Russian Neo-Nazis are posing as gay people in false personal ads on the social networking site, VK.com, in order to abuse and humiliate their duped victims. The majority of their victims range from 12 to 16-years-old. Once caught, the Neo-Nazis interrogate and force the person to come out as gay on camera. Victims are also subjected to beatings, kickings, being teased with phallic sex toys, threatened with axes, and forced to carry wooden crucifixes. They are showered with urine, and some are forced to drink urine. All of this is while being photographed or videotaped.
One widespread interrogation video involves a 15-year-old boy who responded to an ad by “Uncle Dima.” The alleged “Dima” was offering to pay a person for homosexual relations. A female Neo-Nazi repeatedly asked the tricked teen why he arrived and what he wanted. The Neo-Nazis crowded around the boy and unnecessarily hooked their arms around his shoulders, while continuing to prod him with questions. Toward the end, one man urinated into a glass bottle and then poured the contents onto the boy’s head. Another man kicked him. Although the video ends, another sickening photo is spread over the internet, showing what happened thereafter. The same boy was in a bathtub, stripped down to his boxers. His hands had to have been bound behind his back. He was being forced to drink urine from a sports bottle.
In another incident, a cyber-circulated photo depicts a semi-nude youth who is kneeling while two black-clad Neo-Nazis give a crooked thumbs-up. The boy’s nipples and belly button are covered in red paint. At first I thought it was blood. He looks ashamed as the men hold his head up by the hair, and he is holding a phallus.
The Russian government is supporting this, how so?
The Russian government is not taking action. Despite how blatantly public these incidents are, none of the Neo-Nazis have been prosecuted. Victims, their families, and LGBT activists have sent complaints but the government has not responded. The Russian Neo-Nazis undoubtedly violated Russian Criminal Code, but Russia condones their acts. Nikolai Alekseyev, the founder of Gay Pride Russia, says their government is signaling these people to do whatever they want, and that non-heterosexuals are treated like second or third class citizens. Moreover, Russian Neo-Nazis are free to broadcast their exploits with their faces exposed. Normally, terrorists have their faces masked for anonymity from the authorities.
The media is supporting this, how?
The media has endorsed the Neo-Nazis’ actions, and the government also has the power to control media activity. The leader of the skinheads, Maxim Martsinkevich, was interviewed on Life News, which has close ties to Russian security services. How many Neo-Nazis are interviewed on television in other countries? In local television, censored versions of the humiliation videos are broadcasted.
VK.com does very little to help. The Russian Neo-Nazis’ pages are only shut down for a day. The site also allows the perpetrators to create false profiles for their victims, including self-inflicting insults.
Society in Russia is supporting this, how?
The Neo-Nazis will do part of their shaming in public. Passersby either ignore or give positive reinforcement.
Last March, the Russian NGO-Levada Center conducted a survey which said that 85% of Russians are against gay marriage; 34% believe that homosexuality is caused by an illness. Then 5% believe gay people should be killed.
Anti-gay laws and the opposition:
It started with the ban on allowing same-sex couples or single parents to adopt Russian children. The most recent bill passed is the Anti-Gay Propaganda Law. Under this law, the following are prohibited: talking about “non-traditional sexual relations” with minors, sharing material that promotes gay rights or homosexuality as “socially equivalent” to heterosexuality, or expressing anything regarding the subject or showing affection in public where minors could be present.
The LGBT community revolted and conducted peaceful demonstrations in 2012 and 2013. In doing so, they were breaking the new laws. Twenty or more gay rights activists were detained in each event, while anti-gay protesters were free to express their anger verbally and with physical violence. Both the authorities and the haters beat the protesters with fists or clubs. Sometimes the anti-gay side would throw rotten eggs at them.
With the government allowing the anti-gay people to be brutal which would otherwise be criminal if committed under different circumstances, Neo-Nazis know it is safe to be cruel with these people. The government is playing favorites with its groups of people like a weak parent plays favorites with the children.
While outlawing gay demonstrations, the Russian government allows Neo-Nazi parades on National Unity Day. Thousands of Russian Neo-Nazis attended and were free to express themselves. Children were present and were imitating the Hitler salute.
This Neo-Nazi parade took place in November 2007, when the biggest issues facing the right wing extremists were national purity and ethnic hatred. The government was against their violent tendencies toward citizens of bordering nations, however they still permitted public expression in the presence of minors.
By passing these laws, punishing gay activists while condoning violent anti-gay protesters, the government has given the Russian Neo-Nazis the green light to do what they please. To illustrate my point, if a parent beats one child and allows the sibling to participate in the physical discipline, the parent is setting a bad example plus giving false authority to the sibling who should be an equal.
Answering Why?
Getting back to the present, the Russian Neo-Nazis’ online traps are supported by the government, the media, and majority of society. This explains how they are capable of committing these crimes without arrest. However, why the Neo-Nazis are luring and torturing gay teens, and why the government and society supports these hate crimes needs to be explained.
Why the Russian Neo-Nazis are doing this?
Originally, they started a project titled, “Occupy Pedophilyej,” in which they would entrap pedophiles. It seems like a worthy cause, since child molesters are the lowest of the low. Though, they should still be handled by the authorities, not by untrained citizens.
Over time, the Neo-Nazis decided to expand their project to homosexuals. They have described homosexuality and pedophilia as “morally indistinguishable.” Moreover, Russian Neo-Nazis think that all homosexuals are pedophiles, and the ones that are not will eventually become child molesters. One leader of a cell explained his point of view to the Russian online newspaper, Lenta: “I think practically all gay men – pedophiles. … Once you've crossed over once, you can cross over again. Today he likes boys, and then it'll be children. They're not suitable for life in society" (Sieczkowski, 2013).
Russian Neo-Nazis believe that shaming gay teens and “urine therapy” will cure them of their homosexual tendencies. Despite terrorizing minors, they see themselves as crime fighters, since they deem gay people as “not suitable for society.”
Before Occupy Pedophilyej, Russian Neo-Nazis focused their hatred on immigrants from surrounding nations including but not limited to: Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan; Tajikistan. Their motto was consistent, “Russia for Russians.” They wanted only Russian people living and working in Russia. The current leader of the Russian Neo-Nazis is Maxim Martsinkevich, aka Tesak (“Cleaver,” in Russian). He just finished serving a three-year prison term for “inciting ethnic hatred.” Right after his release, he headed the movement, Occupy Pedophilyej.
Why the government and society are supporting it?
Right wing extremism supports Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian approach to politics. They support each other’s actions. However, the Neo-Nazis detest Putin and believe he is a type of figure head, playing to the media and the crowd. In a way, he is playing to the crowd, which is necessary for anyone holding a position in a political office. It really depends what the character of the crowd is like.
The majority of Russia’s society opposes the idea of gay marriage. The biggest reason for their homophobia is that they want to protect their children. It is not wrong to protect one’s children, and people generally want good things for their little ones. They want their childhoods to be innocent and void of sexuality before adulthood. The word, sexual, is embedded in the word, homosexual, so the first thing they think is sex. They do not want their children to be involved in sexual anything. This makes sense. Though, not all gay things are erotic. Heterosexuality is found throughout fairytales, for instance, and it is okay because it only shows the romantic simplicities of getting married and living “happily ever after.” Why can’t this be the case with same-gender scenarios? Why? It’s because society wants “traditional relationships” for their children. Parents want grandchildren, and they do not want their children to be bullied for being gay or rejected by society. They don’t want anything bad to happen to them, and that is basically a good principle.
My Insight
Russian people want to protect their children’s innocent minds by not having them influenced by homosexuality, however they are not afraid of their children being exposed to Neo-Nazi propaganda. Gay kissing protests are immoral and may corrupt minors, but Neo-Nazi parades are acceptable? Television stations have aired shaming videos, which children can see. The thought of their children growing up to be gay is mortifying, but showing them a 15-year-old being forced to drink a bottle of urine is okay?? The Neo-Nazis have recently battered a gay teen to death. They will probably get away with it. No way is it alright to teach children to condone murder.
I am sure there are probably an unknown number of Russians who are against the violence, the shaming, and Neo-Nazism as a whole, though it may be risky to express those ideas given the new anti-gay Russian laws, and that is why they stay silent. There may even be anti-gay people who are against the extreme cruelty toward these youths.
The Russian Neo-Nazis say they are anti-pedophilia, but look at what they have in common with online predators. They create fictitious personal ads, posing as an older man, “Uncle Dima,” who is looking for gay kids. The Neo-Nazis are soliciting minors just like pedophiles do. They even force the child to remove his clothing, making him semi-nude, and then photographing him in that state.
On a side note, the 15-year-old boy who responded to Uncle Dima is only guilty of one crime, prostitution. He was trying to have sex for money, however he is a child. He could get some professional help. Still, abusing a child prostitute is very low.
The Russian Neo-Nazis believe they can “cure” these teenagers of their homosexuality, but that theory has been disproven a long time ago. There is no cure for gay or bisexuality, and enough studies have shown it is genetic. No one can be turned homosexual and no one can be turned heterosexual. For instance, gay people see movies involving heterosexual relationships, and it does not change them, nor did this exposure influence them while growing up.
Homosexuality and pedophilia are two mutually exclusive concepts. Not all pedophiles are akin to the stereotypical pedophile priests who molest altar boys. Some pedophiles prey on children of the opposite gender. Russians should know this already considering Lolita was written by a Russian-American, Vladimir Nabokov. Moreover, classical composer, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, created memorable works and he was gay but never a pedophile.
If the Russian Neo-Nazis want to confuse homosexuality with pedophilia, then it is only fair to open their hate crimes to creative interpretation. Not only do they seem like pedophiles for luring teenage boys via the internet, but they are obsessed with urine. Is it possible to conjecture that they have a golden showers fetish? They enjoy humiliating someone, making the person feel vulnerable, and showering him with urine. They like to force the victim to drink the urine as well. They also like binding the victim’s wrists behind his back, which suggest they may like bondage fetishes too. The one difference between the Russian Neo-Nazis and BDSM types is that the latter only practices virtual victimization and all parties are consenting. More disgustingly, the Russian Neo-Nazis practice their golden showers fetish with minors.
These suggestions about the Russian Neo-Nazis are easily argued. Terrorists bind their hostages. These videos are for shaming the gay boys, not for the purpose of getting aroused later. The use of urine is to “cure” them of their homosexual disease. They intend on rendering the child so traumatized from the experience that he will never attempt any of his homosexual tendencies ever again. If the thought arises, he will remember his shaming rite and stop, which is what the Neo-Nazis want, explicitly. To further explain their reasons, the Cleaver, Maxim Martsinkevich, said in the interview with Life News, “I hope that these broken lives – and they really do have broken lives – will be an example to the generation growing up that they shouldn’t behave like that.” In the video, the woman repeatedly asks the boy if he was sexually abused as a child. If these gay teens had broken lives and were previously abused, why “cure” them with more abuse? Some of the victims committed suicide after being exploited and internationally humiliated. No one can be “cured” of anything when dead. If these boys’ lives are broken, why break them more? It does not fix anything.
It is impossible to know exactly what these Neo-Nazis were thinking and feeling, including sexually or subconsciously. They could be feeling something sexual without others knowing. Who knows if they secretly like golden showers and homosexuality? However, it is certain that they are receiving a positive psychological payback from committing these acts. Being violent more likely releases tension, and they probably like relieving their anger toward gay people. They have to want to do these violent and puke-worthy acts in order to follow through with them.
For instance, they claim to be anti-gay, but they seem to have some homosexual tendencies. They had to want to sodomize that 23-year-old with the beer bottles, whereas a truly straight man would not want to touch a man there. The only exception is in prison rape, but the inmates are sexually frustrated over time anyway.
I think John M. Becker from “The Bilerico Project,” said it best, “It sounds like they are attempting a reverse version of To Catch a Predator.” I say, To Catch the Prey – is more like it.
©2013 Caroline Friehs
Originally posted: August 11, 2013
Last updated upon blog renovation completion.
Last updated upon blog renovation completion.
References:
Associated Press (2006 May 9). Putin Warns Neo-Nazi, Extremists. Radio Free Europe – Radio Liberty. Retrieved from: http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1068247.html
Balmforth, T (2013 Jul. 31). Videotaped Bullying Of Gay Russian Youths Highlights Growing Homophobia. Radio Free Europe – Radio Liberty. Retrieved from: http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-videotaped-bullying-gays/25062657.html
Becker, J. M (2013 Jul. 25). Russian Skinheads Entrapping, Torturing LGBT Teens. The Bilerico Project. Retrieved from: http://www.bilerico.com/2013/07/russian_skinheads_entrapping_torturing_lgbt_teens.php
Elder, M (2013 Jun. 11). Russia passes law banning gay ‘propaganda.’ The Guardian.com. Retrieved from: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/11/russia-law-banning-gay-propaganda
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Sieczkowski, C (2013 Jul. 26). Russian Neo-Nazi Allegedly Lure, Torture Gay Teens With Online Dating Scam. Huff Post – Gay Voices. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/26/russian-nazi-torture-gay-teens_n_3658636.html
Stopera, M (2013 Jul. 22). 36 Photos From Russia That Everyone Needs To See. BuzzFeed – LGBT. Retrieved from: http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/photos-from-russia-everyone-needs-to-see
Walters, C (2013 Jul. 30). Background on skinhead Maxim Martsinkevich and his gay-hunting Russian Neo-Nazis. Towleroad Retrieved from: http://www.towleroad.com/2013/07/background-on-skinhead-maxim-martsinkevich-and-his-gay-hunting-russian-neo-nazis.html
Webster, S. C (2013 Jul. 26). Russian neo-Nazi ‘Occupy’ group tortures LGBT youths. The Raw Story. Retrieved from: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/07/26/russian-neo-nazi-occupy-group-tortures-lgbt-youths/
