Perth Voice Interactive

SUNDAY’S Pride fairday will hold a minute’s silence in solidarity for LGBT people living in Russia.

Amidst the Sochi Olympics—which has become synonymous with shoddy hotel rooms, suspicious yellow tapwater, dangerous infrastructure, false structures, painted tarpaulins depicting buildings, thousands of stray dogs and armed security reminiscent of Iron Curtain Russia—the city’s mayor has proudly claimed there are no gay people in his city.

Russia, with a wink and a nod from hyper-macho president Vladimir Putin, has undergone a recent resurgence of official homophobia: Police stand idly by as gay men and women are attacked by skinhead thugs, and new lawsto  stop gay people “promoting” their lifestyle have been used to violently crack down on activists.

Fairday will be become one of 37 remote Pride house events taking place around the world during the Olympics as a show of support.

Most Olympic games have a Pride house as a safe space for gay athletes to hang out in, but—along with potable water—there’s none at Sochi.

Photos of locals in Perth will be uploaded as part of the worldwide campaign to show gay Russians they have supporters.

“They can see that people are speaking up for them,” Pride co-president Daniel Smith says.

“What is happening in Russia at the moment is very scary and serious,” he says. India has also recently reinstituted anti-gay laws, while in Uganda it’s a capital offence to be gay.

Mr Smith says it’s important to remind people here the struggle’s not over and hard-fought gains can very quickly be lost.

“It’s just heartbreaking seeing gay and lesbian rights go backwards so quickly,” Mr Smith says.

“Here in WA where we’ve got possibly the best laws for gay and lesbian people in the world—apart from marriage—it’s very easy to become complacent and think everything’s fine, but things are going backwards for people around the world.”

He says while the mayor of Sochi might never budge, corporate sponsors may well be influenced by international rights movements if their bottom line is at stake. A 2008 study showed LGBT people prefer to buy from gay-friendly businesses, even when the cost is higher.