This weekend, Russian media reported that officials in the republic of Chechnya have detained more than 100 gay men and killed at least three. The number of dead may actually be much higher; in recent weeks, gay men have been simply disappearing off the streets.
Russian officials are saying this is impossible because “there are no gay people in Russia.” Really.
A spokesman for Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who is a vocal supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, denied that any such activities have taken place. He further suggested that there are no gay people in the country at all.
“You cannot arrest or repress people who just don’t exist in the republic,” spokesman Alvi Karimov said in a statement obtained by Radio Free Europe on Saturday. “If such people existed in Chechnya, law enforcement would not have to worry about them, as their own relatives would have sent them to where they could never return.”
Holy. Shit.
More than 100 gay men have been rounded up and some killed in Chechnya, Russia
QueerAnarchism 