A couple of decades ago, the term LGBT appeared, which means the abbreviated "lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders." The first three positions relate to a person’s sexual orientation, the fourth - to his gender identity. The word “lesbian” comes from the name of the island of Lesbos, on which the poetess Sappho lived in ancient times. Since then, the name Lesbos has been a symbol of love between women. The word “gay” has two meanings: gay - “funny guy” and the abbreviation “good as you”. Bisexual and transgender should be understood literally: a person with double sexuality and a person who changes sex (the latter is not entirely true, transgender people do not always change their physiological gender, they are often content with changing their image and documents).
History
The term LGBT has existed since the consolidation of sexual and gender minorities into a single community. But the LGBT movement itself began earlier. It is considered to be the beginning of the Stonewall riot (June 1969), when for the first time in the history of America, gays rebuffed policemen who carried out planned raids in clubs. The emancipation of the community continues to this day. This process is extremely difficult in states with a weakened economy and legal system, with a low level of education and a political regime close to totalitarian. In such countries, in order to distract the population from economic and social problems, the government cultivates the image of the internal enemy, exploiting the age-old prejudices of people imposed by orthodox religions. The ideal “enemy” for ignorant people is LGBT people, which means marginalizing the community and escalating violence against its representatives.
The organization
Each country has its own LGBT organization. There are several of them in Russia. There are also branches of international narrow-purpose organizations:
- The Side-by-Side Film Festival carries out an educational mission;
- The main function of the “LGBT Christian Forum” is to find consensus between believers in the community and orthodox church doctrine that positions same-sex intimate relationships as sin;
- The Vykhod organization (LGBT Fireplace Out, which means open recognition of its orientation) provides legal and psychological support to community representatives.
Russian organizations:
- "LGBT Network" in St. Petersburg;
- "Rainbow Association" in Moscow;
- "Another Look" in Komi;
- initiative groups in all major cities of Russia.
These organizations are multifunctional: their tasks include enlightenment, support, political struggle.
There is also an organization called Children-404, which focuses on the psychological adaptation of homosexual teenagers, to whom the legislation on information protection of minors has virtually denied their right to exist.
The LGBT network has an official website for the LGBT Network in St. Petersburg, the Rainbow Association in Moscow, etc.
