Russian gay couple who had their marriage recognised now face intimidation and home raid
January 29, 2018by Tim Gibson
The Russian couple who had their Denmark marriage officially recognised by the government are now facing tremendous backlash after taking the news public. Eugene Wojciechowski and Pavel Stotsko were married in Denmark on the 4th of January this year, when they travelled back to their home country of Russia they did not expect their marriage to seen as legal. In under five minutes they had their passports stamped in Moscow by the multifunctional service centre (MFC), officially confirming their union.
“He did not even change his expression,” the couple said to the independent Russian network TV Rain. He took their documents “without superfluous questions.” This is the first time a gay marriage has been recognised by Russia.
Russian law says nothing about the legality of same-sex marriages conducted overseas. The law only states that marriages cannot be approved if they are between close relatives, between adoptive children, or if one spouse is already married or mentally ill.
Since the news has been picked up by Western media outlets the couple have faced intimidation and threats from the Russian government. On Saturday afternoon officials from the MFC turned up at the couple’s house, harassing them and demanding they turn in their passports. The electricity in their home was then switched off. Stotsko claims his mother received several threatening phone calls, threatening violence against her son and that if they didn’t stop their public campaign for marriage she would lose her job.
The men eventually were forced to give up their passports and were accused by the Interior Ministry of intentionally damaging official documents.
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