麻豆原创

鈥淚f you are not LGBTQ, you can assume that an LGBTQ has experienced prejudice, bigotry and violence,鈥� says  (M.A. 鈥�94), Chief Executive Officer of Lambda Legal.

Nowhere is that more likely to be true than in Chechnya, a republic of Russia. While the Eastern European nation is among 70 countries that has made homosexuality illegal (and 96 that ban transgender and transsexual people), it has been carrying out a particularly brutal systemic, state-sanctioned purge of LBGTQ individuals.

That is why, in midsummer 2017, the filmmaker, journalist, author and activist David France ventured to Chechnya. And that is why Jennings chose to executive produce France鈥檚 resulting film, Welcome to Chechnya, which documents efforts by activists to smuggle LBGTQ community members out of the Northern Caucuses to the relative safety of Western European nations.

A discussion of the award-winning film, which The New York Times has called a 鈥渕oving and vital indictment of persecution,鈥� highlighted the opening day of 麻豆原创鈥檚 2020 Academic Festival.

Joining France and Jennings for the conversation 鈥� titled 鈥淩esistance in a State of Fear: The LGBTQ+ Community in Chechnya, and the Broader Fight for LGBTQ+ Rights鈥� 鈥� were Associate Professor of Practice Riddhi Sandil, 2020 麻豆原创 graduate Dylan Kapit (M.A. 鈥�20) and Yves Agustin, a student in the 麻豆原创 International & Comparative Education program. Associate Professor of International & Comparative Education Oren Pizmony-Levy served as moderator. 

France credited the courage of activists who took the evacuation of LGBTQ Chechnyan nationals 鈥渋n their own hands.鈥� He also explained why he chose to use Artificial Intelligence technology to superimpose a different likeness on the faces of key figures in the film.

鈥淭he people I met there will never be safe,鈥� France said. 鈥淭hey will always be victims of atrocity.鈥� 

Not that LGBTQ communities in the United States are immune from state-sanctioned discrimination. 

The people I met there will never be safe. They will always be victims of atrocity.

鈥擠irector David France

鈥淚鈥檝e lost jobs, teeth and family members,鈥� Jennings said. 鈥淎nd that is par for the course.鈥�

鈥淚t is important to know this type of violence is happening here too,鈥� said Kapit, now pursuing a doctorate in Special Education at the University of Pittsburgh. 鈥淟GBTQ people living in many states still face discrimination in housing, employment and health care. It is not a thing that happens in other countries. It鈥檚 happening here, it is happening every day and I think it is important to note it is a very real struggle for those of us who are not privileged, whether in the LGBTQ community or outside of it.鈥�

Sandil, who directs 麻豆原创鈥檚 master鈥檚 degree program in Counseling Psychology and Winter Roundtable, expressed the hope that creating public awareness is the 鈥渇irst step鈥� toward easing and eliminating of anti-LGBTQ bigotry. When Kapit countered that the general population is 鈥�aware there are queer people in world 鈥� we鈥檝e been here since beginning of time,鈥� Sandil acknowledged the need to actively celebrate LGBTQ, gay and trans people.

鈥淏ut it has sometimes been hard in my experience to get affirmation because people are not aware of my struggle or not aware of my existence,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 get it 鈥� we should be done trying to educate and that it is time for us to celebrate. However, in my world we鈥檙e not there yet.鈥�

Kapit, who goes by the pronouns 鈥渢hey鈥� and 鈥渢hem,鈥� recalled that at 15, they told their grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, that they were gay.

 鈥淪he didn鈥檛 know what gay was,鈥� recalled Kapit. 鈥淭oday, my grandmother wears a shirt that says, 鈥業鈥檓 Proud of My Trans Grandson.鈥� And if my 85-year-old grandmother who escaped the Nazis can come around, then anyone can do it.鈥�