About a hundred people protested the Russian Embassy in London “to raise awareness of and call for an end to the persecution of the LGBTQ community in the Chechen Republic according to Gay Times.
The protest was intended to coincide with International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The protest had four demands according to Gay Times: “For Theresa May to publicly condemn Chechnya’s atrocities; for governments to shelter refugees from Chechnya; for a United Nations investigation on Russia; and for Russian authorities to bring those responsible to justice.”
News of the protest spread when it was tweeted out by Thomas Wales.
Wales Twitter handle describes him as an LGBT Advocate, Operations Director @GayYorkshire [an LGBT guide], and Project Manager @LSfreedombridge & Dreamer!
Leeds Freedom Bridge (HUL4/53) is a previous project that Wales spear headed last year that resulted in the make over of an aging eyesore into a bright LGBT tourist destination. Or as “the bridge” tweeted, “I’ve had a rainbow makeover thanks to my good friends from the Leeds LGBT community, Network Rail & #gayleeds.”
🏳️🌈The @LSFreedomBridge is in the news & highlighting the forward thinking diverse city of Leeds! Proud of @NetworkRail’s role in this! 😘 #LoveCanBuildABridge https://t.co/Q8d2WDFsin pic.twitter.com/BD9VW9mxOH
— Thomas Wales (@thomaswales) November 4, 2018
You can watch the protest in Wales’ video Tweets below, as well as the wrapping of the embassy in the rainbow flag.
We wrapped the @RussianEmbassy with the historic #GilbertBaker #RainbowFlag that dates from 1994, the 25th anniversary of the #Stonewall uprising. 🏳️🌈 Donate today to help pay for an #LGBT+ person in #Chechnya to be evacuated to safety: https://t.co/5uti2XF1VQ pic.twitter.com/8Xy0BZlDus
— Thomas Wales (@thomaswales) January 27, 2019
One of the protestors was Peter Thatchell the philanthropic founder of The Peter Tatchell Foundation (PTF) which “seeks to promote and protect the human rights of individuals, communities and nations, in the UK and internationally, in accordance with established national and international human rights law.”
At Russian consulate in London now. Standing in solidarity with Chechnya LGBTs. No tyranny lasts forever. Kadyrov & Putin will have their fall. Russia will be free. @rulgbtnet @ComingOutSpb @mashagessen @astroehlein @Billbrowder pic.twitter.com/Hbo1zRQUxC
— Peter Tatchell (@PeterTatchell) January 27, 2019
100+ people outside the Russian Embassy in London to protest the torture and killings of LGBTQ+ people in Chechnya #HolocaustRemembranceDay pic.twitter.com/mLmKDyeFCG
— Harvey Day (@harveyday94) January 27, 2019
