Stockholm Pride raises their voice against arrests of LGBT activists in Russia

On Saturday 25th of May several dozens of LGBT activists and their opponents were detained in Moscow after trying to hold a Pride event in front of the The City Hall. Last year a court in Moscow stopped the Pride parade for a century, which means that during the circumstances celebrating a Pride in Moscow can be discussed year 2112 at the earliest.

To raise awareness about how the LGBT-people in Russia is discriminated and the banning of Moscow Pride, Stockholm Pride last week launched an advocacy campaign, inviting the Russians to #GOWEST and celebrate Pride in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, instead.

-  The arrests that occurred on Saturday once again shows that we have to take a stand for LGBT rights in Russia. Everyone that fights for human rights have an opportunity to make a difference by tweeting and contribute to our goal of being the trending topic in Russia, says Jessica W Sandberg, campaign manager #GOWEST.

On the campaign page gowest2013.com you can compose your tweet-invite which is automatically translated into Russian. In addition, your location for this particular tweet is changed to a random location in Russia in an attempt to reach as many as possible. By doing this the goal is to become the trending topic in Russia.

-  We want to raise awareness of the absurdity with Russians anti gay lays and the banning of Pride events for the next 100 years in Moscow. To do this we have combined the opportunity to do an invite to Stockholm Pride with the hope that the whole world takes a stand against the discrimination of LGBT people in Russia, Peter Rimsby, chairman of Stockholm Pride says.

By thousands of sent tweets and the support of Boy George, Darren Hayes from Savage Garden, Tegan and Sara and Smashing Pumpkins bassist Nicole Fiorentino, to name a few, #gowest was the trending topic in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia – three days after the campaign was launched.

But, the final goal is not yet reached. To trend in the whole of Russia, Stockholm Pride is asking tweeters all over the world to send a tweet of love from gowest2013.com and spread the word about the campaign – getting as many people as possible to join and being a part of history making.