St. Petersburg considers bill outlawing "homosexual propaganda"

[Mutualizm]

http: //jurist DOT org/paperchase/2011/11/russia-lawmakers-approve-bill-banning-promotion-of-homosexuality.php
http: //en.ria DOT ru/society/20111124/169012089.html

Okay, so how do we show solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Russia?

(Sorry about messing with the URLs. I'm not allowed to post links until I have 25 posts.)

[Smyg]

Goddammit :cursing:

[Krano]

1917

[LeftAtheist]

This is a sad day for Russia and LGBT rights in general. I may not agree with Lenin on a lot of points, but his government legalised homosexuality nearly a century ago, this is a hugely retrograde step. As for what we can do about it though, I'm not so sure. Would a campaign outside of Russia be effective?

[Mutualizm]

This is a sad day for Russia and LGBT rights in general. I may not agree with Lenin on a lot of points, but his government legalised homosexuality nearly a century ago, this is a hugely retrograde step. As for what we can do about it though, I'm not so sure. Would a campaign outside of Russia be effective?
Worth a shot, isn't it? Even if it doesn't change anything directly, I'm sure a show of solidarity would mean a lot to some of the people affected by the new law.

[Sam_b]

This is worrying, of course dispicable, but OP is not 100% correct here.

First off, Russia has not banned LGBT activism de jure, though activities have been suppressed. The bill, being proposed in St Petersburg (protip: not all of Russia) has not been passed yet. It has been passed at one reading, with three readings and then a vote to make anything binding. As far as i'm aware, the proposal itself, as far as I am aware, has been prosponed at this particular moment in time. The issue with the bill is it is supposed to deal with 'LGBT propaganda', and there is no definition of what this is supposed to mean, thuis prompting the adjournment.

I know Russia has a sketchy record on freedoms and human rights, but can we please not scaremonger and generalise the entire country?

EDIT: On looking at those links, they pretty much confirm what I said. So why is OP sating there is a 'ban' in place?

[sulla]

This is a sad day for Russia and LGBT rights in general. I may not agree with Lenin on a lot of points, but his government legalised homosexuality nearly a century ago, this is a hugely retrograde step. As for what we can do about it though, I'm not so sure. Would a campaign outside of Russia be effective?

I'm very weak on gay rights in regards to the USSR. I never realised that. I've always assumed that the USSR didn't tolerate that sort of thing.

[Mutualizm]

This is worrying, of course dispicable, but OP is not 100% correct here.

First off, Russia has not banned LGBT activism de jure, though activities have been suppressed. The bill, being proposed in St Petersburg (protip: not all of Russia) has not been passed yet. It has been passed at one reading, with three readings and then a vote to make anything binding. As far as i'm aware, the proposal itself, as far as I am aware, has been prosponed at this particular moment in time. The issue with the bill is it is supposed to deal with 'LGBT propaganda', and there is no definition of what this is supposed to mean, thuis prompting the adjournment.

I know Russia has a sketchy record on freedoms and human rights, but can we please not scaremonger and generalise the entire country?

EDIT: On looking at those links, they pretty much confirm what I said. So why is OP sating there is a 'ban' in place?
Sorry. You're right. Though it seems likely these laws will be passed, considering that the bill in Moscow was "passed nearly unanimously in the first of the three readings needed to write it into law last Wednesday."

Jumped the gun there. I apologize.

[tir1944]

Russia is...weird.
There for example both communists and nationalists protest against homosexuality...

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Already talked about this topic on my own thread (Queer News).

Typical Russian bullshit.

[mrmikhail]

This is a sad day for Russia and LGBT rights in general. I may not agree with Lenin on a lot of points, but his government legalised homosexuality nearly a century ago, this is a hugely retrograde step. As for what we can do about it though, I'm not so sure. Would a campaign outside of Russia be effective?

Homosexuality was only legal for Lenin's reign as leader of the Soviet Union, shortly after Stalin took over he banned homosexuality (and other things such as abortion) and this law was not reversed until 1993 when Russia passed an act legalising sexual activity between people of the same gender (and 1999 when Russia removed homosexuality as a mental illness).So needless to say Russia has a very bad record on LGBT rights and the people of Russia by and large do not support homosexual rights.

On the note of the Communist Party coming out against the LGBT rights, the CPRF is a National Communist party, that is it promotes Russian nationalism and tends to be rather conservative as was the CPSU on homosexuality.

[tir1944]

I thought that homosexuality was only decriminalized(omitted from the penal code) and not legalized in the early USSR,and only in RSFSR?

[mrmikhail]

I thought that homosexuality was only decriminalized(omitted from the penal code) and not legalized in the early USSR,and only in RSFSR?

It was never specifically addressed, however the Tsarist sodomy laws were repealed which de-facto made homosexuality legal. But at the time it really wasn't a public issue to be directly dealt with.

[#FF0000]

I thought that homosexuality was only decriminalized(omitted from the penal code) and not legalized in the early USSR,and only in RSFSR?

I think the official line was "whatever happens in the bedroom is a private matter so go hog wild"

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

"[Soviet legislation] declares the absolute non-interference of the state and society into sexual matters, so long as nobody is injured and no one’s interests are encroached upon. Concerning homosexuality, sodomy, and various other forms of sexual gratification, which are set down in European legislation as offences against morality--Soviet legislation treats these exactly as so-called 'natural' intercourse. All forms of sexual intercourse are private matters." - Dr. Grigorii Batkis (director Moscow Institute of Social Hygiene), The Sexual Revolution in Russia, 1923. [Emphasis in original]

Not long after, same-sex relations were outlawed, along with abortion. The socialization of housework was largely abandoned too, and women were awarded metals for being baby making machines. Also a part of the fun: the return of Tsarist-style school uniforms, tests, academic entry requirements, academic titles, etc. Finally: “The term rodina (motherland), despised by the Old Bolshevik internationalists, came back into common use.” [Ronald Kowalski. The Russian Revolution]


I don't think there was some secret plot by Stalin to become leader and enact some "family values" legislation. Social forces shaped social policy. The reintroduction of reactionary social policies came along with real, underlying changes. It's no coincidence that abortion, homosexuality and prostitution were criminalized as the bureaucracy firmly secured its grip on power.

[OHumanista]

Stalin didn't rise to power to do that, but he did because he wanted to alongside his supporters (which as we know were all ultra-conservative)

[mrmikhail]

I don't think there was some secret plot by Stalin to become leader and enact some "family values" legislation. Social forces shaped social policy. The reintroduction of reactionary social policies came along with real, underlying changes. It's no coincidence that abortion, homosexuality and prostitution were criminalized as the bureaucracy firmly secured its grip on power.

Stalin's reasoning behind doing this was to increase the population of the Soviet Union, which by all accounts was marginally successful despite the fact it was very reactionary.