Queer siblings in Russia need you!
On 30 November 2023, the Russian Supreme Court passed an unprecedented ruling outlawing the international movement for LGBTQI+ liberation, thus criminalising the work of organisations like IGLYO in Russia, and putting LGBTQI people at further risk within the Russian Federation (see our IGLYO Statement). In January 2024, Russian authorities started to convict our siblings on the ground under the new ruling — in one instance for doing as little as wearing rainbow earrings.
Facing this dire situation, our friends at ComingOut help Russian queer people both on the ground and beyond. They achieve this by allowing every queer person to ask for free psychological consultations or legal support, while also working on the bigger scale by collaborating with major international organisations such as the UN, the OSCE, and more.
ComingOut always provided consultations on the same week as when people requested them. But new laws have made it tough: On the one hand, they receive more requests (+35% of requests for psychological help and +50% of requests for legal help); on the other hand, they have fewer volunteers. This recent discrepancy means that hundreds of people now have to wait for weeks to receive assistance from them.
To help everyone on time and cover growing expenses, ComingOut is running an emergency fundraiser. They foresee that €20,000 will be enough for them to get back to speed and leave no queer person behind.
What can you do?
Any contribution would help to bring ComingOut closer to their objective. To support queer siblings in Russia, you can:
- Donate to the fundraiser (any amount matters!)
- Share the fundraiser with your friends and network
- Tell your personal stories of how legal/psychological advice helped you on your way
Thank you in advance for your support and feel free to get in touch with Georgy from ComingOut at georgy@comingoutspb.org directly if you have any questions or want to contribute to sharing their fundraiser.
This fundraiser is handled entirely by ComingOut. IGLYO is only acting as a dissemination partner of the fundraiser. IGLYO does not manage or have access to the fundraiser, and we do not handle donations received through the fundraiser.
Interested?
