Although strides are being made across the globe when it comes to LGBT rights and representation, hate and homophobia are still very much a part of the social landscape. Recently, such feelings of hate tragically culminated in the death of a young Russian man who was raped and tortured to death in an apparent hate crime.
According to Agence Free Press, a spokesperson for regional investigators revealed that the 23-year-old victim’s battered and naked body was found in the courtyard of an apartment building in the southern city of Volgograd on Friday morning.
The young man was brutally attacked and suffered several injuries, especially to his genitalia and he was apparently sodomized with several beer bottles.
“He was raped with beer bottles and had his skull smashed with a stone,” said Natalia Kunitskaya, a spokeswoman for the Volgograd region branch of the Investigative Committee, to AFP.
Two men, ages 22 and 27, have been detained in connection with the murder. Investigators say that the victim was drinking with the two men while celebrating Victory Day on May 9. However, things turned violent after the victim revealed to the men that he was gay.
The disturbing murder comes amid reports of rising homophobia in Russia as President Vladimir Putin seeks to play up traditional, homophobic values in a move to gain support for his third term in office.
Although Putin has denied violating LGBT rights, the Russian parliament is considering passing a controversial national law banning “homosexual propaganda” among minors, with the wording for the law being extremely vague, if passed, it may open the door for the homophobia to go from just culturally acceptable to legally acceptable as well.
Hopefully, Russia will soon enough begin to combat it’s homophobic culture lest another innocent person become a victim to a violent hate crime. Sadly, this is not the first time such a crime has happened. Check out some other famous hate crimes below. –nicholas robinson
