Good news, everyone! The Daily Mail took some time off from stalking Kate Middleton to remind us all that Russia is the worst place on the planet to be LGBT.
How bad is it, you ask? Worse than ISIS! After I recovered from Daily Mail-induced brain freeze, I double-checked see if this was actually The Onion. But nay! Their lead –“Transsexual and her gay friend persecuted in Russian village decide to head to Syria to join ISIS” is a next level misdirect, because DM knows full well that all people are going to do is read “Transsexual” “gay” “persecuted” “Russia” and “ISIS” and freak out. At the tail end of the headline, they tack on that the pair is “unaware that the terror group throws homosexuals to their death from tall buildings.”
Thanks for that reminder, DM. Tacking on information about ISIS’s attitude toward homosexuality is just lip service because their editors know most of their short-attention-span readers aren’t going to get that far. From the first little blurb, I was convinced that this was copied and pasted directly from the Weekly World News. We learn about Viktor E. (or Viktoria) and Alexsey T, who are definitely on the struggle bus since “their home village of Kamchatka Krai” doesn’t exist. I’m not sure if this is geographical or prepositional trouble on the part of DM. Kamchatka Krai is a federal subject of Russia, not a village – hence the word “krai.”
Oh, well. We know these all Russians live in the same communal apartment and share a turnip for dinner. (On holidays, they even cook it!) In red, the beautiful village of Kamchatka Krai. Known for its musk deer and rampant homophobia. There are no examples given by friends or family of these dudes actually being persecuted in their fictitious village for their sexual orientation. I mean, we all know Russians hate gays. Check out these bigots:
“Viktoria’s aunt said her nephew and his friend were not known as being the most intelligent people in the neighbourhood and she confirmed that Viktoria was taking hormone replacement therapy to start the transformation of becoming a woman. He ‘did not have enough money for the surgery and asked relatives but we all refused.’”
Honey bunny, that’s not persecution. That’s “I’m not giving you thirty grand.” Clearly, ISIS is a better alternative. The headline also forgets to mention that Viktor’s girlfriend found him to be abusive:
“’Viktor was very strange…He beat me black and blue. But I didn’t complain to police because he threatened me with his older brother. He said that it would be bad for me,’ she said.”
I’m all for anti-discrimination, but I can’t muster up a whole lot of sympathy for a violent twat who tries to mooch off his relatives. There’s also no confirmation that the pair has joined ISIS. DM’s vague journalistin’:
“Russian police are understood to have confirmed that Viktor and Aleksey have been placed on a list for those wanted with regards to terrorist or extremist activity…Reports said the 22 year olds had already left for Syria, while an unconfirmed police source was reported by local news source in Kamchatka as saying they were now in a mental health institute”
How convincing. “Reports”; “Are understood to have”; “unconfirmed police source” – sounds legit. Let me know when they’re abducted by the mothership.
Maybe I’m biased. Here to counterbalance my critical thinking skills are some Daily Mail comments. These are not representative of all the comments but it appears the article has had the desired effect:
lawlcano, frederick, United States
It’s tragic that their lives were so filled with discrimination that they felt they had to flee to a war zone to escape it. But the lack of foresight is difficult not to laugh at. And I imagine that they went with the express purpose of killing someone. Which also makes it easier.
Tony, Wigan, United Kingdom, Dumb Russians lol
Security_Steve, Albans, United Kingdom Are we sure that they have not been “disposed of” at home and the Syrian ISIS story is a good cover? Because Russia is so intolerant.
Frank the rabbit, Bristol, So apparently Russian news is controlled enough to the point this hasn’t been reported in the country, but let’s just laugh at these probably doomed people and assume they’re just thick.
DMreader, England Lancs, United Kingdom, One thing is for certain these kids obviously don’t read daily DM reporting on Isis atrocities
ImdaPrincesse, Horsens, Denmark The Russian authorities are only expressing concern so that THEY can prosecute them. Period
In closing, I’d like to give a shout-out to homophobia in U.S. ally South Korea – where a gay pride parade was canceled last year by police and interrupted by Christian activists this year, and where disapproval of homosexuality hovers around 60 percent. Good talk. Just to recap: Ebola ISIS Russia.