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How do Russian LGBTQ+ organizations work under the brutal new laws?

The recent “extremism” law made the work of organizations helping the local queer community a lot more dangerous and difficult.

Despite the challenges, these organizations continue providing assistance to LGBTQ+ individuals in Russia. Let’s take a peek at how they are managing to stay afloat and reach as many people as need help.

💬 ComingOut:

“We have seen a significant increase in demand for our services in recent months. In a week in early December, we received the same number of requests for legal consultations as we did over six months in 2021.

“We have spent the past 2 years working on withstanding repressions, so our operations were not seriously affected. However, we have had to stop holding support groups and working with volunteers in Russia due to safety concerns.

“ComingOut remains committed to its mission against all odds. We are adapting our services to the changing environment and providing essential support to those who need it. We believe that our work is more important than ever, given the current situation.”

💬 EQUAL PostOst:

“We are currently receiving an average of 12 requests per day for relocation and evacuation assistance. This is a significant increase from the number of requests we were receiving before the ‘extremism’ law.

“We are currently working with the same number of staff and resources as before, and the increased workload is causing a lot of stress. We are trying hard to expand our capacity and raise more funds.

“We are also advocating for European governments to expand their official support programs for LGBTQ+ people fleeing Russia by sharing our report with European politicians and diplomats.”

💬 Bok o Bok:

“We have implemented new safety measures to protect our staff, contributors, and experts. We have also seen a decline in cooperation from some authors, who are increasingly afraid to be publicly associated with the LGBTQ+ community.

“Despite these challenges, Bok o Bok is continuing its work and expanding its reach to post-Soviet countries and Europe to unite Russian-speaking queer people around the world.

“One of our main projects is ‘LGBTQ+ Cinema in Your City,’ which allows people to organize screenings of films from our catalog. In the past 1.5 years, people have held over 20 screenings all over the world, uniting Russian-speaking queer people wherever they may be.”

📖 Read the full article here:

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