At today's San Francisco Board of Supervisors' meeting Supervisor Tom Ammiano introduced the following resolution, which will be voted on next week and it is expected to easily pass.
Like the anti-gay violence in Moscow two years in a row as LGBT Russians attempt to stage public Gay Pride events, this is also the second year the Supervisors have taken a stand of solidarity with our brothers and sisters across Russia and called on the country's leaders to respect their human rights protections.
For this, I express bottomless gratitude to the Supervisors, many of whom I'm usually critical of or battling with over local politics, for putting time and city government resources into commenting on foreign affairs and especially on human rights abuses and treaties, not just for queers, but for many communities and individuals.
Would that there were other city councils sometimes following the lead of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, offering hope and attention to people in many parts of the worlds who struggle for peace and justice.
A message from me to LGBT Russians and gays around the world: Though we are few when we protest at consulates, and offer resolutions with no legal weight, we have not forgotten or abandoned you. You honor us by allowing us to be your partners in building international gay solidarity.
By the way, have I missed the condemnations and calls to arms from IGLHRC, Human Rights Watch, NGLTF, Amnesty International and the Human Rights Campaigns about all this trouble in Russia?
Here's the text of the Board of Supervisors' resolution:
Resolution condemning the government sanctioned violence at the Russian LGBT community’s May 27th demonstration in Moscow, and urging the Kremlin and Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzkhov to work toward fostering a culture of tolerance toward the LGBT community in Russian society.
WHEREAS, It is the duty of all governments, democratically elected or otherwise, to ensure that human and civil rights, such as the freedom of assembly and expression, of all citizens are protected; and
WHEREAS, When a government employs discriminatory or homophobic rhetoric, it is taken as implicit permission by hate groups to perpetrate violence; and
WHEREAS, This fact was evidenced by Moscow Mayor Luzkhov’s portrayal of homosexuals as “sexual deviants”, and the Russian authorities’ refusal to intervene to stop vicious attacks on peaceful gay pride celebrants by neo-fascist youth in May, 2006, and their involvement in the vicious beatings and arrests of peaceful demonstrators last week; and
WHEREAS, This Board of Supervisors passed a Resolution last year nearly identical to this, on file with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors in File No. 060813, which is hereby declared to be a part of this resolution as if set forth fully herein; and,
WHEREAS, The Russian government’s contempt for the local and international LGBT community, and the rule of law, was made clear when the Moscow police stood by as a gay member of the German Parliament was assaulted in 2006, and a member of the Italian Parliament jailed on May 27 of this year, along with less prominent members of the Russian LGBT community; and
WHERAS, The Russian authorities chose to add insult to injury by arresting the LGBT demonstrators for assembling unlawfully after permitting neo-fascist groups to beat and kick them for an extended length of time; and
WHEREAS, The Kremlin would do well to remember that over 27 million Russians died defending Eurasia against fascism, and it is a fallacy to imagine that an alliance, informal or otherwise, between the Russian state and reconstituted fascist groups is a partnership beneficial to the Russian people; now, therefore, be it
RESOLved, That the Board of Supervisors condemns the government sanctioned violence and chaos which took place during Moscow’s first Gay Pride march in 2006, as well as at the Russian LGBT community’s May 27th demonstration in Moscow, and urges the Kremlin and Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzkhov to work toward fostering a culture of tolerance in relation to the LGBT community in Russian society.
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