On April 6th, 2017, the Russian Justice Ministry banned the distribution of images that depict Putin as “the nonstandard sexual orientation”. This ruling is in reference to one specific image that shows Putin, photoshopped with makeup on, standing in front of the pride flag. This image has been used since 2011, and the punishment for using it is 15 days in prison and a fee of 3,000 rubles. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said of the law, “You know how such things might hurt somebody’s feelings, but the President is quite resistant to such obscenity and learned how to not pay attention.” The man who created the image has been placed in mandatory psychiatrical care.
The image became popular in 2013, when Russia passed a law that prohibits the distribution of “gay propaganda”. It is illegal to hold gay pride events, speak about gay rights, and equate homosexual and heterosexual relationships. Moscow has made it illegal to hold gay pride events for the next 100 years. Doing so can result in a fine of up to 1 million rubles. In fact, it was only in 1999 that homosexuality was taken off the list of psychiatric disorders.
In Russia, homosexuality is often equated to pedophilia and child molestation. Vitaly Milnov, the man who sponsored the 2013 bill, said that homosexuality is a “wave popularizing sexual pervasion” and that children need to be defended from “destructive information.” His colleague later said of the same law, “Children maimed by pedophiles jump out of windows, they take their own lives. Pedophilia is an attempt on a child’s life!” Lawmaker Elena Babich concurred, saying, “What is a three-thousand ruble fine to a pedophile when they are supported by an international community?” About 76% of Russian citizens support the law. Equating consensual gay sex to pedophilia is a dangerous rhetoric that many people in Russia believe. 45% of Russian citizens say that homosexuality is a “result of being subjected to perversion or having loose personal morals”; 38% believe it should be treated medically.
Hate crimes are rampant in Russia, the most notorious being a murder in 2013. Vladislav Tornovoy came out to his friends as gay over a couple of beers in Volgograd, Russia. In response, they raped him with beer bottles and beat him nearly to death. Then, one of the perpetrators hit him eight times on the head with a 44 pound rock, and attempted to set his body on fire. Since this heinous murder, hate crimes have spiked in Russia and have stayed on the rise since 2013. Criminals are often not convicted because they were “upholding the law.”
Even more disturbing is the disappearance of gay men all over Chechnya, Russia, thought to be perpetrated by the Chechen government. Novaya Gazeta, a leading Russian opposition newspaper, reports that more than 100 men between the ages of 16 and 50 have been arrested “in connection to their nontraditional sexual orientation, or suspicion of such.” Many of those men have seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth since being arrested, leading some to believed they’re being killed. The arrests began after a gay rights group called GayRussia applied for permits to hold gay pride events in four cities near Chechnya. Ekaterina L. Sokiryanskaya, a Russia project coordinator for the International Crisis Group, said “I got numerous, numerous signals. It came from too many sources not to be true.” Those who have survived the search for closeted gay men have returned home beaten horribly. It was reported on a Russian social networking site that a 16 year old boy returned from being detained “all beaten, a sack of bones.”
In response, the Chechen government has claimed that it is not possible for gay men to go missing, as there are no gay men in Chechnya. Spokesman Alvi Karimov said, “You cannot arrest or repress people who just don’t exist in the republic…If such people existed in Chechnya, law enforcement would not have to worry about them, as their own relatives would have sent them to where they could never return.” However, this argument simply does not connect with the evidence given. Because being gay puts a target on your back, it is very rare for a gay man to come out in Russia. Of course the government wouldn’t know they exist, because they are afraid to exist. It is a weak counter to simply say that gay people don’t exist in Russia.
With hate crime on the rise, powerful legislation, and citizens convinced being gay is a choice, Russia’s LGBT+ citizens are terrified. They are forced to live in the closet, or live in jail. The Russian closet has always been tough to escape, but it’s getting deeper and darker.
