"The vigilance of citizens crossed all the borders." Children were detained for the flag of LGBT

In St. Petersburg, the police detained adolescents from 12 to 16 years old, who were photographed in anime costumes with a rainbow flag in the Loft Project "Floors". Police officers were called the administration of the "floors", receiving a signal of an inconsistent event from visitors. Some of the detained minors only in the site learned that the rainbow flag is a symbol of the LGBT community. The correspondent of the North. Reali sorted out why this is a small, at first glance, incident - a dangerous signal for society.

On the afternoon of March 21, about 20 teenagers in the costumes of the heroes of the Japanese cartoons of anime came to the Loft-Project shopping and exhibition center. "Children for the weekend periodically gather and simply took pictures. They were just photographed on the terrace, ”said Marina Orchina , Mom is one of the schoolgirls, a correspondent of the North. Realiy.

During the meeting, several children began to play with the rainbow flag: they turned the canvas and lifted it up and down, the video of this moment published the Fontanka . Where did they get the flag, is unknown. According to Orishchina, an unknown woman gave it to adolescents, suggesting to take a picture with him.

As a result, minors were detained by the police allegedly for participating in the event promoting LGBT. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was called by the administration of the "floors", having received the appeal of visitors about the mass event, "promoting the same -sex relations and the anime subculture."

“Since we were not warned about this event and do not share the beliefs of the organizers of the event that had young children with us, in order to avoid possible negative consequences for the reputation of the institution, as well as in order to avoid violation of public order [we] were forced to call the police,” the Economic Administration said in response to the request of the North Real.

The police "participants in the action" were accompanied by several parents - the teenagers managed to call them. In the department of fathers and children, they shared, says lawyer Svetlana Ratnikova , who accompanied the detainees in the police.

- With me, a police officer asked the girl the following question: did you realize that you were participating in an unauthorized rally in support of LGBT? The question caused a bewilderment, she said that she did not participate in any event, ”recalls Ratnikova.

Police asked teenagers about the appointment of a rainbow flag. The children replied that this was just a flag with a rainbow. Then the police explained to the unknown ones that in fact the rainbow flag is a symbol of LGBT. The police told some of the teenagers what LGBT is. Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs asked questions to parents, trying to find out their attitude to the LGBT community. Some of the minors, together with their parents, refused to answer the police, citing an article of the Constitution-the right not to testify against themselves.

Minors were released from the department a few hours without protocols. The police promised to study the video and then decide: to hold or not to hold children accountable for participating in a mass event in support of LGBT.

- There was no rally - it is definitely. If we are talking about provocation, then someone brought the flag, if we are not talking about a provocation, then this is just an innocent story with a flag, ”said Ratnikov’s lawyer.

Meanwhile, users of social networks reacted quite sharply to the actions of the administration of the Loft Project "Floors". Some of them drew attention to the double standards of space: in stores in the shopping and exhibition center, LGBT symbolik is freely sold, the “floors” provided a platform for the LGBT of the BOK OF BOC festival (but after a series of messages about mining, they refused further film scales). A number of users in the comments in the official group of the VKontakte project were proposed to arrange a boycott of Floors and refuse to visit them, after which they limited the opportunity to write comments on the space page.

- It turned out such a hysterical reaction both from the leadership of the "floors" and from the police. The fact that adolescents were taken and kept in the police for several hours is a much more traumatic situation for them than a photograph with a rainbow flag. It turns out a strange substitution: it is impossible to take pictures with the flag - this will damage the mental of the younger generation, and to take them to the police station allegedly normally, - the psychologist, human rights activist and co -founder of the “Psychologists for Human Rights” movement Kirill Fedorov are surprised.

The detention of minors for no apparent reason bears signs of exceeding official authority by police officers, said lawyer Alexander Ostrovsky .

If suddenly the images "disappear", then this is a sure sign of the participation of the police who sent their agent to the children

- The fact that there were no guilt of children is evidenced by the fact that the protocols were not compiled on children. But in general, the prosecutor’s office and the local FSB should deal with this story, ”is convinced by Ostrovsky. - I will explain why. They must verify the legality of the police during the detention of children, as well as the possible propaganda of LGBT - from the woman (according to the parents, which was actually so). But the third option is also possible - variations on the detention of journalist Ivan Golunov: the police units fighting the propaganda of LGBT themselves organized this provocation in order to loudly report on the disclosure of the offense and write an extra stick to their report. The task is facilitated by the fact that all this happened in the shopping center, where at every step cameras. Therefore, if suddenly the images "disappear", then this is a sure sign of the participation of the police who sent their agent to the children.

Political scientist Konstantin Kalachev says that this story with the flag and detention of children is primarily an indicator of unhealthy climate in society and the lawlessness of citizens.

- Evil languages say that in some kindergartens they no longer draw a rainbow. This whole story is extremely muddy, as they say, overbid. If there were suspicions that some adult woman with a rainbow flag wants to rent an Ainemeshnikov teenagers with this banner of LGBT for unknown purposes, then ask her questions. What does children and adolescents have to do with it? Well, they like the anime, let them cosplay. The vigilance of citizens and law enforcement officers has already crossed all the boundaries. We are waiting for the ban on the cartoon "Blue Puppy". But first, forbid the song "Blue Moon", forbid the songs of the Tattoo group, remove all persons of non -traditional orientation from television and from politics. If you fight, so fight, ”Kalachev remarks. - The other side of the coin is the ease of detention of citizens who can be wine about and without. We got to the children already.

Demo practice returns and grows

An indicator of an unhealthy climate in society, lawlessness of citizens, very selective execution of laws, vague of legal norms, the need to adjust job descriptions. The police reacted to the signal. Who signaled? For what? Was it necessary to draw into this children? If the child draws a rainbow, then what? Adult games in the fight against propaganda LGBT let them remain adult games. Although everyone understands that it is not in the fight against LGBT the case, but in the search for identity and the opportunity to divide the world into "we" and "they". And in this particular case, it is a pity for children and their parents, who definitely had to get worried. The trouble is not only in the atmosphere and the police, trouble in people. The practice of denunciations returns and grows. Watching citizens who make an elephant from a fly is becoming more and more.