This morning, a delegation of protesters from various Palermo associations, who organized a sit-in in front of the Russian Consulate to protest Putin's government's homophobic laws, was received by Russian Consul Vladimir Korotkov in Palermo. Present at the meeting were Titti De Simone, coordinator of Palermo Pride, and Daniela Tomasino, president of Arcigay Palermo, along with Francesco Lupo of the Five Star Movement, Lorena Lo Bianco of Patchwork Udu, and Fabrizio Pitarresi of Uniattiva.
“"The meeting," says Titti De Simone, "highlighted the vast political gaps that exist today between the advancement of civil rights for LGBTQ people in Europe and the policies Putin's government is pursuing against the freedom and rights of homosexuals, lesbians, and transgender people. We stand in solidarity with our Russian brothers and sisters, who are now forced by a liberticidal law to ban "propaganda," thus to ban speech and to keep political and cultural action clandestine. Italy, lagging behind in a Europe that is making significant progress, cannot lecture anyone, but we, gay and transgender citizens, and many heterosexual friends, certainly demand that institutions at all levels, local and national, censor what is happening in Russia. We demand the suspension of all cooperation and cultural twinning treaties, as the City of Venice has already done. We will boycott products from Russia, and even tourism to cities in the Russian Federation, as a sign of peaceful denunciation of an attack on our rights." universal rights“
The sit-in was organized by Gruppo Attiva, Coordinamento UniAttiva, Arcigay Palermo, Coordinamento Palermo Pride, Patchwork Udu, CSF-Cooperazione Senza Frontiere, with the participation of Certi Diritti and Articolo Tre, and is part of a European mobilization involving thousands of human rights activists.