10 September 2013
Dear ….. ,
Imagine your internet date wasn’t a date – but a trap set by anti-gay thugs, who strip you, kick and punch you, make you drink urineor drive you to a graveyard where they threaten to kill you.
It’s happening for real in Russia. The thugs film the attacks and post the videos online to frighten other young people. The police turn a blind eye because new anti-gay laws have made it clear being gay makes you a second-class citizen.
Within Russia, there are still brave people and organisations committed to fighting back for lesbian, gay, bi and trans people. But they’re being raided, fined, and censored at almost every turn.
Here’s how we can team up to help: if thousands of us chip in in the next 7 days, we could raise as much as $100,000 – pure financial power to push back against the violence and repression.
Can you join in? Click here to donate:
https://www.allout.org/Russia-
The first half of every donation will go to help people in Russia pursue prosecutions of anti-gay attackers and reach out to young people who most need support. The rest will help All Out keep building vital international pressure on President Putin, and on leaders of other countries where there are anti-gay laws.
Working together, we can help turn the tide. But we need to raise funds fast. Russian human rights defenders need help urgently, because the crackdown keeps escalating.
If thousands of us chip in today, we can help get lawyers for people like Dmitry, a young activist who held up a sign saying “killing gays is a crime” – and was beaten by his parents then turned over to the police. We could even help fund secure online groups for frightened young people reaching out for help.
Can we raise the money this will take in just 7 days? Please donate now to help Russians stop the violence – and keep pressuring the government to stop the crackdown:
https://www.allout.org/Russia-
More than 370,000 of us have signed the petition against Russia’s anti-gay crackdown. And last week, in 34 cities, thousands of us took to the streets from Buenos Aires to Budapest, to speak out against the anti-gay laws that have kick-started a wave of brutal anti-gay violence.
As a direct result of the global pressure, UK Prime Minister David Cameron agreed to raise the anti-gay laws with President Putin face-to-face. All Out’s campaigner in London met with his staff to advise them.
President Putin is feeling the heat. He just announced he is open to a meeting with Russian LGBT activists himself – let’s keep up the pressure.
This is a unique chance for 1.8 million All Out members to power the awe-inspiring work of Russian human rights defenders.
Only donations from All Out members this week can do it. It doesn’t matter how much you give or in what currency, every donation will go a long way. The important thing is speed – please chip in today:https://www.allout.org/Russia-
Thanks for going All Out,
Andre, Guillaume, Hayley, Jeremy, Leandro, Marie, Sara, Tile, Wesley and the rest of the All Out team.
PS: So far, less than 1% of All Out members have donated to the movement. That’s thousands of incredibly valuable donations. But just imagine what we could do if another 1% of our 1.8 million member community chipped in. Can you?https://www.allout.org/Russia-
~~~
SOURCES:
Brutal videos fuel Russian anti-gay campaign – BBC, 1 September 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
Gay teenager kidnapped and tortured by Russian homophobes claimed to have died from injuries – Pink News, 6 August 2013
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/
Russian anti-gay law prompts rise in homophobic violence – The Guardian, 1 September 2013
http://www.theguardian.com/
Russian Law Isolates Gay Teenagers, Washington Post, 1 September 2013
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Russian LGBT Network: Anti-gay laws have increased homophobic violence in Russia – Pink News, 2 September 2013
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/
First Russian Gay Activist To Be Convicted Under Propaganda Law – Gay Star News, 2 September 2013
http://www.gaystarnews.com/
Gay Russian Teens Avoid Propaganda Law – The Guardian, 10 August 2013
http://www.theguardian.com/
Gay rights activists protest Russia law – Agence France-Presse, 3 September 2013
http://www.globalpost.com/
Foreign Office confirms David Cameron will raise Russian anti-gay laws with Putin at G20 – PinkNews, 3 September 2013
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/
Obama invites Russian rights activists to meeting alongside G20 summit – Reuters, 3 September 2013
http://www.reuters.com/
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