Welcome to Chechnya - Metro Weekly - July 9 2020

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$5,000 for the crime.
In a now-deleted Instagram post, the user “tapnseason”
allegedly took a pticture of a pile of cash, including $100 and $50
bills, writing: “I zipped em for 5K. Money Well Spent,” accompanied
with laughing emojis.
It is not clear how the author of the petition reached the conclusion
that the post was in reference to Stone’s murder, since
the post didn’t directly mention her name. The petition calling
on police to further investigate her death has since been signed
by more than 330,000 individuals.
LGBTQ advocates were angered after local media identified
and referred to Stone using her “dead name.” But KLRT defended
its use of her birth name, claiming that Stone’s family asked
the station to continue using her birth name.
Stone is one of at least 18 transgender individuals, mostly women
of color, who have been killed in the United States this year, with an
uptick in the number of murders over the past two months.
On the same day that Stone’s body was found, transgender
woman Merci Mack was found dead in the parking lot of a Dallas
apartment complex.
The following day, the body of transgender woman Shakie
Peters was found near Amite, Louisiana. On Friday, another
transgender woman, Bree Black, was found shot dead in
Pompano Beach, Florida.
The Human Rights Campaign, which has been tracking the
murders of transgender and nonbinary individuals, issued a
statement mourning Stone’s death.
“Brayla Stone was a child. A child, just beginning to live
her life. A child of trans experience. A young Black girl who
had hopes and dreams, plans and community,” Tori Cooper,
the director of community engagement for the Human Rights
Campaign’s Transgender Justice Initiative.
“As a nation, we failed Brayla — as we have failed every transgender
or gender non-conforming person killed in a country that
embraces violence and upholds transphobia, racism, homophobia.
Guns are not as important as people.”
PRESIDENTIAL EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF RUSSIA
Baseless Ban
Russian voters approve constitutional ban
on same-sex marriage. By John Riley
Putin
RUSSIAN VOTERS HAVE APPROVED A CONSTITUtional
referendum defining marriage exclusively as a
union between one man and one woman. In addition to
banning marriage equality, the approved referendum included
more than 200 constitutional amendments, including ones that
enable the president to fire federal justices, to fire Supreme
Justices following approval by the Federation Council, and to
extend presidential term limits — enabling President Vladimir
Putin to stay in office until 2036.
The proposals, voted on by the public over seven days, were
approved by more than three-quarters of all voters, though
opposition parties allege that the referendum was rigged in favor
of Putin from the start, reports NBC News.
In the run-up to the vote, Putin and his allies had attempted
to gin up support for the constitutional changes by exploiting
the gay marriage vote, including an anti-gay commercial where
an orphaned boy finds out he is being adopted by a gay couple.
In the commercial, the especially effeminate member of the
couple pulls out a dress for the boy to wear, while the orphanage
officials look on in horror.
“What Russia do you choose?” the voiceover says. “Decide the
future of the country. Vote for the amendments to the constitution.”
It is hard to gauge what effect the commercial and other
anti-gay propaganda may have played in drumming up support
for the constitutional changes, but a recent poll from April finds
hostile attitudes continue to persist, with half of all Russians saying
they believe gays and lesbians should either be “eliminated”
or isolated from Russian society.
Prior to the vote, the Russian LGBTQ Network issued a
statement questioning the motives of those behind the referendum,
arguing that the purpose of the marriage ban and other
“reforms” were simply an attempt to maintain Putin’s stranglehold
on power.
The ban on marriage equality comes on the heels of the country’s
2013 “gay propaganda” law, which criminalizes the distribution
of materials that promote or condone homosexuality and
same-sex relationships, on the premise that such materials will
be easily accessed by minors, and could influence the opinions
18 JULY 9, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM