Amid criticism from across the world over Chechnya's stubborn stand on eliminating homosexuality, a newspaper in Russia published an article attacking Manchester for being gay-friendly, almost seeming to corroborate the prejudiced belief of the country.
An article in Komsomolskaya Pravda ridiculed the city's gay district saying it's "disgusting" how people openly hug and kiss members of the same sex there, said a report by the BBC.
The article was written by columnist Alisa Titko who condemned in harsh words the apparent tolerance towards the gay community in Manchester, saying that it was "such a pleasure there are no such gay streets in Moscow", adding that Manchester's men "become gay", because the city's women "are fat, not sexy" and "simply disgusting to men", the report quoted her.
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She said it shows people are wrong to say Russia should be "more tolerant" about "non-traditional" sexuality, the report added.
The columnist even gave a rather peculiar reason for why there is an increase in the number of people "with non-traditional sexual orientation" in Russia. She believes that "their mothers did not beat them enough when they were kids".
That the Russian government has been no supporter of gay rights is openly known.
Over 100 men who were gay or perceived to be gay in Chehnya were reportedly subjected to torture, only because their sexual identification went against Russia's traditional views on the subject. Reports suggest that Concentration Camps, known to be as 'Gay torture camps' were set up for the men, a cruel reminiscent of the Nazi Germany when Hitler set up Concentration Camps for the jews.
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The government consistently denied the allegations with a spokesman for Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the Chechen Republic asserting that gay people did not even exist in the region.
“If there were such people in Chechnya, the law-enforcement organs wouldn’t need to have anything to do with them because their relatives would send them somewhere from which there is no returning.”
After more than a month of reports circulating online , Russian president Vladimir Putin has backed an inquiry into the matter, possibly under pressure by worlwide outrage and German Chanceller Angela Merkel's intervention who urged the president to help protect gay rights.
