In May 2001, toward the end of tenth grade, Lyosha and his two friends were hanging out at the playground behind his building. They were too old for playgrounds, of course, but in the absence of other public spaces all young people in Solikamsk hung out in playgrounds, especially when the weather was good. A girl strolled by—she was one of the kids who used to sleep in Lyosha’s stairway, except she was not a kid anymore. She called out to someone else who happened to be walking by, a man of about thirty. He sauntered over. She pointed at Lyosha. “Faggot,” she said. The man took a short running
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Situations like this are a larger part of navigating this country as has been for the past decade. Crimes like these are on the rise.
It is the twin forces of steep positive movements overall (particularly the Supreme Court's decision on marriage equality in 2013) along with the backlash movement being ascendant in the last few years.
The terror is committed at a more severe degrees, and amplified along its intended channels much further. Deep down I think the hate groups know that most of the ground has already been lost. This is a way a pity party works amongst the hateful, violent, and cruel.
The most dangerous time for someone leaving a violent relationship is in the immediate interval afterwards. Sometimes extra procedural steps need to be taken in order to best protect against ad hoc, retributive violence. We haven't gotten that.
I'm sorry this young man went trough this. It is not ok.
