Written by Emma Roberts, Photo courtesy of SCAD Savannah Film Festival
In 2017, I came out to my family as a lesbian. I had known for quite some time before that, but I was worried about coming out to them. My mother and grandmother were Russian, and I was unsure of how accepting they would be of me. I had plans in place if they rejected me, disowned me or worse. Thankfully, none of those happened, and I was accepted into my family with open arms.
That same year, in the remote Russian Republic of Chechnya, police officers, government officials and other groups began cracking down on LGBTQ+ people. Rumors and reports stated that people were being abducted, tortured and killed, simply for being gay. In “Welcome to Chechnya,” we see their stories and attempts to flee persecution.
The film follows several people, each with different backgrounds, but all part of the LGBTQ+ community. Each of them is fleeing for their own safety, since they cannot safely live in Chechnya or Russia anymore. Some have experienced brutality firsthand, while others have not. Many worry that the sentiments in Chechnya could spread to other nearby regions arguing that, if it could happen there, it could happen anywhere.
I found the film difficult to watch, having to pause on several occasions. Throughout the film are clips obtained from pro-LGBTQ+ groups showing people being harassed, attacked and tortured — one is implied to be killed before the video cuts off. Hearing the testimonies of those who were lucky enough to survive was especially difficult, given the uncertainty as to whether they would be able to escape Chechnya and Russia.
For many, leaving Chechnya was the only way they could stay alive. In the film, we see an interview with the Head of the Chechnyan Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, and he is asked whether he knew that forces were cracking down on the LGBTQ+ population. He denies it. He says that there are no gay people in Chechnya. This is interspersed with clips of gay people being called subhuman and accused of bringing down the country.
Testimonies from those who left tell of a culture where it is a matter of family honor to not have gay people, even if it includes killing their own children or relatives. In the film, we hear from a member of a group who helps people escape Chechnya. He says he worries that the persecution of LGBTQ+ people won’t stop in Chechnya, and it will spread to other regions. Later on, he is proven right when he discusses the same types of persecution happening in nearby regions.
The film does offer hope for some, however. We see a man and his entire family relocated after a tense journey fleeing the country after they had received death threats from those in Chechnya and beyond. The same cannot be said for others. Those who were caught trying to escape are now missing or presumed dead.
Even those who were running organizations helping people escape became targets themselves, and were forced to leave Russia for fear of violence. One man in the film comes out and urges the government to investigate the anti-gay crimes in Chechnya. But, he’s swiftly denied with little chance of true legal justice in Russia.
It is difficult wrangling with the fact I cannot return to my home country without the fear of extreme violence directed towards me. Though I live in a much friendlier area to the LGBTQ+ community than in Chechnya, many of the underlying sentiments are shared by both places.
The rhetoric used towards gay people, though more extreme in Chechnya, is not dissimilar to many homophobic statements used elsewhere in the world. The stories told in the film are easy to empathize with and often lead me to wonder if something similar could potentially happen anywhere, including here.
“Welcome to Chechnya” doesn’t paint a pretty picture for the LGBTQ+ community in Chechnya. For many, a culture of fear and silence permeates their lives. The idea of escaping and leaving everything behind becomes a reality. The film asks that if something like this can happen in Chechnya, could it happen anywhere?
