DIGEST LGBTQ+ Coverage in the Belarusian Mass Media 10-12.2023
The last quarter of 2023 looked relatively calm in terms of mentioning LGBTQ+ topics by pro-government media.
Propaganda paid considerable attention to the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to recognize the LGBT movement as extremist and to ban its activities in the country.
It is noteworthy that Gaypress couldn’t find any mentioning of the Belarusian “anti-LGBT” law in the pro-government media, which had been abundant in the 3rd quarter 2023.
The publication “Due to LGBT propaganda a family left for Belarus after 20 years of living in Ireland” is quite specific. It calls the only reason for leaving “the situation that is currently developing throughout the entire European Union and in Ireland in particular.” Here is a quote from the heroine of the material, the mother of the family: “My heart hurts for what is happening now in schools and not only in schools. This is everywhere in everyday life, it is on the streets, in stores, on television, this is LGBT propaganda, which is becoming more and more aggressive and begins to attack and get into the heads of our children more aggressively.”
As for independent media, topic No.1 was the coming out of the Belarusian basketball player Katsiaryna Snytsina on the air of Mikalai Khalezin’s cooking show. This is a unique case for our sport in particular and Belarus in general. Previously, none of such famous people spoke openly about their homosexuality.
As a result, a number of independent media published news materials about the coming out, and also interviewed Katsiaryna.
We are entering the year of 2024 with timid hope for changes for the better. However, we are ready for different developments. Therefore, we updated information in the Web-section of Gaypress special project on LGBTQ+ migration.
This year has brought us a lot of new authors, special projects and, of course, readers and viewers.
Let us present the top 3 achievements of Gaypress in 2023.
The first thing is audience growth. Taking into account the website, accounts in social media and the Telegram channel, the Gaypress editorial managed to gather the audience of about 100,000 people monthly cross-platform. In March 2023, the Website had almost 60,000 unique visitors. Such activity did not go unnoticed, and we were blocked on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Secondly, we are proud of our special projects. Besides LGBTQ+ migration, we are the only media that writes on the topic of LBT+ Belarusian women: the special project HUKANNE.
Thirdly, we give the floor to LGBTQ+ people who do a lot for those who remain in Belarus and those who fled the country. We recommend listening to our podcasts with a queer poet and performer Artur Kamarouski, LGBTQ+ initiatives “Heta OK” and “Future”, a gay man from Belarus who crossed the border into the United States 11 times and is now building an acting career there.
A pleasant and significant event this year was the visit of Gaypress editor-in-chief to Brussels, where speeches where delivered at meetings with representatives of the European Parliament and the European Commission. Despite the difficult agenda, the Gaypress team is glad that we were able to convey information to European officials about the situation with LGBTQ+ people in Belarus, draw attention to our problems and enlist the support of officials in Brussels.
We wish you happiness and more good news in 2024!
GayPress editorial
