14 Jan. 2014
Ivan Ohlobystin has quit the Euroset in order to spend more time for "elimination of Sodom and Gomorrah". The Euroset company has expressed its regret for dismissal of a "valuable employee" and reported about paying him impressive severance pay. Gay activists and organizers of the Euroset boycott declare to continue the pursuit campaign...
"Taking into consideration endless threats, provocations and insults from sodomites towards my friends, partners and their families, I made my own way for all that and quit the position of the Euroset's creative director. My relatives must not suffer from my public opinion which I will never change. Sodom and Gomorrah must be destroyed!", said Ohlobystin in his microblog (now a banned account).
Alexander Malis, the president of the Euroset, said that the decision of Ohlobystin was taken with regret by the Euroset's team". "Ivan has taken a flat decision to quit the position of the Euroset's creative director in order to be engaged in public work and spend more time for it. We understand and respect his decision. Besides, Ivan will be paid a special severance pay for his contribution into the Euroset's development. We wish Ivan good fortune and success in his activities", informs the Euroset's official Vk.com page. For reference, Mr.Malis recently was advocating the right of Mr.Ohlobystin to have "a personal opinion" about gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders. The issue are the scandalous calls of Ohlobystin to "burn gays alive in furnace" and his letter to Vladimir Putin with an offer to criminalize again via public referendum the gay sex.
In response, the coalition of 26 human rights and LGBT organizations called for boycotting of the Euroset. At first, the Euroset team thought it was the conspiracy of company's rivals but then the protest campaign grew internationally and left the Russian borders (even the conservators in the USA were shocked). Gay activists not only were angered with Ohlobystin's fascist remarks but also with ambiguous position of the Euroset's CEO Alexander Malis, in particular, some remarks of Malis in TV "Dozhd" live...
"...We also want to know the comments about the true reasons for Ohlobystin's leave from the Euroset because his public statements, that he quit on his personal will and why, look ridiculous and absurd. We are looking forward to clear and audible explanations from Mr.Alexander Malis about the on-going developments. The boycott campaign is to be continued until we get audible explanations and excuses" (from organizers of the Euroset's boycott).
Meanwhile the boycotting campaign is being followed not only by LGBT citizens but many others. In particular, Alexey Venediktov, the editor in chief of the "Echo of Moscow" mass media company, Anton Nosik, deputy general director of "United media" company and one of the pioneers of the Russian internet and many others have declared about boycotting.
But with Ohlobystin's dismissal from the Euroset, the boycott of the retailer will nevertheless go on, declare its organizers, because "Ohlobystin did not refuse his misanthropic position and still makes gay h8 statements and the company's management did not condemn these fascist sayings".
"We demanded not only that, not only to fire that man, but also to condemn publicly his misanthropist statements". "We still wait for clear explanations from the company's management of the Euroset's position on fascist remarks of their former creative director and demand public excuses from the Euroset", says the statement of gay activists forwarded to Russian mass-media.
English translation presented by Yerdna Bananes