The first gay couple to have their marriage recognized in Russia had to leave the country after authorities began persecuting them.
Eugene Wojciechowski and Pavel Stotsko celebrated their union on January 04th, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
When they returned to Russia, they hoped, although they knew it would be impossible, that their country would recognize same-sex marriage as legal, and would accept them, legally, as a couple.
To their surprise, the couple says they were “astonished” when, upon returning to Russia, a government employee in Moscow stamped their passports officially recognizing them as a couple.
The illusion that their country was progressing by recognizing a gay couple for the first time ended within a few days, when the Kremlin announced that their passports were invalid, and both would have to pay a fine for “damaging (the documents) of intentionally”.
On Monday, police went to the couple's apartment on the outskirts of Moscow. Before that, however, the authorities would have gone to Stotsko's parents' residence and tried to break down the door.
The police blocked the exits, barring anyone from entering or leaving the building, and turned off the lights, in addition to turning off the internet for a few hours, according to information from the Russian LGBT Network collective.
To the movement, Wojciechowski and Stotsko reported that they were told that they could not leave their home with their passports, and that if they tried to acquire the documents to be able to travel to another country, they would be forcibly taken away by the police.
The couple also says that the authorities made it very clear that, if any homophobe or organization reacted with violence to their marriage, the police “would not guarantee” the couple's safety.
On the website “The Moscow Times”, the leader of the Russian LGBT Network movement, Igor Kochetkov, classified the episode as a “hidden threat” from the government to the rights of the LGBT community in the country.
“The best thing they (the couple) can do now is leave Russia,” said Igor.
In a statement, the movement claims that the couple was “forced to leave the Russian Federation”.
“This was not the plan, but the threats to Paul and Eugene’s freedom and safety were the reasons they had to leave.”
