On Aeroflot's Birthday, Russian Activists Condemn Company's Anti-Gay Record. And You Can Help.

Aeroflot, Russia's national airline, celebrates its 89th birthday this week. But don't expect many Russian activists to mark the occasion with cake and candles. Instead, Russian activists are taking the opportunity to draw attention to what they say is Aeroflot's extremely anti-gay record -- including the company's refusal to recognize an LGBT group for employees, as well as reports that Aeroflot forced a 25-year-old gay flight attendant, Maxim Kupreev, to marry a woman if he wanted to keep his job.
And now these Russian activists are asking for your help. They want to hold Aeroflot accountable for its record on LGBT issues, so they're holding an all-day online action on Thursday, February 9, to pressure Sky Team -- a global alliance of airline carriers, of which Aeroflot is a member. They want Sky Team to remove Aeroflot from the alliance unless it commits to improving its LGBT record.
During the same week where Russian lawmakers passed an extremely anti-gay law that could criminalize "the promotion of homosexuality," these activists are looking to draw international attention to the marginalization of LGBT people in Russia.
So how can you help?


Sign the petition. Ruben Salcedo, a frequent passenger on airlines in the Sky Team alliance, has started a petition on Change.org demanding that Sky Team remove Aeroflot from its ranks. Sign this petition here, and share it among your friends on Facebook and Twitter.
Tweet to Aeroflot. With today being Aeroflot's birthday, Russian activists are urging Twitter users to send Aeroflot some "birthday greetings". Need a sample tweet?� Try these (In English and Russian):� "Happy Birthday @Aeroflot! Fly with #pride and we wish you to stop oppressing your #LGBT employees!�http://chn.ge/As5ivw�@Skyteam" or "C�???? ???????? @Aeroflot! ?????? ???? ????????? ??????? ???? ? ????????? ? ???????????????? #???? ??????�http://chn.ge/As5ivw�@Skyteam"
Send Aeroflot and Sky Team a birthday postcard. Below you'll see two postcards (in English and Russian) that Russian activists are encouraging folks to send to Aeroflot and Sky Team. You can post on their Facebook pages (Aeroflot here, Sky Team here), or send an email to presscentr@aeroflot.ru,�openline@aeroflot.ru, and media@skyteam.com. (For full size versions of these cards, click here for Russian and here for English.)

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