To protest Russian president Vladimir Putin’s “homo- and transphobic, imperial and neo-colonial regime”, a group of LGBTQIA climbers raised the rainbow flag and the flag of Ukraine, and left these on a hard-to-reach rock near Vladimir Putin Peak in the Tien Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan.
The climbers are part of the Pink Summits, which involves LGTQIA mountaineers who ascend the highest peaks of all continents, so-called Seven Summits, both to showcase what LGBTQIA climbers can achieve, as well as to protest prejudice and hatred against LGBTQIA people.
This wasn’t the first time that an anti-Putin effort was done on this location. Earlier in 2022, two Russian climbers hoisted a Ukrainian flag atop Putin Peak to protest the outbreak of war in Ukraine, and as a sign of support for the Ukrainian people. But in a few days, the flag of Ukraine was put down by climbers from Kyrgyzstan.
This time around, to make it difficult to remove both the LGBTQIA and Ukrainian flags, the LGBTQIA climbers placed these on a hard-to-reach rock near the summit, making them still visible to everyone, though difficult to remove.
The Pink Summits team already reached the highest peak in Europe and Russia, Elbrus. Aside from climbing, they also organize “Pride on the Rocks” in Chunkurchak, which gathers the local LGBTQIA community and teach them the basics of rock climbing. This is done with local LGBTQIA organization Kyrgyz Indigo.
More information on Pink Summits may be had from:
instagram.com/pinksummits
facebook.com/pinksummits
pinksummits.com/ru
