Gay Rights In Russia: The West Cannot Claim Moral Superiorty

Seeing that my Twitter name is ‘LGBTforpeace’, the first question people usually ask me when I refuse to go along with the anti-Putin hysteria is: ‘But why do you support him? He hates the gays!’.

Firstly, just because I don't go along with the hysteria, doesn't mean I support him. What I support is the fact that a resurgent Russia is standing up to the US war machine, in Syria for example, and putting an end to the impunity of Neocon domination. I value all human life, not just my own kind. Regarding Putin’s domestic agenda, I don’t really consider it my business to judge either way. (Though for sure, there is a hell of a lot of propaganda about it).

Secondly...

Nobody is saying that Russia is a particularly LGBT-friendly country, but westerners seem to be a bit misinformed, with many under the impression that gay people are regularly being imprisoned, killed and just generally persecuted there. 

This isn’t really true. What is true is that there have been allegations of some gay men being detained, tortured and killed in Cheychna, a somewhat autonomous region of Russia, and home to many Islamists. What is also true is that the Russian parliament passed a ‘gay propaganda’ law in 2013, making it illegal for anyone to promote the idea that same-sex relationships are on a par with heterosexual relationships, not dissimilar to the Section 28 law that we had in the U.K. just 15 years ago.

I’m obviously not here to justify any of this, but it's interesting that what has not been widely reported is that in 2016, a proposed law to ban same-sex public displays of affection, was rejected (unanimously) by a government committee. This seems like quite an odd move for a supposedly rabidly homophobic Kremlin that is supposedly hellbent on persecuting gay people! It at least suggests that Russia is not on a downward spiral of increasing LGBT oppression.

It took about 40 years in the U.K. from decriminalisation, to equality. (Arguably only achieved in this timeframe because neoliberal politicians have used identity politics for votes, at the expense of economic equality). 

It’s only been 24 years since decriminalisation in Russia, following vehement homophobia in the Soviet Union. And what’s more, they’ve had quite a lot to deal with in that time, what with the US meddling and devastating the country economically in the 1990s, and now with NATO provocations on their borders and US saber-rattling following completely unproven allegations of Kremlin meddling in the US election. 

Also, it is obviously a FAR greater and more culturally diverse country, thus it will inevitably take longer for societal attitudes to change across the board. 

So I find it a bit absurd to hold the general state of gay rights in Russia up to our current standards. We really need to stop thinking of ourselves as morally superior, especially given that our governments, who we choose to vote for, continue to support numerous LGBT oppressive governments around the world, many of which are far more oppressive than Putin's Russia.

The reality is that western powers are not concerned for LGBT people in Russia. History since WW2 shows very clearly that their foreign policy is not based on improving human rights, but instead is about advancing their geopolitical influence, securing access to resources, and feeding the out-of-control military-industrial complex. The issue of LGBT rights in Russia is simply a useful propaganda tool in their agenda to demonize the Putin government as much as possible, and manufacture consent for future regime change operations, so that they can return Russia to the chaos of the 1990s; allowing western corporations to plunder the country, and making it subservient, once again, to American interests.

Hope that clears it up.