BBC News, Mark
Grigoryan, BBC Russian Service, 30 July 2013
 |
| Campaign organisers consider Stolichnaya vodka a national brand |
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Popular
London gay bars and nightclubs have decided to boycott Russian vodka brands,
joining a global campaign launched by North American gay activists in
solidarity with the LGBT community in Russia.
The
organisers accuse the Russian authorities of an increasingly aggressive stance
towards sexual minorities.
They are
angry about a controversial law signed by President Vladimir Putin banning the
promotion of "non-traditional values" to children, the refusal to
allow gay pride events and harassment of gay activists.
Many
conservative Russians suspect gay rights campaigners of trying to undermine
traditional family values.
The purpose
of the vodka boycott is clear: to harm the image of a product that has become a
national brand, symbolising Russia.
Some
activists suggest going further by boycotting the 2014 Winter Olympics, due to
be held in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.
 |
| The call to boycott was posted on the websites of London's popular gay bars |
Russian
Standard - another popular vodka brand in the UK - declined to comment.
'How can it
get any worse?'
The vodka
boycott campaign was launched by US writer and activist Dan Savage.
He wrote in
his blog that gay bars in Seattle should "dump Stoli... to show our
solidarity with Russian queers and their allies and to help to draw
international attention to the persecution of gay men, lesbians, bisexuals,
trans people, and straight allies in Putin's increasingly fascistic
Russia".
Savage's
initiative generated a swift response in the US and Canada, and then on the
other side of the Atlantic.
Jeremy
Joseph is co-founder and owner of the G-A-Y Group, which owns a bar chain of
the same name. He sees the vodka boycott as an act of solidarity with the
Russian LGBT community.
"There
are other countries where it is illegal to be lesbian or gay. But this is
shocking, because they are taking a step back rather than a step forward. And
in the last couple of weeks, looking at some of the videos and stories coming
out of Russia - it's so horrific, it's so scary," Mr Joseph said in an
interview with BBC Russian.
Moreover,
Mr Joseph believes that boycotting Russian vodka may be just the beginning.
"Hopefully,
this would lead to not just Russian vodka being banned, but looking at the
brands that will be sponsoring the Winter Olympics [who will know that] unless
they make a stand, then their products will get banned."
At the same
time, the G-A-Y Group owner does not believe that a high-profile campaign in
the West will make life worse for LGBT people in Russia.
"How
can it get any worse? I would like to hope, not. But what do we do? Sit back
and do nothing?" he asks.
Global 'act
of despair'
Peter
Tatchell, a veteran gay rights activist and human rights campaigner, has
expressed his support for the vodka boycott.
 |
| Peter Tatchell (l) joined protests against a ban on gay pride in Moscow in 2008 |
"The
Russian government has passed a draconian new homophobic law that criminalises
any public expression of gay identity or call for gay human rights," Mr
Tatchell told BBC Russian.
"In
addition, there has been a wave of organised homophobic violence targeting
individual LGBT people. Some of the victims have been tortured or killed. The
police are doing little or nothing to bring the perpetrators to justice,"
he adds.
"Russian
LGBT organisations and international human rights groups have appealed to the
Russian government to scrap the anti-gay laws and crack down on homophobic
violence. Their appeals have been ignored, the repression is
intensifying", says Mr Tatchell.
Mr Tatchell
describes calls to boycott Russian products as an act of despair and expresses
hope that "this campaign will go global in the coming weeks".
Stoli's
'equality and diversity'
Val
Mendeleev, chief executive officer of the SPI Group, which owns Stolichnaya,
said his company "is an apolitical, business-oriented organisation".
"However, the LGBT community in the US and worldwide are consumers of
Stoli Premium vodka globally, and as such are our stakeholders," he told
BBC Russian.
Mr
Mendeleev stresses that his company's "corporate values stand for
transparency, fairness, equality and diversity".
 |
| Stolichnaya's owners argue the vodka is not a Russian product as it is produced in Latvia |
"Stolichnaya
Vodka has always been, and continues to be a fervent supporter and friend to
the LGBT community," he wrote, citing examples of the SPI Group's support
for gay events all over the world, including gay pride events in Durban, Tel
Aviv and Vienna.
He also
said Stolichnaya should not be regarded as a Russian product, since it is
produced in Latvia, albeit using Russian ingredients.
Chris Amos,
the owner and manager of Manbar in London's Soho, welcomed Mr Mendeleev's
statement.
"It's
regrettable for them that they are getting the raft of the gay fury and all of
this. But at the same time, it will be them and other Russian companies like
them who will then go back to the Russian government to argue for our case and
support our case," he told BBC Russian.
"That's
great that they are doing that [writing the letter], but that doesn't stop the
boycott. And the boycott will hopefully go to other Russian companies, who will
- like Stoli - issue statements in support of the gay and lesbian
population", Mr Amos said.
Sochi
Olympics
 |
| Gay rights campaigners protested against the new law in St Petersburg in May |
Jeremy
Joseph of the G-A-Y Group is fully behind the idea.
"I
personally believe that Russia doesn't have the right to host the Winter
Olympics now", he argues. "There is supposed to be an Olympic spirit
of everybody joining together as one. How can you have it in a country that is
so prejudiced?"
Dan Savage,
however, believes that it would be better if athletes from the LGBT community
went to Sochi to compete and win, to show the whole world they are not afraid
to be themselves.
Last
Friday, the International Olympic Committee announced that it had received
assurances from the Russian officials that "the [new anti-gay] legislation
will not affect those attending or taking part in the games".
But
immediately after that one of the most prominent Russian anti-gay campaigners,
Vitaly Milonov of St Petersburg Legislative Assembly, called on the Russian
authorities to refrain from applying the gay-propaganda law inconsistently
during the Sochi Olympics.
After all,
Mr Milonov actively participated in writing it.
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