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Russia complains over 'gay bar' on president's plot in Finland Russia complains over 'gay bar' on president's plot in Finland
(about 2 hours later)
Russia has filed a police complaint in Finland after artists erected what they called a gay bar on a plot belonging to Russia’s presidency on one of the islands of Åland. Police in Finland have received a complaint after two pranksters erected a makeshift gay bar based on the famous Blue Oyster from the Police Academy films to protest against Russia’s anti-gay laws.
The Russian consul Mikhail Zubov said he had filed the complaint and asked for the matter to be investigated. “This is pure hooliganism,” he also told the Finnish news agency STT. The gay bar, a wooden structure hung with fairy lights and decorated with blue lettering, was built last weekend on a plot of land that belonged to the Russian presidency on the remote Åland archipelago, a Swedish-speaking region of Finland.
Photographs of the bar showed a slight wooden structure with some string lights in a forest. It was erected by a Swedish hip-hop duo to protest against Russia’s crackdown on homosexuality. Pictures posted by the pranksters from the scene show people outside the bar, some clad in leather and wearing yellow builders’ helmets, with one couple kissing.
The duo, Far & Son, told the local newspaper Nya Åland that they had modelled their bar on the Blue Oyster from the Police Academy films. “This is pure hooliganism,” Russian consul Mikhail Zubov told Finnish news agency STT.
“We heard that Putin had a plot here in Åland, so it’s Russian land where you cannot propagate homosexuality. So we came and built up the Blue Oyster,” said one of the pair, Simon Gardenfors. Some wags have opened a Blue Oyster Bar on Vladimir Putin's plot of land on Åland and dressed as gay workmen. Genius pic.twitter.com/CGNkFpPe5V
Police said they were looking into the matter and treating it as a case of trespassing. “The offenders would have trespassed to the area and built something, leaving behind litter … The police has among other things been in contact with the Russian consul and documented the crime scene,” Åland’s police said in a statement. The bar, outside the village of Saltvik, has been erected by the Swedish comedy hip-hop duo Far & Son, who told local media they were doing it to protest against Russia’s gay propaganda law - which forbids the “promotion” of homosexuality - and a crackdown on gay rights in the country.
“We expected a bit more of a vigorous response from the Russians and that they would immediately send the Scud missiles into the gay bar, but it seems they can’t keep up with Far & Son,” the comedians told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. “They are simply cowards.”
Related: Elton John should talk to Putin about gay rights. But will Russia listen? | Mary DejevskyRelated: Elton John should talk to Putin about gay rights. But will Russia listen? | Mary Dejevsky
Åland is a Swedish-speaking group of islands in the Baltic Sea located between Finland and Sweden, where the Russian president’s office owns an uninhabited plot. Approximately 28,000 people live on the Åland Islands, but 90% of them reside on the largest island of Fasta. The archipelago lies between Finland and Sweden, but one uninhabited property is owned by the Russian presidency, having once been owned by a German-Finnish couple.
According to Finnish media, the waterfront property was once owned by a German-Finnish couple and became Russian property in 1947 when all German possessions in Finland were handed over to the Soviet Union under peace treaties signed at the end of the second world war. The waterfront plot became Russian property in 1947 under second world war peace treaties which saw all German-owned items given to the Soviet Union.
Last year Human Rights Watch raised concern over an escalating number of homophobic attacks in Russia, saying that a ban on “gay propaganda” had effectively legalised discrimination. Åland police confirmed they had received a complaint about the incident on Sunday, and said the area belonged to the Russian state.
“The perpetrators forced their way into the area and built something, leaving their rubbish behind. The incident has attracted attention, including in the local media,” they said.
“This incident has been classed as trespassing, as well as some sanitation violations.
“Police have been in contact with the Russian consul and documented the crime scene.”
The crime could be punishable by up to three months in prison but Far & Son told Aftonbladet they were not afraid. “I think someone will build this again with cement next year. Then it will remain there forever.
“The Blue Oyster will be the only thing you can see from the moon, apart from the Great Wall of China. They will never take us alive.”