A Russian LGBT nightclub recently attacked by Russian football fans has issued a list of recommended safety measures for its clients, the Ura.ru news agency reported Friday.
Writing on its social media page, the Mono club in Yekaterinburg advised against “attracting attention on the street” and ?€?walking alone at night.?€? The club also advised against using terms such as ?€?sweetheart,?€? ?€?honey?€? and other pet names in public. Visitors were told club had ?€?stepped up security,?€? but the city was ?€?unsafe.?€?
The bar also confirmed a new smoking room would be established inside the building. Football supporters had attacked club-goers over the weekend after seeing them smoking in the street outside the venue.
The violence left one club-goer concussed and with a broken leg. The attackers shouted hate slogans, and fired air pistols, injuring two.
This incident came the same weekend that a U.S. gunman, Omar Mateen, killed 49 and wounded 53 at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
LGBT individuals are not protected by anti-discrimination legislation in Russia. Violence against this community is therefore only prosecuted as a general crime under the Criminal Code, and not specifically as a hate crime.