Some of the students Human Rights Watch interviewed said they were subject to violence or threats of violence. Denis P. But sometimes I face homophobic attacks. It was especially bad, when I was in school, in a small town. Georgy L. Anton M. Then I got used to it. Georgy, the year-old transgender boy, described the reactions he gets when people overhear his classmates using male pronouns to refer to him:. Such reactions happen frequently, he told us, adding that hearing these reactions is extremely upsetting.
He explained:. The school psychologist explained:. Parents and other adults can be an important source of guidance and support to LGBT youth, and most of the students we interviewed explicitly said it was a priority for them that their parents accept them for who they were. However, many parents seemed ill-equipped to be supportive of LGBT children, our interviews suggested. As a result, many LGBT youth felt that they could not turn to their parents for the guidance they wanted and felt they needed.
For many of the youth Human Rights Watch interviewed, stigma began at home. Taras P. Ekaterina T. Nobody understands me, in fact. And this is very hard. In fact, many of the LGBT youth we spoke with said they were afraid that their parents would react with verbal abuse, restrictions on who they could see and what they could do in their free time, physical violence, or by kicking them out of the house.
As a result, they had not come out to their parents. A psychologist in Moscow said that three of the four LGBT youth clients she worked with had problems with their families:. A Moscow-based social worker who runs an online help portal as well as support groups for LGBT youth explained that the majority of the queries her organization receives are from friends of LGBT youth who are worried about them. Meaning, it is about a conflict with the parents. Some students who discussed their sexual orientation or gender identity with their parents were surprised to find that their parents were supportive.
More commonly, however, the youth we interviewed who had been open with their parents reported that their parents were negative or ambivalent about acknowledging them for who they were. Some transgender youth reported particularly difficult experiences with their parents. Lev M. Vasily said his mother does not usually object to the way he dresses, but often checks to make sure he does not wear a binder around his chest.
When his mother came to pick him up, his nanny happened to comment that she had thought his breasts were bigger. At home, she forced me to take off the t-shirt and explain. Now she always does that, when I'm going somewhere—she touches my back and checks. We can be a great resource when parents are ready to get information and support their children because then these parents become defenders of their children.
This psychologist stressed that whether a LGBT youth or a parent received knowledgeable, supportive care from a psychologist depended on a chance encounter with a supportive professional who was willing to risk running afoul of the law. Many of her peers in mental health services did not receive appropriate training about sexual orientation and gender identity-related issues.
Whether a student finds support, respect, and affirmation from peers, teachers, or school staff depends almost entirely on chance. Most LGBT students we interviewed for this report said the environment in Russian schools is indifferent, hostile, or outright violent. Experience there can have immediate as well as lifelong consequences. Most said that schools provide neither reliable information nor support for LGBT youth—forcing them to turn elsewhere.
And the relentless hostility that many face in school impairs their ability to focus on their studies, and thus their access to education. Due to the repressive legal and social climate, LGBT youth in Russia often feel isolated from their peers at school. Many of the students we spoke with told us that they knew nobody else who was gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.
Russian schools are hostile environments for LGBT students. While staff were supportive in some cases, in others, teachers specifically targeted LGBT students for abuse. Some students felt sufficiently confident in themselves to express their sexual orientation or gender identity but received negative reactions from adults.
In many cases, those who asked school staff about LGBT topics received ignorant or prejudiced responses from teachers that caused the students to think of their identities as pathological or problematic—exacerbating the fear and isolation they already felt. Tanya K. Some teachers equated being LGBT with having a disability.
Nora T. Other teachers stated that LGBT people did not deserve to live, sometimes using words that could be taken as encouraging violence. Irina L. Vera Y. Vasily A. They say people in the West are stupified by their tolerance.
Raisa N. Describing her literature class when she was in the 9 th grade, Yana T. In some cases, our interviewees told us teachers singled students out for criticism, telling them that their clothing, hairstyle, or mannerisms marked them as being gay, lesbian, or transgender, or simply abnormal.
For instance, Vlad A. Other school staff also criticized students for their appearance. Some teachers and other staff targeted students who were known to be LGBT with hateful comments. Pyotr E. Petersburg, told us:. Eventually, however, she dropped her threat. Psychologists described similar accounts of verbal abuse and harassment by teachers. In one such case:. Speaking of a discussion on same-sex marriage in her history class, Veronika A.
In one such case, year-old Alina P. Some other students told us that their teachers intervened to stop bullying and harassment by classmates.
For example, Kirill G. His teacher stepped in, he said. So, she just threatened them with repercussions and reined them in. She did not speak directly on this topic with me either. They absolutely didn't care. They just asked for silence in the classroom. Other LGBT students described similar reactions from their teachers when they were harassed or bullied. Aleksey M.. They were openly hostile or indifferent.
In addition to bullying and harassment, LGBT students encounter various forms of discrimination in schools that make educational environments hostile or unwelcoming. Transgender students face specific challenges when it comes to dress and self-expression. For example, some transgender students Human Rights Watch interviewed had experienced rigorous policing of how they dressed and expressed their gender at school.
Such restrictions are particularly damaging and humiliating for transgender youth, as wearing gender-affirming clothing is an important part of social transition. I simply cannot tell the others because I want people to hang out with me, I don't want to be a pariah. Transgender students are usually not able to use bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity, an additional humiliation.
And transgender students who ask teachers to address them using the gender that matches their identity told us most of their teachers did not do so. It has never happened. LGBT youth told Human Rights Watch their classmates often repeated the sterotypes, misinformation, and hostility pervasive in Russian media. For some, peers were a source of relative support and openness—compared with the responses of parents and teachers on issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Others, however, faced harassment, bullying, and discrimination at the hands of their classmates. Teachers rarely intervened when they observed such abuse, LGBT students told us, adding that the indifference they observed from most teachers dissuaded them from complaining about it.
Nevertheless, some students explained that their friends and classmates were supportive. For example, year-old Mikhail S. And I know about their sexual orientation too. I am really lucky to have such friends and environment. Of course, there are those who sometimes bully her, shout bad things at her. But she's a very positive person, and she does not pay attention to them. Others described how context determines the social attitudes they experience. Veronika A. There were moderate homophobes, there were some gay-friendly people, but in general the attitude was calm.
After the video was posted online, a group of her classmates started to harass her. David O. Some LGBT students experienced outright hostility from their classmates.
Others reported that they were teased and harassed, said that their classmates described them as sick or pitiful, or overheard anti-LGBT comments that led them to conceal their identities and live in fear of attack. I have been overlooked for a long time. Describing her school environment, she said:. We didn't have any visible LGBT persons at school [other than me], but the attitude was clear.
Then they began to joke about me. Mostly, these were insults, but sort of subtle insults. Some students hear comments from classmates suggesting that LGBT people should be killed. As noted above, some teachers fail to protect LGBT students from harassment and violence, and in some cases even foster it. Kristina Z. Over time, despite the deluge of misinformation from the government, families, teachers, and the internet, Russian LGBT youth interviewed by Human Rights Watch found ways to protect themselves.
For example, Lev M. I always wear a large black hoodie, so that way I turn into a guy for people around me. But when they shout something after me, I just go away quickly, hiding on the stairs. Many of the students Human Rights Watch interviewed said they avoided disclosing their sexual orientation or gender identity if possible.
Alina P. To avoid the same treatment, she has told only a few people that she is attracted to girls. This cannot happen at all. LGBT youth who cannot hide their identities endure regular harassment.
As one psychologist remarked of the transgender youth he works with:. Some students reported that they had a supportive core group of friends. For instance, Anton M.
My classmates have a normal attitude toward me. Larisa V. Even so, she said students were not out to the school as a whole. At school I am out and everyone knows about my orientation. My family is also aware of it. Now I have a higher position in the school hierarchy, and homophobes in school are trying to establish good relations with me.
Some older interviewees reported that the environment at universities and colleges was significantly better than that they had experienced in secondary school. For example, Nora T. Some of them were shocked at first, but in general they like, understand, and support me in spite of my identity. Valentina D. Here I feel much better than school. Phew, this is disgusting! No child's safety or healthy development should depend on a chance encounter with a compassionate or knowledgeable adult.
In Russia, however, that is often the case for youth exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity. Some students reported positive interactions with school psychologists; others recounted acrimonious or abusive encounters. Irina R. It is not a problem. She finally convinced me that this is normal. However, other students who sought information and support from school mental health staff experienced the complete opposite. Nikita R. I just asked them once about the LGBT community in general.
Some LGBT children find their education curtailed as a consequence of the abuse they face. Alexander N. Colleges in Russia are specialized two-year training schools for students who have chosen a vocational education track after finishing the 9 th grade. Others said that they only recognized the toll their school environment took on them, and the extent to which it impaired their ability to focus on their studies, once they left.
In order to understand their own sexuality and to make responsible choices students need access to information about sexuality that is science-based, non-judgmental, and takes into account the whole range of human intimacy. When guidance at home or in school is limited, LGBT students turn to sources of uncertain quality for information about sexuality.
Students told Human Rights Watch that they sought information about LGBT identities, relationships, and sexual health from friends, the internet, and experience. Online sources of information are particularly important because of strong social taboos against open discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity, students told us.
LGBT youth and adults in Russia—as with nearly everywhere in the world—often meet peers online, where they feel safe exchanging information and expressing their identities and feelings. For some, the most important information they find online is that which affirms the most basic truth of their identities—that they are perfectly normal the way they are. Others explained how the internet offered them privacy and the freedom to explore the questions they had without risking an abusive encounter with an adult or peer.
Gender identity and sexual orientation are not topics about which you can ask teachers or read any books in the school library. People often almost always look at me with incomprehension, discussing me. I became a teenager and started to experience gender dysphoria.
And for others, thanks to online counseling services such as Deti, the internet became a place of life-saving refuge. Deti is an online group that offers psychological support, advice, and a safe community for LGBT children, including those who experience violence and aggression because of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. The site retains a network of between 30 and 40 volunteer psychologists who are available to support youth via chat or audio messaging such as Skype, or can refer them to local mental health services where available.
The Deti group had nearly 97, members in mid-November In April , Deti started yet a third group on VKontakte. At this writing, that online group was operational. For some children, engagement with Deti has facilitated self-acceptance.
Other LGBT youth told Human Rights Watch they found the network to be a life-saving resource and felt afraid that the government might eliminate it. For example, in April , the children's rights ombudsperson of St. Petersburg, Svetlana Agapitova, said at a meeting with legislators:. Agapitova told legislators her office defended the rights of all children but had never received any complaints from LGBT youth about allegations of rights violations against them.
In response to this statement, the Deti founder and administrator, Lena Klimova, wrote to Agapitova outlining the issues Deti volunteers had documented among their youth members over the years. In June , the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the law violated the rights to freedom of expression and freedom from discrimination guaranteed in the European Convention on Human Rights.
Ilan Meyer, an internationally renowned scholar in social psychology specializing in minority populations, submitted testimony disputing claims that the law has legitimate aims and can accomplish those aims.
Mental health professionals told Human Rights Watch that the number of LGBT youth seeking mental health support has increased since I see a connection between the growth in our activity [the inscreasing demand for counselling] and the law. Taking action reaffirms limits. With experience you will become more comfortable in handling it. Practice with colleagues. You can always go back to the student and say or do something else if you feel you did not respond well.
Educate … If you have the time and opportunity to educate on the spot, do it. Be prepared to provide accurate information. Be Proactive … Develop an environment of respect and caring for all students in your school and classroom using inclusive language, books and other materials. In those that have no specific law against homosexuality, gay people may still be prosecuted under other laws.
Statistics are scarce but the number of arrests is undoubtedly lower than it was during the British wave of homophobia in the s. In England in , there were prosecutions for sodomy, 3, for attempted sodomy or indecent assault, and 1, for gross indecency.
The problem with such laws, even if not vigorously enforced, is that they signal official disapproval of homosexuality and, coupled with the fulminations of religious scholars, legitimise discrimination by individuals at an everyday level and may also provide an excuse for action by vigilantes. Some of the most brutal Arab regimes Iraq under Saddam Hussein and Syria under the Assads, for example also showed little interest in attacking gay people — probably because they had other things to worry about.
This is what the Sisi regime has been doing in Egypt recently — and its targeting of sexual minorities is documented in detail by rights activist Scott Long on his blog.
Gay people are not the only ones, though. Individuals or couples accused of having unlawful sex may be arrested for a variety of reasons, including some which initially are unrelated to homosexuality. There are also reported cases where people suspected of being gay have been arrested by police seeking to elicit bribes or turn the suspects into informers.
For those caught, the effect on their lives is catastrophic but the law is not much of a deterrent and for those who are discreet about their sexuality the risk of arrest is small. For the vast majority who identify as gay, lesbian or transgender the attitudes of family and society are a much bigger problem.
The one issue that affects all gay people — everywhere — at some point in their lives is coming out. For Muslims this can be an especially difficult decision.
The pressure to marry is much greater in Muslim countries than in most western countries. Remaining single is usually equated with social disaster and once young people have completed their studies, organising their marriage becomes a priority for the family.
The more traditional kinds of family take on the task of finding them a partner; arranged marriages are still very common. For those who are not attracted to the opposite sex, this presents a major problem. Some give in to the pressure and accept a marriage for which they are ill-suited. A few of the more fortunate ones find a gay or lesbian partner of the opposite sex and enter a pretend marriage. Some bite the bullet and decide to come out. How families respond to a coming out depends on several factors, including social class and their level of education.
In the more extreme cases, coming out results in the person being ostracised by their family or even physically attacked. Following the Orlando massacre — perpetrated by a man from an Afghan family background — it has been noted that all the countries where the death penalty for sodomy still applies justify it on the basis of Islamic law.
But to blame this entirely on Islam is an oversimplification. In Egypt and Lebanon — predominantly Muslim countries with a large Christian population — attitudes towards homosexuality among Christians are not very different from those among Muslims. So far, though, there have been only a few Muslims willing to reappraise it. The key point here is that while the words of scripture are fixed and unchangeable they are always subject to human interpretation, and interpretations may vary according to time, place and social conditions.
This, of course, is something that fundamentalists, whether Muslim or Christian, prefer to deny. The patriarchal system plays a major part in this too, with strongly defined roles for men and women.
0コメント