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Rainbow News"Children are being raised with a fascist ideology..." concludes Conference on Children Protection
4 Jun. 2013
"I am fed up with being called an odd. The pressure is from anyone: from teachers, acquainted, the state...", told a 17-year old lesbian Liza about the deterioration of life standards of LGBT youth in Russia.
The Conference "Protection of children from homophobia and transphobia", dedicated to the International Children's Day, came to an end on June 1 in Saint-Petersburg. The "Straight Alliance for LGBT Equal Rights" reports that many experts in children's psychology, psychiatry, pediatricians, journalists who follow the issue of children's protection, teachers and representatives of initiative groups of parents from different Russian regions participated there and discussed the issues of LGBT youth in Russia: from bullying to intimidation.
Liza recognized her homosexuality when she was 13-14 years old. "It is a shame to hate us only for what we can't and won't change! I'm terrified with the need to survive and follow the rules of the ancient world. During arguments I support my position with scientific data and can't understand why should I commit suicide only because of someone's incompetence", she said in her speech in front of the audience.
Valery Panyushkin, a journalist, a special correspondent of the Russian Aid Fund (Rusfond) noted that the very fact of existence of LGBT youth is being hushed up in Russia. Those young people do not exist for the Russian government. Their interests, according to him, are not advocated in public and the society is fully unaware about the existence of such a problem.
The number of suicides among LGBT youth is much higher than its median. Dmitry Isayev, head of the department of clinical psychology of the Saint-Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University told the audience about horrifying numbers of suicidal attempts among LGBT youth due to a homophobic propaganda that is being practiced by the state. "When we talk with young men and women who feel their gender diversity we get the information that more than 80% of them had already been trying suicidal attempts because they had become enemies not only for their friends but also for their families. Young people are afraid to ask for a help because in that case they believe they would be put on medical record in mental disorders clinics".
Mitya Aleshkovsky, a blogger, a photograph and the head of the "A Help Needed" project revealed the story about his struggle for a 16-year old young man to be released from a mental disorder clinic where the father (a doctor) of that young man had put him in. Dad told him: "I'd rather let you be dumb than gay".
The Russian LGBT Youth suffers from the lack of information: they aren't being informed about the fact that homosexuality and a desire for a same-sex intimate relations is not an illness. "A horrible law that is going to be adopted on the federal level will outlaw LGBT youth and will make them invisible", said Marina Melnik, mother of a gay and the leader of "Parents' movement" about the draft law that bans the so-called "homopropaganda".
According to Svetlana Levina, an activist of the Straight Alliance for LGBT Equal Rights", a juvenile homophobia is a specific variation of aggression. If a child is being bullied for his body weight or wearing glasses then adults protest and reject that attitude. But homophobic bullying is being supported, approved and encouraged by adults, the society, the Russian state and the Church. "Children from the very beginning are being raised with fascist ideology", concludes Levina on the recent developments in our country.
Elena Klimova, a journalist, told about her "Children Not Found "404" project. She wrote a number of articles in support and defense of LGBT youth and got numerous letters from children from all over the Russian Federation with gratitude for her support and attention to their problems.
A working seminar for parents and experts in youth and children psychology was held in the framework of the Conference. Its members worked out recommendations on support for LGBT youth and their parents, addressed for psychologists and social workers of crisis centers, established by the state, NPOs and civil activists. On the eve of voting on the law "on homopropaganda" the participants of this Conference have decided to file a petition to the Russian Parliament to denounce its approval. The same paper will be sent to President Vladimir Putin, the Russian Government, the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation and to ombudsmen.
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