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Nikolai Nedzelsky has always wanted to be a father.
When I first took Gavrushka into my arms at
the hospital, I realised the rest of the world did not exist, nothing else was important.
But his best friend, Irina's baby, is the
closest he can come to parenthood. As a gay couple, it's illegal for Nikolai and his partner
to adopt a child and now according to a new law, Nikolai could be charged with exposing
a child to so-called propaganda of non-traditional *** relations. Irina too is implicated.
If I allow my child to associate with homosexuals,
then according to our Russian laws, I am engaging in gay propaganda.
In their opinion you abuse the child and you
can be deprived of parental rights.
Russia's new law means that all public demonstrations by *** minorities are now illegal. Dozens
were arrested at this gay pride celebration in St Petersburg. and this protest turned
violent as police cracked down. There's growing unease amongst Russia's gay community as the
country witnesses a surge in homophobic violence.
The law states that if you hold a mass public event or start promoting it among the minors,
that is, children, you are going to be fined - that is all. So there are no issues there.
As a state we have a to right protect our children.
And that's what this group of gay hunters
are trying to do.
Sit *** down.
Why touch me?
Don't twitch.
I don't want to sit.
They call themselves Occupy Pedophilay. Using social networking sites, they lure men to
meetings with minors. This video shows their leader abusing and humiliating a target. Posted
online, the videos are watched by millions. Ostensibly, Occupy Pedophilay targets paedophiles.
But in Russia, the distinction between homosexuality and paedophilia is often blurred. Even President
Putin spoke of the two in the same breath, in a discussion on Russian television after
a trip to Holland earlier this year.
During my last trip, we spent a lot of time discussing the rights of *** minorities.
If, in the Netherlands, the court gives legal standing to an organisation that promotes
paedophilia, why on earth must we adopt such standards?
We judge gays and paedophiles identically
- we see no difference.
Anzhey Khmitits is a proud member of Occupy Pedophilay.
I don't see those creatures as human. Not at all. They look
anthropomorphic, but they are not human. They are revolting. People shake our hands
in the street and come to us to say "Good on you."
The gang's founder, known as Tesak, which means
machete, is a neo-Nazi who featured on Dateline 10 years ago. The then 19-year-old said he
was on a mission to rid Russia of non-whites.
We must stand up proudly and say, "We are Aryans." And kill all ***, Chinese, Jews
and Wogs from the Caucasus.
Glory to Russia!
He spent three years in prison after being found guilty of inciting racially motivated
violence. Today, Tesak is a regular, if highly controversial guest, on Russian TV talk shows.
You're a triple ***.
Let's go out.
Please, sort it out outside.
One, two, three.
And it's clear that he's very much part of
the anti-gay militia. His offsider, Khmitits, is confident that support for Occupy Pedophilay
goes right to the top.
When Vladimir Putin had his....his round table, that live video conference, and was asked
about our organisation, he said he supported this kind of activism.
Nikolai Nedzelsky agrees. He believes the
government is deliberately provoking homophobia to create a distraction from the country's
social and economic issues.
Because what has been reigning in Russia is total discord. People need to be united - nothing
unites people so powerfully as sharing hatred for someone they do not like. And historically,
people do not like gays.
Nobody can say that gays in Russia are second-rate citizens. I have friends, they are gays and
it is not a problem.
It's ridiculous to say that everything is fine in the society. And everything is terrific.
There is no problem and so on.
Lawyer Nikolai Alexeyev has been fighting for the rights of Russia's *** minorities
since 2006.
Now the prides and public events have been banned on the basis of this new law protecting
minors.
He's been arrested multiple times for holding demonstrations at gay pride events.
Explain, what law have I broken?
We will explain now.
An outrage by Moscow authorities!
Most recently, he was detained outside the
Moscow City Hall, charged with participating in an unsanctioned demonstration.
This is what this law was made for. It has
nothing to do with minors. If Russian authorities really wanted to protect minors they would
pass different laws which will support the children. But everyone is so obsessed with
the gay propaganda which doesn't exist.
It would be better if all these activists started working - working instead of walking
around with banners. That would be better, much better both for society and for them.
They would improve themselves through labour.
In Soviet Russia, *** minorities had no choice but to remain invisible.
It is very easy to govern a country where
everyone is identical and all who do not conform to the norm have to hide.
It wasn't until 1993 that homosexuality was
decriminalised. Gay clubs opened and people began to find the courage to come out. But
by the end of the '90s, Russia was in a state of economic and social turmoil.
In the 90s people often said "We need a firm
hand and a controlling government." They have a historical love for the Tsar, the Good Father.
Here, historically, authoritarianism is the norm.
And if Vladimir Putin, the ultra conservative
Orthodox Church has become increasingly influential in Russian society, using religion to demonise
homosexuality.
I know someone who killed himself because of this.
Me too....someone.
I knew someone. Past tense.
Gay teenagers, Gary and Anja, say they are
reminded every day how difficult it is to be gay in Russia these days.
And society forces you to believe "You are
sick, you are wrong, you are a creep..."
When we step outside, I see exactly what they mean.
I really want to add something.
Yes please.
When a woman approaches us with this message
of anti-gay hate.
These people suffer from, how is it called... from acne because their bodies are polluted,
they are polluted.
I don't think these things are linked.
Yes, they are. It's an abnormality.
So we are ill, are we?
Yes, Shall we go?
Let's go to the clinic and get cured. Let's pray to God.
You won't be cured.
The new anti-gay propaganda law is feeding
Russia's deep-seated homophobia and it's having a deadly effect. *** and AIDS is at epidemic
proportions in Russia.
There are drugs for the destitute, those who can't afford it.
Over one million Russians have ***, with 200
new cases being registered every day. A significant percentage of Russia's gay community is affected.
But less than 10% of those infected receive the necessary antiretroviral drugs. There's
no government funding for prevention programs and it's prohibited for giving information
to teenagers.
We are forbidden to advertise condoms. We can't say condoms offer protection against
AIDS.
Evgeny Sorokoumov manages this privately funded
*** and AIDS counselling centre.
We can just hand them out here on the sly. We can't go into the streets and
hand them out. The law forbids that. Condoms are seen as promoting debauchery and an immoral
way of life, and as contributing to the spread of ***, AIDS and various diseases.
What measures is the government taking to fight this problem?
What measures?
Yes.
To cut down the high-risk groups, to fight
against drug abuse... to raise the level of culture in our society, to promote family
values, and religious faith, to increase the ranks of Orthodox believers.
In February, the world's elite winter sport
athletes will descend on Sochi. Some in the international community are calling for a
boycott of the Games.
But ultimately Russia has little intention of bowing to Western concerns.
We mind our own business. We have a different society. Why do they demand that we implement
their standards?
Russia is a country where the traditional family will survive and go on. Russia will
become an example and the last stronghold where traditional family values will still
be cultivated and developed. We won't allow the family as an institution to be destroyed.
I guarantee that.
Nikolai Nedzelsky fears with such attitudes, levels of homophobia can only increase.
The authorities have officially sanctioned
the persecution of gay people by issuing this law.
Nedzelsky and his non-traditional family believe
they now have little option but to leave Russia.
We cannot stay here, it is getting too dangerous, we need to leave and never come back and given
that Irina, Roman and Gavriusha also want to leave,
I think we will be in a wonderful situation.