Detention, torture of Gay men in Chechnya draws protesters to Russian Embassy

On the 9th of May, members of HRC (Human Rights Campaign) showed up outside the Russian Embassy to protest ongoing mass arrests and torture of Gay men in Chechnya.CNN reports that at least three detention centers in Chechnya are being used to imprison Gay men for nothing more than who they are.

Gay men are being held for weeks of electric shock torture and starvation in Chechnya, in what enemies of the GLBTQ community have called a "prophylactic cleaning" of this conservative vassal state of Putin's Russia. Some have been killed outright. The three detention centers have been compared to concentration camps in online forums. Since the Chechen Republic is currently a " federal subject" or so-called Republic of Russia, that means Putin himself or others in the Russian government could shut down the torture centers at little risk to themselves. While Chechnya has fought and lost two recent wars against Russia, the current government there is a vassal state of Putin's Russia. Russia itself is also known for an anti-Gay "Homosexual Propaganda" law rammed through by no less than Putin himself.

With Trump also being a friend of Putin and possibly Putin's vassal as well, the events in Chechnya may even be a warning of how the Trump Adminstration will treat GLBTQ issues in the future.