page_title: Russian LGBT Network
section_title: 2009
hierarchical_section_title: Russian LGBT Network / Activities / 2009
caption_attribution_description: English: International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. RainbowFLASH Русский: Радужный флешмоб в Санкт Петербурге, посвящённый Международному дню борьбы с гомофобией Deutsch: Rainbow-Flash 2009 in Russland
context_page_description: The Russian LGBT Network is a non-governmental LGBT rights organization working for the social acceptance of and protection of the rights of LGBT people in Russia. Founded in 2006, it was reformed into the first Russian inter-regional LGBT rights organization on October 19, 2008. The organization is a member of the International Lesbian and Gay Association and is led by Russian LGBT rights activist Igor Kochetkov.
context_section_description: 2009 was declared the Memorial Year for Gay and Lesbian Victims of Political Repression, in recognition of the 75th anniversary of the criminalization of homosexuality.
  At a February 2009 Moscow press conference the Russian LGBT Network and the Moscow Helsinki Group released a paper entitled "The Situation for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgendered People in the Russian Federation", the first in-depth study of the legal position of LGBT people in Russian history. The 100-page paper analyzes relevant Russian laws, citing specific examples of rights infringement and discrimination.
  From March 23 to March 29, 2009 the network sponsored the third Week Against Homophobia in Russia, with roundtables, films, demonstrations and performances in Arkhangelsk, Kemerovo, Tomsk, Omsk, Krasnoyarsk, Naberezhnye Chelny, Novosibirsk, Petrozavodsk, Tyumen, Rostov-na-Donu, Chelyabinsk and Saint Petersburg. There is also an "Assistance manual for those who suffered from discrimination or hate crimes" on the official Russian LGBT Network website.
  On May 17, 2009, the International Day Against Homophobia, the network organized a "rainbow flash mob" in Saint Petersburg. Bringing together from 100 to 250 people, the network considered it the largest demonstration in Russian history for LGBT rights and smaller demonstrations have been held in more than 30 Russian cities.
  On July 15, 2009, representatives of the Russian LGBT Network met Russian Federation human-rights commissioner Vladimir Lukin and gave him a copy of the report. According to Lukin, LGBT people have the same rights as others: "If certain people’s rights are violated because of the sexual orientation of those people, we are ready to protect them". According to Igor Petrov, it was the first official meeting of a state representative with LGBT activists in Russian history.
  In August 2009 a brochure about gay and lesbian family rights was published in Russia, examining legal problems faced by same-sex families in contemporary Russia. On August 11 the network sent a written request to the Prosecutor General of Russia to bring a criminal case against environmentalist Oleg Mitvol, whom Igor Petrov accused of fomenting discrimination against LGBT people. The network filed an August 24 complaint with the Prosecutor General against Sergey Ponomarev, deputy chief editor of Komsomolskaya Pravda, for making defamatory public statements about the sexual orientation of individuals. On January 11, 2010, the public prosecutor's office issued a warning to the newspaper: "The examination established that Ponomarev’s statements expressed the negative attitude towards the people with homosexual orientation. For the above-stated reason, the inter-district prosecutor's office issues a warning to the ZAO Komsomolskaya Pravda Publishing House, that breaches of the law in the mass media are intolerable".
  On September 17–27, 2009, an International Festival of Queer Culture was held in Saint Petersburg celebrating homosexuals and "different" people. Among the participants were the groups Kolibri, Iva Nova, Betty and S’nega; poets Dita Karelina, Liya Kirgetova and Elena Novozhilova, and singers Olga Krauze and Tatiana Puchko. The festival also featured photo exhibitions, theater performances, poetry readings, art workshops, films, drag-king shows, seminars and discussions.
  At its 97th session on October 30, 2009 the United Nations Human Rights Committee presented a report about human rights in Russia based on the Russian LGBT Network report, emphasizing the violation of LGBT rights.
  In a December 24, press release, the network praised Patriarch Kirill's declaration of the inadmissibility of discrimination based on sexual orientation.
caption: Rainbow flash mob in Saint Petersburg
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