St. Petersburg Russia is the cradle of Russia's new federal law making it a crime to advocate for LGBT people. The city has seen the brutal beatings and arrests of LGBT people simply for standing up and speaking the truth.

Lansing Michigan has enjoyed a Sister City relationship with St. Petersburg for many years. But Lansing also adopted a powerful anti-discrimination ordinance which prohibits discrimination against LGBT people in the city.

Sister City relationships are part of the Citizen Diplomatic Corps, as Dwight D. Eisenhower said when he helped create the movement in 1953. In diplomacy there comes a time where nations must stand up for their values and rebuke other nations.

Now is such a time for Lansing to use its diplomatic relationship with St. Petersburg to take a stand against violence and suppression towards LGBT in St. Petersburg. It's simple. There's no pride in human rights abuses.

Please join us in calling for the city to officially sever it's ties with the regimes in Russia and St. Petersburg. The LGBT citizens of St. Petersburg have said this is what they want and need.

MLive, "Virg Bernero: Dropping sister city over gay rights 'opposite of what we should be doing'" ​
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Pride Source, "Lansing Mayor's Attitude On LGBT Human Rights Abuses In Russia Just Wrong"​
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Slate, "Russian Police Arrest Protesters for Violating "Gay Propaganda" Law"​