A rose by any other name: the World Congress of Families in Moscow

In one of my previous posts and a guest op-ed for War is Boring, I wrote that the US-based anti-LGBT hate group World Congress of Families (WCF) planned but then cancelled its annual meeting (World Congress of Families VIII) "Every Child A Gift: Large Families – The Future of Humanity". It was supposed to take place in Moscow on 10-12 September 2014. Discussing possible reasons for the cancellation of the event, I wrote:

[Following the outrageous annexation of Crimea by Putin’s Russia], the U.S. imposed sanctions on three Russian individuals — Vladimir Yakunin, Yelena Mizulina and Aleksey Pushkov — who have cooperated with WCF, among others.

Since the WCF is, above all, a U.S.-based organization, they most likely decided not to risk harming its reputation domestically by dealing with the sanctioned individuals.

One organisation that had planned to take part in WCF VIII in Moscow, Concerned Women for America, pulled out for a similar reason. As its president Penny Nance said, "We made the decision that we’re not going to Russia. I don’t want to appear to be giving aid and comfort to Vladimir Putin".

As it often happens with the "good Christians" from various hate groups, the cancellation story was a lie. The WCF VIII did take place in Moscow on 10-11 September 2014, but had a different - yet unsurprisingly similar - name: the International Forum "Large Family and Future of Humanity".

The Kremlin Builds an Unholy Alliance With America’s Christian Right

My guest op-ed for War is Boring:

The Kremlin Builds an Unholy Alliance With America’s Christian Right

Since the re-election of Pres. Vladimir Putin of Russia in 2012, the Kremlin has clamped down on independent media, established a draconian ban on “gay propaganda” and invaded the Ukrainian Republic of Crimea.

This new Russian government is aggressive, autocratic and moving further to the political right, argues Anton Shekhovtsov, a London-based expert on the Ukrainian and Russian far right—who originally hails from the Crimean city of Sevastopol.

The Kremlin is also reaching out to American conservative evangelicals as a means to find potential allies sympathetic to Russia’s rightward shift. In the following op-ed, Shekhovtsov explains why that’s dangerous.

Moscow to become the world's capital of religious fundamentalism (updated)

On 10-12 September 2014, Moscow will turn into the world's capital of religious fundamentalism and obscurantism as it will host World Congress of Families VIII.

Its official theme is "Every Child A Gift: Large Families – The Future of Humanity", but in fact this congress will feature notorious top anti-LGBT activists, some of whom have contributed to the adoption of anti-LGBT laws in Russia (and, consequently, the surge in anti-gay hate crimes) and Uganda where the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act punishes gay people with a life imprisonment.

To stress the significance of religious fundamentalism and ultra-conservatism for contemporary Russia, the venues of the World Congress of Families will include the Congress Hall of the Kremlin, the Christ the Savior Cathedral, and the Russian Parliament (Duma).