Scores of gay Russians seek asylum in U.S. due to hostility back home

[William769]

NEW YORK — Had he stayed in Russia, Andrew Mironov would be settling in to a stable job with an oil company, likely with a newly awarded doctoral degree in electrical engineering.

Instead, he faces an uncertain future in New York City as one of scores of Russian gays seeking asylum in the United States because of hostility and harassment in their homeland.

“In Russia, I would have gotten my Ph.D. this fall, had a job and health insurance,” said Mironov, 25. “Now, here, I’m nobody.”

Yet the sacrifices have been worth it, Mironov says, given the fears that lingered after he was severely beaten by several assailants in the lobby of a gay bar in his home city of Samara.

http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2014/11/scores-of-gay-russians-seek-asylum-in-u-s-due-to-hostility-back-home/

A story you won't see on RT. That's mother russia for you taking care of her young.

[RKP5637]

1. Putin is working hard to restore Russia back to the old ruthless KGB days of hostility,

intimidation and ruthlessness. He is a pox on a country that seemed to be making such progress for the good of all. Just a quick glance at his body language reveals a lot instantly. Same old dictator tactics, divide, humiliate and conquer the masses by giving to them an easy hate target.

[William769]

2. You hit the nail on the head.

[MBS]

38. " " " " " n/t

[yeoman6987]

3. I'm sorta surprised that they would chose the U.S.

According to some, it is a horrible place. Of course I don't think that at all, but reading some replies of OPs and you would think it is just awful.

[Kingofalldems]

9. Got any links for that?

Otherwise it looks like you made it up.

[Behind the Aegis]

32. Not made up at all.

I have seen a number of posts, especially when Russia's GLBT record is brought up in a thread, immediately followed by how bad the US really is in regards to GLBT issues. As a gay poster, I likely read more GLBT related threads then those who aren't.

[Kingofalldems]

33. Well I haven't, so any any assertions, especially from the poster

I responded to, I would ask for proof.

[RKP5637]

13. It's getting better for LGBT. Far from perfect. My hunch it will take decades for the US to

really accept LGBT, just looking at how the US seems to struggle with everything ... Indians still fighting, many Immigrants still fighting, Black people still fighting, Mexicans still fighting. And women still fighting for equal rights. As a little kid when learning about the US I saw so much hypocrisy, at least where I lived.

[yeoman6987]

14. Well you certainly are correct!

[sheshe2]

4. " Now, here, I'm nobody."

Putin is an evil bastard and I hope he spends all eternity roasting in hell. I'll stop there, because if I said what I really think, I would get thrown off the board, William.

for Andrew.

[RKP5637]

15. ... but Bush looked into his eyes and saw his soul, and said he was a good person. I think

Bush needs an eye exam. ... hard to tell, head exam or eyes first.

[ReRe]

22. No.

GWB needs a drug test.

[RKP5637]

24. Yep, that's the bottom line of it all !!!!!!!!! n/t

[greatauntoftriplets]

5. I love irony.

[hifiguy]

6. How long will it take the fundymentalpatients to lose

their shit over this?

I hope Andrew (and the rest) finds a good job and some security.

[blkmusclmachine]

7. The USSR, zooming ahead to the 20th Century

[NuclearDem]

8. Impossible.

Russia respects human rights. This is obviously an MIC plot to get Snowden back.

Or something.

[iandhr]

19. Took the words out of my mouth.

[Dopers_Greed]

10. I wonder what these Russians...

Are going to think about conservatives drooling over Putin?

[Cha]

11. "Yet the sacrifices have been worth it".. I hope they're able to get asylum, William.

[MBS]

40. me, too n/t

[SidDithers]

12. "Vladimir Putin Is The Leader Of the Moral World"...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025726000

From Paul Craig Roberts, racist asshat and favourite of certain credulous DUers.

Needless to say, Putin is most definitely not the leader of the moral world.

Sid

[chrisa]

18. Bwahaha - What a lapdog

Was he sitting on Putin's knee when he said that? Did daddy Pooty-poot rub his belly after and burp him?

[NuclearDem]

21. I'm surprised he could stop his Pat Buchanan tongue bath long enough

to write something about Putin.

[nomorenomore08]

26. OMG THE MENTAL IMAGE!

[Odin2005]

16. Putin is literally Hitler.

[brer cat]

17. Do you (or anyone else) know if the applications for asylum

are mostly being approved? I am sure that some of our teabaggers and other conservatives in high places are fuming at the possibility of scores of "them" arriving on our shores. I hope there are no high hurdles to jump to prove the hostility of Russia.

Thanks for the thread, William. I had not seen this, but it is kind of a "duh" now that I think about it.

[Behind the Aegis]

30. It is hit or miss.

There are a number of factors involved. Is some cases, unless the persecution has been overt, then many are sent back. A few have been granted asylum based on sexual orientation persecution, but I don't think the numbers are very high, nor the request very often. For some, to request asylum means having to reveal something, which if discovered and they are deported could result in immediate imprisonment, torture, or even death. It is a real catch-22.

[LawDeeDah]

20. Edward Snowden thinks Russia is such a human rightsy place!

The guy can't be wrong, he's a hero!

[Chasstev365]

23. The Ocean liner The St. Louis

Unreal that Jews seeking asylum in Cuba in 1939 were turned away and the US did nothing either. These people were forced to return to Germany were many must have perished in the holocaust. WE NEED TO GRANT ASYLUM NOW!

[davidpdx]

25. Oh you are just a bunch of Russia haters

[nomorenomore08]

27. What an awful, shameful situation. Disgust doesn't begin to describe my feelings about this.

[kelliekat44]

28. This is the other kind of "immigration" that few talk about or acknowledge.

We give it to whites seeking asylum but to those from south of our border. Those children running from torture, raping, and enslavement from Guatemala, Mexico, etc. are scorned. I see protestors with signs and guns running after a school bus they thought were carrying children fleeing from these brutalities...

[Behind the Aegis]

29. Your post is exteremly offensive.

First, not all GLBT people are white. Shocking! But, true! Second, while the plight of many from south of the border is ghastly, it doesn't negate the terror that many GLBT face the world over, so why the offensive compare/contrast? Finally, many places still do not allow asylum based on sexual orientation/identity. The US recently refused asylum to a lesbian from Russia, despite the fact she was forced by the government to undergo "treatment" for her deviance.

[Bluenorthwest]

34. Here is what that poster said in a now delted OP on the morning after the election...

"The openness and brazenness of the LBGT agenda and the media flaunting of gay marriages all across the country cost Dems dearly and threatens to do so in the future."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025764803#post45
.

[William769]

37. Thanks. I had not seen that.

Oy.

[Bluenorthwest]

41. It's very telling. It's a constant.

nt

[William769]

36. Talk about a hidden agenda.

[Blue_Tires]

31. Well that can't be right...

Greenwald and Poitras have said on numerous occasions that Russia is paradise on Earth, and Snowden seems to be having the time of his life there...

[Bluenorthwest]

35. I have a decided opinion about people who read about human rights abuses and their reaction

is to exploit the story as fodder for making unrelated comments which serve the poster's agenda.

[LawDeeDah]

42. Snowden is no judge of character and more than slightly stupid if he believes Putin is

some kind of beacon for human rights.
Sorry if that makes the Snowden/GG gang uncomfortable. It must be Really uncomfortable when the two names of Snowden and Putin can't even be writ in the same sentence without some pointed excuse that it is irrelevant...

[Behind the Aegis]

46. BAM!

Nailed it!

[treestar]

39. Oh my, I hope they are granted

It is a high bar to show persecution, but the current atmosphere in Russia may be enough.

[Rex]

43. But but but I heard RT is like for freedum and stuff!

[NuclearDem]

44. Amy Goodman was on it once.

Therefore, totally legit.

It's also a refreshing break from the corporate media to watch a network owned by Gazprom and UAC.

[Rex]

45. I loved Amy Goodman on NPR...years ago...I hear now it is just like corporate news.

One reason I do not own a TVEE anymore or have cable, I can't stand watching the corporate news channels. We must go back to non-profit news stations.