West Hollywood Condemns Chechnya Over Alleged Gay Concentration Camps

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA -- The West Hollywood City Council has adopted a resolution condemning Chechnya for allegedly establishing concentration camps for gays. The resolution was unanimously adopted last Monday at the city council's regularly scheduled meeting.

West Hollywood was one of the first cities in the nation to condemn the actions of Chechnya with a Council resolution. The resolution calls on the Trump Administration to establish sanctions against Chechnya in response to violations of human rights.

Recently there were reports that Chechnya has begun to crackdown on gay men and has established concentration camps were gays are being persecuted for their sexual orientation.

“LGBT people are victimized in many parts of the world,” West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tempore John Heilman said. “Unfortunately, what is happening in Chechnya is just another example of a government marginalizing and punishing LGBT people. And attacks on LGBT people are typically part of broader violations of human rights.”

The Russian LGBT Network, an LGBT rights organization in Russia, said it is working to evacuate people in danger, to attract attention to the cause, and to collect evidence about mass homicides. Organizations across the globe, including the UN Human Rights Council, US State Department, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Campaign, have spoken out to denounce Chechnya and to demand immediate investigations into the abduction, torture, and murder of LGBT people within Chechnya.

“We cannot be silent. We must speak out against the systematic violence and torture of LGBT people in Chechnya,” Councilwoman Lindsey P. Horvath said. “Everyone who values equality, human dignity, and the ability to love should unite in action — we must do everything we can do to immediately end these atrocities.”

The city of West Hollywood has become one of the most outspoken advocates for the legal rights of LGBT people. More than 40 percent of residents in West Hollywood identify as LGBT.

Photo courtesy of the city of West Hollywood