On Holocaust Memorial Day, 100 people gathered outside the Russian Embassy to protest the Chechnyan anti-LGBT movement. The protestors created a pile of shoes on Kensington Palace Gardens and carried signs bearing the infamous pink triangle, drawing striking parallels between the Holocaust and the current persecution of the LGBT+ community in Chechnya.
The Chechen crisis was first brought to international attention when Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian paper, published a report on April 1st 2017 documenting the torture, humiliation and detention of LGBT+ people in secret locations around Chechnya. Victims are still not safe even after returning home, where their relatives may perform “honour killings” for tarnishing family honour. This wave of detainment resulted in the imprisonment of dozens and several deaths. Despite pressure from international powers like the EU and the UN to put an end to these human rights violations, the Russian government has been indifferent to the issue at best, and covertly supportive at worst. The Chechen government’s response is equally, if not more discouraging, with the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov denying even the existence of gays in Chechnya.
Earlier this year, a new wave of reports indicated a revival in the anti-LGBT movement, with a suspected 40 people detained and 2 dead, according to head of Russian LGBT Network Igor Kochetkov. The renewed Chechen attacks against LGBT+ individuals have sparked global outcry, including the protest at the Russian Embassy in London. “We’re here obviously because it’s Holocaust Memorial Day, and one of the main mantras that’s come out of Holocaust Memorial Day is ‘never again’”, said one of its organisers. Considering the ongoing detainment and abuse of LGBT+ individuals in Chechnya and its troubling similarities to the persecution of “undesirables” in Nazi Germany, the unmistakable symbolism of the protest serves as a timely reminder of the international commitment to never see such atrocities happen.
The protest ended on a triumphant note as demonstrators wrapped the Russian Embassy in a massive pride flag a third of a mile long. It is part of the mile-long flag created in 1994 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the event that led to reformations in LGBT+ rights in America. The rainbow-clad Russian Embassy sent a powerful message of hope shared by all the protestors: that their efforts, like those of their counterparts at the Stonewall Riots, will help to drastically improve the lives of LGBT+ individuals.