Russian Gays Look to U.S. for Asylum

Send them to California, they’ll be in paradise!

Wall Street Journal reports artem Mitrofanov came to the U.S. with scars of growing up gay in Russia. Some were literal, such as the one on his wrist from the day he says a skinhead slashed him with a broken bottle. Others were internal, including pains in his kidney, which he says are the result of being beaten by assailants wielding religious icons who told him he should die.

Still others were psychological. "If you're gay, that's it. It's like a mark on you," said Mr. Mitrofanov, who is 27 and from Moscow. His solution was to leave. He applied for asylum in the U.S. in 2009 and won refuge in 2010.

Such departures may become more common as Russia moves ahead with controversial antigay regulations, which have led some to call for a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. President Vladimir Putin in late June signed into law the so-called gay propaganda bill, which punishes those who publicly inform minors that "nontraditional relationships" are OK. Other new laws ban adoptions by same-sex couples and criminalize actions that insult the "religious feelings" of Russian believers.

Though there are no official statistics on the number of Russians seeking asylum in the U.S. on grounds of their sexual orientation, there is some suggestion applications could be on the rise.

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I never thought I’d see the day that Russia stands on higher moral ground than the United States.  But, the truth is the vast majority of world countries 180 out of 195 don’t allow Gay marriage.  That’s puts Russia in the majority of world opinion and the United States on the fringes of society.