It started at the historic Stonewall Inn and ended at Trump Tower. Hundreds of marchers gathered in Manhattan yesterday for a rally organized by grassroots group Voices 4 Chechnya. Their cause: to not only bring attention to ongoing reports of those being tormented for simply being gay in Chechnya, a country ruled over by Vladimir Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov, but to raise money and demand humanitarian visas for the victims. “Every day queer Chechens are rounded up, abducted, tortured, and killed,” the group said in a release announcing the march. “Over 20 Chechens have escaped and are living in safe houses in mainland Russia, with no way out.” Though the State Department has called Kadyrov’s comments that gay people are “the devil,” President Trump has not personally addressed the situation. Here, photographer Matt Bernstein documented the march as it traveled from the birthplace of America’s LGBT rights movement to the personal doorstep of Trump himself. “No murder, no hate!” the group chanted along the way. “Change in Chechnya cannot wait!”
Activists at the Voices4 Chechnya March from Stonewall to Trump Tower on Saturday, October 14th in New York City. Photo by Matt Bernstein for W Magazine.
Activists at the Voices4 Chechnya March from Stonewall to Trump Tower on Saturday, October 14th in New York City. Photo by Matt Bernstein for W Magazine.
Activists at the Voices4 Chechnya March from Stonewall to Trump Tower on Saturday, October 14th in New York City. Photo by Matt Bernstein for W Magazine.
Activists at the Voices4 Chechnya March from Stonewall to Trump Tower on Saturday, October 14th in New York City. Photo by Matt Bernstein for W Magazine.
Activists at the Voices4 Chechnya March from Stonewall to Trump Tower on Saturday, October 14th in New York City. Photo by Matt Bernstein for W Magazine.
Activists at the Voices4 Chechnya March from Stonewall to Trump Tower on Saturday, October 14th in New York City. Photo by Matt Bernstein for W Magazine.
Activists at the Voices4 Chechnya March from Stonewall to Trump Tower on Saturday, October 14th in New York City. Photo by Matt Bernstein for W Magazine.
Activists at the Voices4 Chechnya March from Stonewall to Trump Tower on Saturday, October 14th in New York City. Photo by Matt Bernstein for W Magazine.
Activists at the Voices4 Chechnya March from Stonewall to Trump Tower on Saturday, October 14th in New York City. Photo by Matt Bernstein for W Magazine.
Activists at the Voices4 Chechnya March from Stonewall to Trump Tower on Saturday, October 14th in New York City. Photo by Matt Bernstein for W Magazine.
Activists at the Voices4 Chechnya March from Stonewall to Trump Tower on Saturday, October 14th in New York City. Photo by Matt Bernstein for W Magazine.
Activists at the Voices4 Chechnya March from Stonewall to Trump Tower on Saturday, October 14th in New York City. Photo by Matt Bernstein for W Magazine.
Activists at the Voices4 Chechnya March from Stonewall to Trump Tower on Saturday, October 14th in New York City. Photo by Matt Bernstein for W Magazine.
Activists at the Voices4 Chechnya March from Stonewall to Trump Tower on Saturday, October 14th in New York City. Photo by Matt Bernstein for W Magazine.
Activists at the Voices4 Chechnya March from Stonewall to Trump Tower on Saturday, October 14th in New York City. Photo by Matt Bernstein for W Magazine.
Activists at the Voices4 Chechnya March from Stonewall to Trump Tower on Saturday, October 14th in New York City. Photo by Matt Bernstein for W Magazine.
Activists at the Voices4 Chechnya March from Stonewall to Trump Tower on Saturday, October 14th in New York City. Photo by Matt Bernstein for W Magazine.
