21/04/2017
As petitions abound on the internet asking the Russian authorities and international agencies to intervene to strop the Chechen government's programme of persecuting gay and trans people, so the LGBT campaign charity Stonewall is issuing guidance for people wanting to make a difference. Ruth Hunt, speaking for Stonewall, has tried to co-ordinate all the different petitions by asking that people prioritise signing the pledge at Amnesty International's website. This, she explains, will ensure that one petition site has the maximum number of names. Ruth also urges that demonstrations and protests desist from representing Russian President Putin in drag or otherwise made gay. This is just likely to antagonise the authorities that we need to influence. More on this later in the bulletin.