Roger-Luc Chayer and Ivan
A few days ago, I received a very precious email that takes on a very special meaning, because it comes from Ivan, a young gay man living in Russia. Wishing to address LGBT people outside his country on the current situation in Ukraine, he asked me to broadcast his message, which you will find in this section, in French and in English.
After talking about it with relatives and since his intervention was extremely unusual and very precious for us, from outside Russia, I decided to offer Ivan a video meeting in order to discuss a little with him and for him. Suggest something.
Very well structured in his thought and with a lot of candor, Ivan explained to me what was happening inside Russia, when there is much talk of censorship and mass arrests of opponents of the war. Basically, Ivan informed me that today the vast majority of young people are very informed because they are connected to several sites and media such as the BBC or CNN, and they know how to use the VPN (Virtual private Network) that allow you to browse the web invisibly, in relative security.
Following my conversation with Ivan, I offered him, if he wished, to be our representative in Russia in order to write, as he pleased, texts on the reality of LGBT in times of war, inside of a Russia more withdrawn than ever into itself. Ivan accepted with great generosity.
This is why I am pleased to announce to our readers that from now on, Ivan will keep us informed of things in Russia for our greatest joy. Welcome Ivan to the Gay Globe Media Group.
SOON THEY WILL COME FOR US
(By Ivan) Soon the regime will come to us, for those who protested, for those who just said « NO WAR ».
Yes, it’s simple, you can be arrested, beaten and imprisoned just for a simple pin or print on your clothes – or even for having blue and yellow clothes. Orwell’s « 1984 » is our reality. Our last free channel, TRAin, will soon be taken down, YouTube will be blocked, and the truth in Russia will certainly die.
But that’s not all for me, as a gay I am already under oppression here in Russia, but now all LGBT+ people will be forced back into the closet and the real hate crimes against us will begin.
The only thing I ask of you: don’t forget that we were against the war, we supported freedom and the right to be ourselves, and that’s why they came for us.
Please, if you can, don’t stay silent, spread the truth to stop this war, and remember that we are not monsters, not all of us. I love you all. Spread the truth, spread the love, protect freedom!
NEVERAGAIN! #NOWAR! #LOVEISLOVE!