A leading LGBT rights group projected messages for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in giant letters on the wall of the Presidential Palace in Helsinki hours before the summit between the two leaders was set to open. “Trump and Putin: Stop the Crimes Against Humanity in Chechnya,” read one message displayed by the Human Rights Campaign. Other projections read: “The whole world is watching” and “Silence is deadly.” The group said in a tweet ahead of the action: “Last year, reports surfaced of Chechen authorities rounding up and detaining more than 100 men who were suspected of being gay or bisexual and 20 have been murdered. Today HRC confronted Trump and Putin in Helsinki over these crimes against humanity.” The statement continued: “For more than 15 months, @realDonaldTrump has refused to publicly condemn the systematic torture, abuse and murder of LGBTQ people occurring in Chechnya as Vladimir Putin has licensed the violence to continue.” (Mediaite)
Tens of thousands of Finnish protesters took to the streets as the summit opened. At the rally portion of the protest, there were large banners reading “ABOLISH ICE,” “RAGE AGAINST RACISM,” and from Amnesty International’s Finland division “#TrumPutinHelsinki MAKE HUMAN RIGHTS GREAT AGAIN.” (The organization had a digital version of the banner published as an ad at the Helsinki Central train station.) The speaker dais had a banner reading “WE ALL REALLY SHOULD CARE,” in response to First Lady Melania Trump’s jacket worn on a trip to visit a facility for detained immigrant children in south Texas in June. The back of the olive green jacket said, “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” (Variations on the jacket have been seen at protests in London and America.) (Bustle)
Photo: Human Rights Campaign via Twitter
Europe rights court: Russia cannot ban LGBT public assemblies
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Nov. 27 that Russian courts violated LGBT individuals' freedom of assembly rights by consistently rejecting gay pride event applications. In its judgment, the ECHR stated that 14 applicants sought to gain approval to hold public LGBT events, such as Pride marches, but were systemically denied by local authorities. These denials were subsequently challenged, but Russian courts consistently upheld these local authorities’ decisions. The ECHR agreed to hear the case of all 14 applicants together due to their similar factual and legal backgrounds. (Jurist)