Many in the St Petersburg LGBTI community have been left shocked by the apparent murder of a local lesbian woman.

Ekaterina Khomenko, 29, was found dead in her car by a passing street cleaner early in the morning of 7 September.

Her body was discovered with a 9cm incision to the throat. The car’s headlights were on and the engine was still running.

Police initially quizzed family members as to whether Khomenko had displayed any suicidal tendencies. However, the case is now being treated as murder.

Khomenko taught dance, including the tango for same-sex couples. The Russian group Coming Out LGBT issued the following statement; ‘We are shocked by the terrible murder of Ekaterina Khomenko, queer tango teacher in St. Petersburg.

‘Ekaterina was a wonderful person, a great professional, daughter and friend. She was only 29. We express our condolences to the family and friends of Ekaterina. We will remember her and what she had done – bestowed joy and wings to many of us.’

A spokesperson for Coming Out LGBT told GSN that they were in close contact with Khomenko’s family and those involved with the case, but that there was no indication as yet to suggest a motive for Khomenko’s killing.

However, the group was angered and dismayed that her killing had prompted homophobic comments on VK.com, a Russian social networking site similar to Facebook. The group intends to send screenshots of the comments, saying things such as ‘You should all be killed’, to the police and ask them to open a formal hate-speech investigation.



