So, I know that the gay rights movement has kind of been talked to death. It has. So naturally I’m going to tell you more about it!

(Just so you understand where I’m coming from, in my opinion, this issue is about human rights and equality, and talking about them until public opinion changes is the only way to actually get anything done.)

I’m not trying to force my views on anyone, I swear. But just so you know, if you disagree with me you’re 100% wrong and you deserve a life of accidentally stepping on Legos and getting cords stuck in the wheels of your chairs.

No, really though. I don’t judge. Although it would be nice if you supported the LGBT rights movement… kidding, kidding… kind of. But I’m done now, I promise.

What I am going to talk about is the situation for LGBT people in Russia, and even if you don’t care if gay people can kiss in public or if you think they should find someone of the opposite gender to love, I’m hoping you at least care about your fellow humans being attacked and the government doing nothing about it. That’s what’s happening in Russia.

So ever since the law was passed that made it illegal to promote non-traditional intercourse or anything resembling a non-traditional lifestyle to children (among other laws), there have naturally been gay pride parades and other types of peaceful protest. Which, unsurprisingly, the Russian government wasn’t crazy about: despite his lovable, shirtless exterior, Putin is not, in fact, a tolerant, alternate-lifestyle-loving teddy bear.

But like I said, that’s not really unexpected. What a lot of people don’t know is that the Russian citizens don’t really like those parades either. Russia isn’t just passing oppressive laws at random–a lot of the people support them, or at least dislike the LGBT community enough to show up at their parades and harass the people participating in them. So, unless some people just really don’t like parades, that’s a pretty clear sign that not all Russians feel the infringement on their rights is a bad thing.

And the government is clearly okay with that. After all, the anti-LGBT people are supporting the laws…

The sad thing is that that part is easy to understand… it happens here. Gay people are attacked because of their sexuality in America. All the time.

But Russia takes it further… over there, someone who is gay often does not get even the basic rights of everyone else. And I’m not referring to the fact that they can’t speak freely, love who they want, or get married… there have been multiple accounts of skinheads attacking a gay person and the police just not showing up.

Despite how far we’ve come with regards to human rights, Russia seems intent on taking as many steps backwards as possible, and as long as the public’s opinion of the LGBT community is so negative, that won’t change.

I kind of already talked about this issue in my blog about the Olympics (I’d link to it, but I’m lazy. So if your life is incomplete without knowing what I just referenced, it’s on my blog. Go find it. You can do it!)

Sources: http://www.newsweek.com/being-gay-russia-just-got-harder-228592 http://www.globalequality.org/newsroom/latest-news/1-in-the-news/186-the-facts-on-lgbt-rights-in-russia

So, I’m sure that everyone’s heard about how Russia out of nowhere decided to “take back Crimea” from Ukraine, but like most things that involve Russia, it’s more complicated than that.

Ukraine, Crimea, and Russia have a long history, starting from the late 18th century when the two smaller territories became part of Russia. Nothing of note happened again until 1954 when Nikita Khrushchev gave Crimea to Ukraine in 1954. Still, even that wasn’t a problem until the fall of the Soviet Union, when the bonds holding Ukraine and Russia together were cut, and Russia no longer had such easy access to the resources of the Crimean peninsula.

So, since the whole reason Crimea isn’t part of Russia is because of what Khrushchev did, Putin has declared the former Communist leader’s actions illegal. But that’s not the only reason he feels entitled to make a grab for the land he views as rightfully his…he also relies on the fact that a lot of the people who live in Crimea see themselves as Russian, so he claims that he’s simply giving his people a way to become a part of their country. And the Russians there do want to join Russia. But the thing is…54% of Crimeans (the non-Russian ones) don’t actually want to become part of Russia. And the vast majority of Russians (in Russia) don’t think Putin should have attacked. So his claims of doing what’s right for the people might not be that justified.

But Putin still feels like he’s right. He even expected Europe and the U.N. to back him, and when they didn’t he accused them of hypocrisy and disloyalty. Russia supported the reunification of Germany after World War II, and a similar situation (to Russia annexing Crimea) happened with Kosovo, which the U. N. supported. What happened in Kosovo was similar- in both cases, the ethnic majority wanted to rejoin with their home country- but the U.N. says that the important difference is that where Kosovo was concerned, there was a lot of flagrant abuse of certain ethnic groups happening, and that is not the case with Ukraine and Crimea. It’s interesting that he named Germany’s reunification as a reason they should back him and think that he’s doing the right thing, considering what actually happened to cause Germany to be split in the first place. Clearly, using past tragedies as justification for his current intentions isn’t working well for Putin.

But, if his blatant attempt to regain Russia’s status as a world power succeeds, it may mean trouble for other neighboring countries. Then again, maybe not. Perhaps winning Crimea will be enough to heal Russia’s wounded ego from what happened after World War II. Only time will tell. 

http://rapsinews.com/legislation_news/20140318/270957901.html

http://www.ticotimes.net/2014/03/19/what-history-tells-us-about-russia-crimea-and-putin

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/similar-crimea-kosovo-22971703

So, I don’t know if anyone has heard, but there’s a pretty big event going on in Sochi, Russia… THE OLYMPICS!

I hope they don’t sue me for using the logo…

Since my blog is about Russia, I figured it would be wrong not to talk about the Olympics. Of course, pretty much everyone agrees that the winter Olympics aren’t nearly as cool as the summer Olympics (figuratively speaking, of. Course). But for Russia, the event is one of national pride, although one that shines a spotlight on some things they would rather were unseen.

For example, pretty much everyone knows about Russia’s anti-gay laws, with their wording so vague as to make it possible to arrest anyone even suspected of being gay or a gay sympathizer. That lead to many concerns about the safety of homosexual athletes outside their event, and naturally added fuel to the protesters’ cause. So, it was a bit strange when their new uniforms were débuted:

These uniforms supposedly represent the different parts of Russia, and their diversity, but as you may notice, they look suspiciously rainbow-colored, with rainbows being the symbol for the LGBTA cause. This naturally sparked some controversy: why would Russian Olympic worker uniforms look so much like the issue that Russia was trying to keep under wraps?

Well, that might be precisely why. It was suspected that the uniforms were so rainbow-colored specifically so that any LGBTA sympathizers wanting to show their support would just blend in with the workers, and all the people dressing colorfully in protest of the anti-gay laws wouldn’t cause even more controversy.

But there is more to the Olympic story than the uniforms: the overall conditions in Sochi weren’t exactly the best, especially the hotels. An athlete had to break down a door to get out of his bathroom, the water was a auspicious yellow color and was not safe to use on people’s face, a man reporting on the Olympics got infections in both of his eyes, the hotel rooms were not ready even as late as seven hours before the start of the games, and much more.

Still, despite all of these problems, they still managed to pull off a beautiful opening ceremony, (one that was certainly better than the summer opening ceremony hosted by London) one that managed to pull together Russia’s history and important cultural cornerstones, like ballet, opera, and St. Petersburg. It provided a surprising and much-needed contrast between all of the bad press coming from the inadequacy of the hotel rooms, and made an excellent start to the games.

Now, though, that controversy is mostly behind Sochi, with the media focusing instead on the skill of the athletes instead of any flaws of the Russian government. No one can say for sure if their Olympic-related scandals are over, but they have manage to recover from their earlier blunders and make the Olympics a fun, word-wide source of entertainment and unity.

Source:http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304899704579388882111244174?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304899704579388882111244174.html

(get it?)

The Pussy Riot (whose actual official name is that-in English) is an all-female Russian band that sympathizes with the feminist, LGBT, and human rights movements. Basically, they write and sing songs about what they think is wrong with Russia, and what they think should change.

But Russia, which is not known for its tolerance toward public demonstrations of dissent, is not the safest place to have an anti-Putin band, and as a result, several band members have been arrested on charges that amount to “not agreeing with Putin and singing about it in public.” (technically called “hooliganism”) They, like many other people who sympathize with these causes, think that Russia should change some of its harsher laws and allow more human rights in general, but The Pussy Riot takes it one step further by writing songs such as “Like a Red Prison” and “Putin Lights the Fires.” They also make bold statements about their beliefs by participating in acts against the government, such as kissing female police officers in public.

But the main reason why they are so controversial in Russia is that the singing is done in public, and then they incorporate footage of it in their music videos (here’s one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOM_3QH3bBw )However, because the goal of the band is not to get arrested (though they don’t mind going to jail if they’re caught), they usually wear colorful ski masks over their heads to conceal their identities, one of the things they’re famous for. The group is careful to be secretive, not even revealing the number of members in the band.

They first came to my attention on “The Colbert Report,” where Stephen Colbert interviews two of the previously jailed members of the band, Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and their reaction to everything that has happened to them was not just blind hatred and enraged comments that anti-government protesters are famous for, but instead they voiced their opinions about everything in a reasonable and sometimes funny way. They told their story about how they were released early (but only two months earlier then they should have been out of a two year sentence) because they had gained a lot of international sympathy, and how their often shirtless president wanted to try to fix Russia’s image. Although, as they point out, at this point releasing a few prisoners slightly earlier than expected won’t exactly take the sting out of Russia’s anti-gay laws or even come close to fixing it’s terrible reputation for stomping on human rights. (They describe the prison conditions as essentially turning them into slaves)The Pussy Riot has gained publicity very quickly since their release from prison, and they have been active as ever, this time being able to talk about the poor conditions of their prison stay.

After all, their crime was “[singing] a fun song in a church,” (“The Colbert Report 8:30) as they put it, and they were sentenced without parole. But overall, though the band was created to get people mad about what they see as injustice, they are not just an angry group of women who are shouting just because they like the sound of their voices, but an intelligent group whose publicity may be a step towards moderating some of Russia’s laws.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/593161#i0,p11,d0 7:36-end

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/23/world/europe/russia-pussy-riot-member-freed/