A YouTube video depicting an attack on a Russian gay teenager has been lifted after it went viral.
In the video, which appears to have been shot in the winter in the suburbs of a Russian city, a 15-year-old boy has been lured to a meeting place by the fictional online persona “Uncle Dima.” However, once he is there he is met by a gang of young men and women. These young men and women apparently created a fake “Uncle Dima” account on VK, a Russian social network similar to Facebook, to lure the young boy to the meeting place.
Once there, the boy is forced to reveal his personal details and has urine poured over him. Some of the participants in the attack are wearing masks but others are openly proud of what they are doing.
According to Poltavtsev, the video is part of a wider problem. A former skinhead who has faced jail time for neo-Nazi crimes, Maxim Martsinkevich, has been the ringleader in a two projects: “Occupy Pedophilyaj” and “Occupy Gerontilyaj.” While these projects obstensively have the aim of catching pedophiles, in reality, Poltavtsev says, fake VK profiles are used to find and publicly humiliate young gay men. The police do little to help, Poltavtsev says, and besides, most young men are too afraid to go public about the crimes. “Being outed in a small Russian town is like being killed,” Poltavtsev said. “So, many resort to a suicide.”
Poltavtsev says that largely the Russian media hasn’t touched the subject, with a couple of notable exceptions. Earlier this month Lenta.ru sent a reporter to the Urals, one of the places where the “Occupy Pedophilyaj” movement was strongest, to investigate. “If I had it my way, we would kill [homosexuals],” one member of the group tells the journalist. Another Russian story says that the victims are sometimes as young as 11-years-old.
It’s hard to watch this video and agree with people who feel that Russia is being unfairly portrayed as homophobic. While the video itself doesn’t prove acts like this are systematic, it does seem like the logical conclusion of a country where “gay propaganda” is banned and polls show 50% of people feel “irritated or disgusted” by homosexuals.
Thanks to Business Insider Australia for this article.