CAMPAIGNERS will gather today in York to highlight the plight of the LGBT community in Chechnya.

Reports have been received of gay and bisexual men being rounded up and detained in camps, tortured, abused and killed, while Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov denies an LGBT community exists in the country.

The York LGBT Forum have organised the event between 6pm and 8pm in St Helen’s Square, where about 300 people are expected to call for the government to do more to highlight the problem, and introduce sanctions against Chechnya.

York Press:

Speakers at the protest will include Lord Mayor of York, Dave Taylor, MP for York Central Rachael Maskell, City of York Councillors Steve Fenton and Andrew Waller.

Lisa Kelly, co-chair of the York LGBT Forum, said: “There are still 12 countries which have the death penalty for being gay, and what happens if they look at Chechnya and Russia and think they can get away with it? We are looking at the start of a new holocaust. It’s a frightening thought.”

All are welcome at the event, and Lisa said the Forum is “asking people attending to follow York Pride’s 2017 theme and arrive holding hands with Pride”.