Karelian LGBT activist was nominated for the state youth award and invited to the awards presentation. He could not go, so he asked his friend, a young woman, to go. On the day of the award, messages with insults and threats began to come to the mobile phones of both. He told 7x7 about it on December 18.
Alex Kles filled out an application for the award in the nomination "Active Citizen", but was sure that the application of the LGBT activist would not be considered. After a while, he received a reply letter, in which he was invited to the award: "The Organizing Committee of the U Award considered your application and decided to include you in the list of the candidates in the nomination „Active Citizen of the Year“. We invite you to the ceremony."
— I was very surprised that they had decided to include me in the list of contenders, I was overwhelmed with emotions. I didn’t even believe that it was happening, phoned the Organizing Committee to ask again whether they were mistaken, but they said that my application had been considered by all instances and I was in the list. It is very exciting and important for me that it happened, — the activist commented.
As a result, Alex Kles did not become the winner of the award, the organizers did not mention him when awarding the winners — young specialists, philologists, journalists, athletes, dance groups, and humorists received awards.
During the ceremony, lots of abusive threatening messages and phone calls came on the phone of Alex Kles and a girl who agreed to go to the award for him:
— I didn't mention in social networks who exactly would come instead of me, therefore when my friend received similar messages, I was very surprised. I only warned the organizers that another person would come instead of me. During the event, my phone was really attacked by an unknown number, [there were] background noise calls and threatening messages. And then I realized I knew these people, — Kles told 7x7. — In May of the year before last, I was standing at the intersection of Antikainen and Gogol streets and I was kicked into the roadway. I thought it was an accident at the time, but it turned out it wasn't.
This time, the activist tried to report the attack to the police, they accepted his statement, but the police immediately assumed that the cause of the attack was a defiant appearance. As a result, the attackers could not be found.
Alex Kles is a Karelian LGBT activist engaged in the protection of rights and freedoms, Secretary and curator of media projects of the Equality Dignity Pride initiative group. Alex held single pickets against the adoption of the law on "propaganda of non-traditional relations among minors" and participated in the organization of the Barents-pride.
The U award is a traditional youth and public award, which is held by the Department for Youth Affairs of the Petrozavodsk Administration for six years, the winners of which are people and organizations working in the field of physical culture, sports and youth policy of Petrozavodsk. The award has more than 10 nominations, any resident of the city can apply for them.
