Hatari spread their rainbow wings at Moscow show in support of LGBTQ+ community in Russia

As The Reykjaviík Grapevine notes, LGBTQ+ "propaganda" has been banned in Russia since 2013, with many queer people being hunted down and tortured because of their sexuality.

Hatari are an Icelandic group best known for their BDSM-inspired outfits, political statements, and their 2019 Eurovision Song Contest performance in which they waved Palestinian flags during the broadcast.

On Saturday (16 November), they played a show in Moscow, Russia. During their show, Hatari's Andrean Sigurgeirsson revealed his rainbow coloured wings during their performance of "Hatrið mun sigra" in support of the repressed LGBTQ+ community in Russia.

Following their concert in Moscow, Sigurgeirsson wrote on Instagram yesterday (17 November), "Our existence is a reality. Russian “gay propaganda laws” of 2013 punishes and bans the promotion of non-traditional relations to minors. The law is disguised as a way to protect children but what it actually does is that it increases the stigmatization of LGBTQ+ people in society. The law violates people’s rights to freedom of speech, and the law effectively bans all public demonstrations or events speaking in favour of LGBT rights. Many important LGBTQ+ support networks have been banned on the internet because of this law."

Sigurgeirsson goes on to detail multiple events in Russia where LGBTQ+ people were targeted and tortured. He adds, "Russian authorities do not care about queer people, they actively try to harm, torture and murder LGBTQ+ people in Russia. The Russian President, Government and police give a silent consent to these crimes."

Before closing his statement, Sigurgeirsson writes, "LGBTQ+ people live in fear as they are being discriminated against and attacks on queer people often go unreported by Police. Politicians and LGBT rights activists are murdered in Russia, advocates risk their lives and often lose them trying to improve LGBT peoples’ lives in Russia. This is for you, the brave, beautiful and kind-hearted human beings who are LGBTQ+ in Russia. Thank you for sharing your stories with me and I hope one day that Russia will rise from their hate and learn that love is simply love."

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Our existence is a reality Russian “gay propaganda laws” of 2013 punishes and bans the promotion of non-traditional relations to minors. The law is disguised as a way to protect children but what it actually does is that it increases the stigmatization of LGBTQ+ people in society. The law violates people’s rights to freedom of speech, and the law effectively bans all public demonstrations or events speaking in favour of LGBT rights. Many important LGBTQ+ support networks have been banned on the internet because of this law. Gay pride parades are met with much resistance by local authorities across Russia, On April 2017 Checnyan (Russian) authorities began an anti-LGBTQ+ purge where 100 men were arrested and tortured for being gay, many were murdered. In 2019, 40 LGBTQ+ men and women were arrested and tortured in another purge. Russian authorities do not care about queer people, they actively try to harm, torture and murder LGBTQ+ people in Russia. The Russian President, Government and police give a silent consent to these crimes. LGBTQ+ people live in fear as they are being discriminated against and attacks on queer people often go unreported by Police. Politicians and LGBT rights activists are murdered in Russia, advocates risk their lives and often lose them trying to improve LGBT peoples’ lives in Russia. This is for you, the brave, beautiful and kind-hearted human beings who are LGBTQ+ in Russia. Thank you for sharing your stories with me and I hope one day that Russia will rise from their hate and learn that love is simply love. Thanks to @alexiarosg and @haraldurlevy who helped me create the wings @vitadminka

A post shared by Andrean Sigurgeirsson (@ssandrean) on Nov 17, 2019 at 3:35am PST