Russia’s New Queer Purge

August 6, 2024
Foreign Policy, August 6, 2024 In March, a little-known volunteer organization dedicated to “reviving the religious and secular unity of the Russian people” escorted agents from the Internal Affairs Ministry and the Russian National Guard on a raid in the remote city of Orenburg, a city of 500,000 near the Kazakh border. Their target was […]
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Putin Is Showing Us What Homophobia Looks Like as a Weapon of War

March 15, 2024
The New York Times, March 15, 2024. Oleksii Polukhin’s 64 days in detention began when Russian soldiers stopped him at a checkpoint. They found that he’d been gathering information about Russian military positions to share with Ukrainian forces; they also discovered he was gay. Mr. Polukhin gave a detailed account of his detention to Projector, an […]
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Gay Couple Struggles to Stay Together as War in Ukraine Rages On

June 22, 2022
Originally published by Rolling Stone, June 22, 2022. Russian bombs brought Stepan and Maxim together. Now Russian bombs have driven them apart. The men, now both in their early thirties, were living almost 20 miles apart in the eastern Ukrainian region called the Donbas, where Russian-backed separatists went to war in 2014. They likely would […]
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Trans People Leaving Ukraine Face Danger and Transphobia. This Organization Is a Safe Haven.

June 1, 2022
Originally published by Teen Vogue, June 1, 2022. Olha Poliakova first realized something was wrong at 5:20 a.m. when her cat leapt from his usual sleeping spot on her shoulder. As Poliakova entered consciousness, she was vaguely aware of a loud boom outside. She thought a truck driver had taken a shortcut through her neighborhood. […]
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“People Are Not Coming Back to the Closet”: The Fight for Ukraine Is Also a Fight for LGBTQ Rights

March 4, 2022
Vladimir Putin’s assault on LGBTQ rights made him a hero to the global far right and a pariah in Ukraine. As the invasion enters its second week, queer Ukrainians are fighting back. Portrait of Olena Shevchenko, courtesy of Olena Shevchenko. Posted originally in Vanity Fair, March 4, 2022. On the seventh day of the war, Olena […]
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Italy Is Ground Zero For The War On Women — Which Is Why These Far-Right Groups Are Meeting There

March 28, 2019
An alliance of far-right Italian politicians, Putin-affiliated Russians, and anti-LGBT activists from the US are gathering in an Italian city at the heart of the war on women.
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This Small Town Was Once A Progressive Fairy Tale. But In 2018, It’s Living A Far-Right Nightmare.

November 10, 2018
A crumbling medieval village was rebuilt by a mayor who welcomed immigrants with open arms. That’s made him a target of Italy’s populist government, and a reluctant hero of the left.
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This Party Wants To Make Germany Great Again After Far-Right Protests That Shocked The World

September 8, 2018
Alternative for Germany thinks it has a chance to win upcoming elections following an outpouring of anti-immigrant anger in the country’s east, and allegations of Nazi ties may only be working to its advantage.
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The Real Story Behind The Anti-Immigrant Riots Rocking Germany

August 31, 2018
Rumors that a man was killed while defending a woman from rape have fueled anti-immigrant protests in Germany, with mobs hunting people in the streets. Now the country's biggest far-right party is planning a march of its own.
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How Rap Became The Soundtrack To Polish Nationalism

February 10, 2018
There’s a world of rappers who make tracks about World War II, attack the EU, and endorse marches organized by white nationalists. They're big in Poland, where a new fight over the Holocaust shows how history has become a weapon.
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Copyright © 2020 J. Lester Feder
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