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NEWS & LETTERS, October 2004Queer Notesby Suzanne Rose GUATEMALA CITY--A series of obscene and threatening phone calls have been reported by two lesbian rights organizations. Colectiva de Lesbianas Liberadas and Coordinadora Ciudadana por la Diversidad Sexual received the calls after planning Guatemala's recent gay pride parade and other highly publicized activities. The phone calls have caused the staff of both organizations to fear sexual assault. Violence against LGBT human rights defenders has been a problem in Guatemala for years. * * * MOSCOW, RUSSIA--Homosexuality was illegal under the old Soviet regime. Gay men received sentences of up to five years in prison and lesbians were often locked up in psychiatric hospitals. The law was repealed in 1993 under then-president Yelstin. Gay clubs that had been underground started to emerge and a gay political sense began to develop. But now, led by extreme conservatives, the Russian Orthodox Church and others, gays and lesbians feel they are once again being forced underground. Several anti-gay bills, including one to re-impose the ban on gay sex have recently been introduced in the Duma (parliament). "People are scared," said Olga Suvorova, who runs the Moscow-based lesbian group Pinkstar. "Women come to tell me they were fired from their job and openly told it was because of their sexual orientation. But they are scared to sue. And lately I have been receiving threatening letters from the Orthodox Church. At first they just asked us to close our center, but now they are threatening to resort to other means if we don't cease our activities." |
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