In Russia, homosexuality is technically decriminalized but people who form “non-traditional” relationships have it pretty hard there. For example, in 2013 the country passed a law banning the spreading of “gay propaganda” among minors, which the European Court of Human Rights ruled was discriminatory and encouraged homophobia. During the 2018 FIFA World Cup, however, a group of LGBT activists managed to undermine the law in a particularly genius way.
Organizing a project called #HiddenFlag they smuggled in a Pride flag into the country and paraded it right in the center of its capital, Moscow. “We have taken advantage of the fact the country is hosting the World Cup at the same time as Pride Month, to denounce their behavior and take the rainbow flag to the streets of Russia,” they write. “Yes, in the plain light of day, in front of the Russian authorities, Russian society and the whole world, we wave the flag with pride.”
Six people from six countries (Spain, The Netherlands, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia) dressed in jerseys that together formed the iconic flag, and their photos instantly went viral all over the internet. Scroll down to check out the images and tell us what you think about the initiative in the comments.
More info: thehiddenflag.org
Recently, an ad agency from Spain called LOLA MullenLowe joined forces with the country’s federation for LGBT rights to secretly take the Pride month to Russia
Their project, called Hidden Flag, sent six people from six countries to the World Cup, all dressed in their countries’ football shirts
When standing in a particular order, the jerseys of the models formed the Pride flag
According to the organizers, this project is their protest against Russia’s anti-LGBT policies
They said they wanted to come up with a safe way to speak out
“Russia is a terrible place for LGBTI people and we wanted it to be safe for the volunteers,” Sara Okrent, LOLA MullenLowe’s head of communications, told BuzzFeed
The idea they settled with allowed the volunteers to get in and out of the country before everything became public
Participants were found through friends at the company and email callouts
“It’s been an amazing reaction, and feeling like part of something that could hopefully make a change”
Gilbert Baker designed the rainbow flag in 1978
“He did so to create a symbol,<…> recognizable across the world, that people could use to express their pride,” the organizers wrote
“Unfortunately, 40 years later, there are still countries in which homosexuality is persecuted, sometimes even by jail sentences”
“And in which the rainbow flag is forbidden”
“Russia is one of these countries”
“Because of this, we have taken advantage of the fact the country is hosting the World Cup at the same time as Pride Month”
In 2013, the country passed a law banning the spreading of “gay propaganda” among minors
The European Court of Human Rights ruled it was discriminatory and encouraged homophobia
Homosexuality was decriminalized there in 1993, but anti-gay prejudice is widespread
The Hidden Flag instantly went viral
As of this post, one tweet sharing pics of the project has amassed an incredible 350,000 likes
Love is love!
People are in love with the creativity of the idea
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