Support LGBT people in Russia

The Issue

IKEA recently censored a story about a lesbian couple, Clara and Kirsty, from the Russian version of its IKEA Family Live magazine. IKEA ran the story of Clara and Kirsty in 24 out of the 25 countries, and erased that story in the one country, Russia, where it matters the most -- where LGBT people are facing brutal human rights violations just because of who they are.

When it came time to stand with Russia’s LGBT community, IKEA chose to erase them, and then told reporters that they had no choice.

But IKEA did have a choice. As a company with a strong history of supporting LGBT rights, IKEA could have strongly condemned Russia’s anti-LGBT laws -- laws that continue to allow authorities to arrest LGBT people in Russia, and laws that give cover to groups that terrorize Russia’s LGBT citizens -- and included the photo of Clara and Kirsty.

It’s time to demand that IKEA put this lesbian couple back into the Russian version of their magazine, and strongly condemn Russia’s anti-LGBT laws.

Last year, IKEA deleted images of women from its Saudi Arabia catalogue, and came under widespread global criticism. IKEA later apologized for this incident, and said its actions conflicted with their core company values.

Yet deleting LGBT people from their Russian publications is okay? Shouldn’t that also conflict with IKEA’s core company values?

Recently our group did a kiss-in at the IKEA in Brooklyn, NY. And we’re not going to stop until IKEA responds to our demands. If progressive and friendly IKEA erases us, who will stand up for us?

Be a friend, IKEA. Do not go along with Russian President Vladimir Putin's anti-gay assault.

It’s time to support LGBT people in Russia, not erase them.

RUSA LGBT is partnering with GetEqual and Spectrum Human Rights in this campaign.

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RUSA LGBTPetition Starter
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This petition had 47,673 supporters

The Issue

IKEA recently censored a story about a lesbian couple, Clara and Kirsty, from the Russian version of its IKEA Family Live magazine. IKEA ran the story of Clara and Kirsty in 24 out of the 25 countries, and erased that story in the one country, Russia, where it matters the most -- where LGBT people are facing brutal human rights violations just because of who they are.

When it came time to stand with Russia’s LGBT community, IKEA chose to erase them, and then told reporters that they had no choice.

But IKEA did have a choice. As a company with a strong history of supporting LGBT rights, IKEA could have strongly condemned Russia’s anti-LGBT laws -- laws that continue to allow authorities to arrest LGBT people in Russia, and laws that give cover to groups that terrorize Russia’s LGBT citizens -- and included the photo of Clara and Kirsty.

It’s time to demand that IKEA put this lesbian couple back into the Russian version of their magazine, and strongly condemn Russia’s anti-LGBT laws.

Last year, IKEA deleted images of women from its Saudi Arabia catalogue, and came under widespread global criticism. IKEA later apologized for this incident, and said its actions conflicted with their core company values.

Yet deleting LGBT people from their Russian publications is okay? Shouldn’t that also conflict with IKEA’s core company values?

Recently our group did a kiss-in at the IKEA in Brooklyn, NY. And we’re not going to stop until IKEA responds to our demands. If progressive and friendly IKEA erases us, who will stand up for us?

Be a friend, IKEA. Do not go along with Russian President Vladimir Putin's anti-gay assault.

It’s time to support LGBT people in Russia, not erase them.

RUSA LGBT is partnering with GetEqual and Spectrum Human Rights in this campaign.

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RUSA LGBTPetition Starter
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This petition had 47,673 supporters

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The Decision Makers

IKEA
IKEA
Responded
“At IKEA, we believe in people In the latest issue of our customer magazine IKEA FAMILY LIVE we ran a feature about two women, Kirsty and Clara, living in England with their child. The article appeared in 24 countries but not in Russia where a law prevents us from publishing it. It is a law that has been widely criticized but one that we have to comply with. However, we wanted to take the opportunity to speak about what the IKEA values mean and what we stand for. This is why the current online version of the magazine in 25 countries, including Russia, contains this letter from IKEA Group: "At IKEA, we believe in people. We are guided by our vision – to help create a better everyday life for the many people. We also believe you can be yourself as an IKEA co-worker, an IKEA customer or in your home. We do our best to stand for equal opportunities and support the human rights of all people. And every co-worker can expect fair treatment and equal opportunities whatever their ethnicity, religion, gender, physical ability, sexual orientation or age. This guides us and inspires us when we work together with our colleagues and the people in our value chain. After all, it’s our differences that make us great! Petra Hesser, Human Resources, & Steve Howard, Sustainability, IKEA Group" As an employer, we work purposefully and in a structured way to promote equal rights and equal opportunities. It is part of our code of conduct for everyone working for the IKEA Group and it is also a part of our diversity and inclusion approach. We want the way we communicate our offer in different commercial channels to mirror the world around us and we believe that publishing an article featuring a lesbian couple in 24 countries is a good example of that. In some of these countries the subject is still considered to be controversial. In the long term, we believe that we can have a positive influence on societies in the countries where we operate by constantly working based on our values. Best regards, Greg Priest, Policy & Compliance Manager, IKEA Group ”
Mona Astra Liss
Mona Astra Liss
Corporate PR Director at IKEA
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Petition created on December 8, 2013