A popular gay nightclub in Dnipro, Ukraine was raided on April 20th by the police who and confiscated people’s personal belongings and injured visitors, according to MSN.
The reasoning that the police gave for the raid in Potemkin was that they were attempting to combat human trafficking and that the nightclub received money for “disorderly sexual intercourse.” The officers also injured one patron and some club visitors have filed reports to the Sobornе Police Department for illegal actions.
According to the report that was released about the incident (it’s in Ukrainian), officers confiscated cellphones, laptops, and boxes of condoms. The report also mentions that the club had “offensive” dark rooms and that the sexual activity that went on within the club was being promoted over social media.
According to Ukrainian law, sexual intercourse between two men is considered immoral acts, so it seems that Ukrainian law is still behind the times. The local LGBT+ group, Nash Mir, condemned the raid as something “obviously homophobic and illegal.” A spokesperson for Nash Mir explained that “A regular activity of a night club (dances and shows) as a criminal offense, and distribution of condoms as promoting debauchery.”
Combating sex trafficking is a noble pursuit, but I highly doubt that raiding a gay nightclub would accomplish that. If that were the case, then the police would also frequently raid brothels and other places where people pay for sex. Now I’ve never been to a gay club (not really my scene) but I don’t think that a great deal of human trafficking happening in them. Unfortunately, I don’t understand what is being said in the video below but it looks like the police commanded the clubgoers to lie down on their stomachs while they ransacked the club. I have to agree with the spokesperson at Nash Mir in that I believe that this was an act of homophobia. Hopefully, this won’t happen again but I’m not holding my breath.
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Source: MSN