reputation."
According to Mr Shitukhin, his "Solidarity" is engaged in providing psychological and legal help to the LGBT community of Pyatigorsk.
He also said that he received threats in social networks and instant messengers. He is not sure that he will return to Pyatigorsk.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 18, 2019 at 04:46 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
