Horrific Gay Purge Documentary ‘Welcome To Chechnya’ Premiered At Sundance
The documentary ‘Welcome to Chechnya’ premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this week, bringing to the spotlight the horrific anti-gay crimes happening in the Russian Republic.
Since 2017 people suspected of being gay, bisexual or trans have been tortured and killed in Chechnya, after what appears to be government-sanctioned marching orders from the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov who vowed to “cleanse the blood” of LGBT+ Chechens, reports ‘The Daily Beast’.
The documentary, directed by David France, follows a group of LGBT+ activists trying to rescue the victims from this aggression and help those who have survived, transport them to safe houses, support them financially and psychologically and help “sneak them out of the country and find asylum.”
“If they don’t kill you, you’re a winner,” says David Isteev, one of the activists who heads up the operation.
The documentary includes footage recorded on cell phones and security cameras. In one, gays who were caught kissing in a car are gruesomely attacked. Another shows a man anally raped by police as punishment.
Kevin Fallon writes that “the videos are horrific, the kind of atrocities no human should be meant to see. And it’s exactly why everyone must see it.”
Read related myGwork articles here:
Chechnya denies murdering gay Russian pop star, says his family killed him
Global protests outside Russian Embassies mark one year anniversary of Chechnya purges
Protests in New York mark one year anniversary of gay purges in Chechnya
Russia tells the UN there are no gay people in Chechnya
Keep up to date with the latest myGnews
