Homosexuality in Russia

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In Russia, homosexuality islargely taboo; however, homosexual acts are legal. With the argument of child protection, so-called homosexual propaganda was banned in public in some regions of Russia from 2006 to 2013. On June 30, 2013, President Vladimir Putin signed a federal law criminalizing any positive statements about homosexuality in the presence of minors or through media such as the Internet. The state does not recognize same-sex partnerships and since 3 June 2013 has also prohibited adoption by same-sex married couples abroad.

The legal status of homosexual acts

Members of a private "gay club" in Petrograd in 1921

Criminal liability in the Soviet Union

Homosexuality was a criminal offense in the tsarist empire. With the introduction of the new penal code in the Soviet Union in 1921, homosexuality was legalized. However, this was changed again in 1933.

From 1933, the criminal law of the Soviet Union punished sexual acts between men ( muscheloschstwo, мужеложство ; literally about "sexual intercourse with men") with up to five years in prison or forced labor under Article 121 . In addition, instead of prison terms, homosexual people were often placed in psychiatric hospitals for an indefinite period of time and were forced to undergo “treatment”. This law was in effect until 1993. It was often used against mere opponents of the regime. Between 1934 and 1991, between 60,000 and 250,000 men were convicted under Article 121. Among others, the head of the NKVD Nikolai Yezhov , the scholar Lev Klein and the film director Sergei Parajanov were convicted under Article 121. The Soviet population could find little information about homosexuality from public sources. As a social issue, homosexuality was " hushed up ".

Legalization in post-Soviet Russia

Homosexual acts between adults were legalized on May 27, 1993, and homosexuality has not been on the list of mental illnesses in Russia since 1999.

Homosexual couples are not recognized by the state. There is no provision for same-sex marriage, which is why the question of adoption for homosexual couples is no longer applicable. However, unmarried individuals are allowed to adopt children; the sexual orientation is not checked.

Age of consent

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In Russia, the general age of consent of 16 years has been in effect again since 2003 (Articles 134-135 of the Russian Criminal Code). From 1998 to 2003 the age of consent was 14 years. The Russian Criminal Code differentiates between sexual abuse of children under the age of 12 and sexual abuse of children under 14 or 16 years of age. Anyone who has reached the age of 18 is liable to prosecution.

In sex criminal law, homosexuals are discriminated against through more severe penalties. While the maximum penalty for consensual heterosexual contact with a young person aged 14 or 15 is four years, homosexual contacts of the same type are punished with imprisonment for up to six years (Article 134, paras. 1–2). In addition, heterosexual contacts cannot be punished with prison if the age difference between the victim and the perpetrator is less than four years, which does not apply to homosexual contacts.

In the case of consensual heterosexual contacts, the court can waive the penalty if the perpetrator violates paragraphs 134-135 for the first time, the victim has reached the age of 14 and the two have already entered into a marriage . The Russian Family Code does not allow marriage until the age of 18, at the same time it is stated that the minimum age at marriage can also be lowered if regional laws allow. In some regions of Russia the legal minimum age for marriage has been reduced to 16, 15 or 14 years or even abolished. In any case, a minor needs a marriage permit from the authorities. Since same-sex partnerships have no recognition in Russia, it is only possible for a heterosexual offender to avoid punishment by marrying the victim.

Since July 2013, when the federal law against so-called “homo propaganda” came into force, there has been a legal conflict in which homosexual contact between an adult and a young person of 16 or 17 years is not punishable, but any positive one Expressing homosexuality in the presence of this minor is a criminal offense.

Social situation today

Rainbow Flash in Saint Petersburg
Moskva Pride 2008
In May 2009, two lesbian women tried to officially marry.

So far, homosexuality has been taboo in Russian society . In Russian, homosexuals are often referred to as "not traditionally sexually oriented".

On May 16, 2009, around 40 demonstrators were briefly arrested by the Russian police at a rally by homosexual people in front of the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow . In October 2009, a film festival for gays took place, at which, for fear of reprisals from the population and the state, the showing times and locations were only announced to privy guests.

In early July 2012, Russian Orthodox activists from Saratov asked Facebook to remove the recently introduced icons for same-sex marriages. They accused Facebook of promoting homosexuality and spoiling “ sodomites ”. The request was ignored. The Russian Orthodox activists announced that they wanted to block Facebook in Russia by court order.

Survey

According to an opinion poll carried out by the Levada Center in 2010 , 38 percent of the Russians questioned considered homosexuality morally reprehensible, and another 36 percent thought it was a mental illness. Only 15 percent said that homosexuality was an alternative form of human sexuality. 39 percent agreed to the proposal to subject homosexuals to curative treatment without their consent or to isolate them from society. Four percent believed that all gays and lesbians should be liquidated. 84 percent were against the introduction of same-sex marriage , just 14 percent are in favor of it. The national survey by WZIOM in April 2012 showed that 86 percent of the population supported the prohibition laws against "homosexual propaganda".

An opinion poll conducted by the Levada Center in February 2013 (1,600 adult respondents from 45 regions of Russia) showed similar results. About 34 percent of those surveyed considered homosexuality to be an illness that required treatment. About 23 percent think that homosexuality is the result of poor parenting or a bad habit. 17 percent of Russians still see same-sex inclination as the result of seduction . Only 16 percent of those questioned are of the opinion that homosexuality is a sexual orientation that is predetermined from birth and that has the same right to exist as heterosexuality . The number of Russians who would physically annihilate homosexuals has increased from four to five percent since 2010. 85 percent of those surveyed were against same-sex marriage (one percentage point more), while only five percent were in favor (nine percentage points less). 89 percent said they do not know any homosexuals personally.

The survey by the Lewada Center on May 17, 2013 showed that 51 percent of those questioned would welcome a "forced cure" and criminal prosecution of lesbians and gays. According to the survey, around three quarters of Russians are in favor of a ban on any public expression of homosexuality. Only eight percent of the population say that homosexuals should be helped to integrate into society. Around 31 percent of those surveyed would just leave gays and lesbians alone.

Another survey from 2013 also looked at what the population would rate as “propaganda of homosexuality”. In addition, there was a television program or an article about the life of LGBT people (75 percent of those surveyed), a personal conversation with representatives of sexual minorities (50 percent), a television program about the causes of homosexuality (65 percent), demonstrations and campaigns to protect rights of sexual minorities (81 percent), fiction and movies depicting same-sex relationships (74 percent), gay prides (83 percent), growing up with same-sex parents (78 percent), freely showing homosexual feelings (kissing, hugging) (84 Percent) counted. About 61 percent of Russians are afraid for their children or grandchildren that they could become victims of "homosexual propaganda", 67 percent support the efforts of the Russian government to ban "propaganda of homosexuality" and only 14 percent are against it. About 86 percent of those surveyed said they were not interested in gay rights. About 14 percent are also not interested in the laws prohibiting “propaganda of homosexuality”.

In a 2019 survey, 47 percent of respondents supported granting equal rights to homosexuals, but almost 60 percent would not want to live next to homosexuals.

Russian homosexual movement

Equality March on May 6, 2012 in Moscow
Flashmob Kiss-In in front of the Russian Duma on December 19, 2012

Open social groups and associations of sexual minorities are mostly not recognized by the state.

In 2005 Nikolai Alexejew founded the project "GayRussia", it quickly became one of the main sources of information on the situation of LGBT people in Russia. In July 2005, Alexejew first expressed the idea of ​​a “Moscow Pride” at a press conference. Moscow Pride has been regularly banned by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luschkow , who called this event a "Satanshow".

In May 2006 a meeting for equal rights for homosexual citizens was held in Moscow. The accompanying parade was forbidden by Luzhkov . However, some activists took to the streets and wanted to lay flowers at the Memorial of the Unknown Soldier . There were violent attacks by right-wing extremist counter-demonstrators and the police. About 50 demonstrators and 20 counter-demonstrators were arrested. The Bundestag member of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen , Volker Beck , was injured and arrested. The ban on the demonstration, based on security concerns, was upheld by a court in Moscow on August 22nd. The then mayor Yuri Luzhkov welcomed this. He considered the rally to be inadmissible "primarily for moral and ethical reasons". The appellate court also declared the demonstration to be illegal. The organizers then wanted to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights .

In 2007, too, Luzhkov wanted to ban the CSD demonstration: it was a "satanic show". In November 2010, the first state-approved demonstration of homosexual people took place in Saint Petersburg .

Since the government introduced the ban on so-called "homosexual propaganda" in several Russian regions, several demonstrations and protests by LGBT activists have taken place. In many cases, the participants in these events were violently attacked by advocates of the law. In addition, the protesters were often arrested instead of the attackers.

On January 20, 2013, six peacefully demonstrating LGBT activists in the provincial capital of Voronezh were attacked by over 500 people. The meeting of these people, who appeared with Hitler salutes and hate slogans and threw snowballs, bottles and other objects at the demonstrators and then beat them up, was not registered. The police, who assigned only 10 officers to this event, did not take any protective action. The employees of the nearby Adidas sports shop draped the mannequins in a Hitler salute in solidarity with the beating. At least three LGBT activists, including women, were seriously injured and hospitalized during the resistance. On the same day, the author of the Petersburg law against "homosexual propaganda" Vitaly Milonov posted on his Twitter : Voronezh is great .

On January 22, 2013, there were public actions in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Samara, Arkhangelsk and Tomsk against the bill. A demonstration also took place in front of the Russian embassy in Brussels.

Attitude of politics

In 2002, then MP Dmitry Rogozin applied for homosexual acts among men to be punished again with up to five years in prison. Between 2001 and 2008, homosexual men were not allowed to donate blood.

The governor of Tambov Oblast Oleg Betin (" United Russia "), who has been in office since 1999, gave free rein to his anger over the "gay sewer" in his city in an interview on May 16, 2008 to the tabloid " Komsomolskaya Pravda " and said: “Tolerance? To hell with that! “Blue ones” (in Russian this roughly corresponds to “fagot”) should be torn to pieces and the pieces scattered in all directions. [...] I am against perversion. The principles of orthodoxy should remain unaffected. ”An application for criminal proceedings for hate speech (in the Russian Criminal Code , hate speech against a social group is an extremist crime) was rejected. According to the court, homosexuals are not a social group . In addition, according to the expertise summoned by the court, Betin's words are not insults. A demonstration against betine, which is said to have taken place on October 10, 2008, was approved by the authorities, making it the first approved demonstration by the Russian gay movement.

No Russian party campaigns for homosexual rights in its party program . For most Russian politicians, the issue is too sensitive to advocate for equality or non-discrimination. Several members of the opposition Yabloko party have spoken out against laws against “homosexual propaganda”, but the party does not currently have a seat in the State Duma and is poorly represented in regional parliaments.

Laws against "homosexual propaganda"

Adoption of laws in Russian regions

Laws banning “homosexual propaganda” in Russian regions
Quarteera and the Russian-speaking LGBT community in Germany protested against homophobic laws in Russia at the 2012 Berlin CSD .
“We are not propaganda! We are happily married ”- a poster by Russian-speaking LGBT activists at the Berlin CSD 2012.

In 2011–2013, prohibition laws were passed at local level in Saint Petersburg and eleven other regions of Russia (as of April 25, 2013), which are intended to make so-called homosexual propaganda impossible in public, and similar laws are being examined in even more regions. In Moscow, too, the Orthodox public asked the city parliament in October 2012 to draw up a law that would correspond to the legislation of St. Petersburg. This initiative was supported by Moscow MPs.

On January 24, 2013, a law was passed banning public propaganda of homosexuality, bisexuality and pedophilia in Kaliningrad Oblast not only among minors but among the entire population. Kaliningrad became the first region in Russia to extend the ban on "homosexual propaganda" to the entire population.

According to the laws against "gay propaganda", public demonstrations can be punished with posters that read, for example, "Being gay is normal". Such measures also make educational projects for young people about homosexual, bisexual and transsexuality a criminal offense. The prohibition laws were combined in some cities with corresponding laws on pedophilia and passed as laws against "propaganda of homosexuality and pedophilia". The law is also used to ban content on the internet. In March 2018, the supervisory authority Roskomnadzor put the Internet portal Gay.ru - one of the largest LGBT sites in Russia - on the list of banned sites because Gay.ru propagates "non-traditional sexual relations", which are banned in Russia.

On October 3, 2012, following the complaint filed by the Russian LGBT network , the Russian Supreme Court ruled that the regional law against “homosexual propaganda”, which came into force in St. Petersburg in March 2012 , did not conflict with federal law . The law in Arkhangelsk Oblast was also upheld by the Supreme Court. According to the court ruling, the ban on such propaganda should not constitute an obstacle to the assertion of the right to disseminate general and neutral information about homosexuality or to discuss it publicly.

In March 2013, the St. Petersburg city delegates from the Yabloko party proposed a law to repeal the law against "homosexual propaganda" in St. Petersburg, where it has been in force since March 30, 2012. The draft law should have been discussed in April 2013.

A very similar law existed in Austria from 1971 to 1997 with the § 220 Austrian Criminal Code "Advertising for fornication with persons of the same sex" ("public request or approval in a way that is suitable to suggest such actions"), which rarely but was judged on the press law. For example, in 1990 (appointed in 1991) several publications from HOSI Vienna were withdrawn, some especially for adolescents and young adults. From 1989 to 2000, the identical paragraph existed in Liechtenstein.

List of regions with the legal prohibition of "propaganda of homosexuality"

Legislation at the federal level

A similar bill for the whole country, supposedly protecting children and young people, was presented in the State Duma by a group of politicians from Novosibirsk, where a similar law came into force earlier at the local level. The draft was to be discussed in the Duma on December 19, 2012 in the first reading, but this has been postponed several times. At the end of January 2013, the Duma adopted the law in first reading, with 388 members voting in favor in the 450-seat parliament.

On June 11, 2013, the Duma passed a federal ban on “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations towards minors” in second and third readings. This means that gays and lesbians who profess publicly face fines and even imprisonment. The law prohibits any positive reporting of homosexuality. Parliament voted unanimously in favor of the law with 436 votes with only one abstention. According to the latest polls by WZIOM , 88 percent of the population are in favor of this law, 42 percent are even in favor of the criminalization of homosexuality itself. On the day of the last reading, dozen of LGBT activists were arrested at a kiss-in in front of the Duma , including the lesbian journalist Jelena Kostyuchenko . President Putin signed the law on June 30, 2013, which brought it into effect. The law criminalizes positive statements about homosexuality in the presence of minors or through the media such as the Internet.

Since January 24, 2014, the Russian Duma has been discussing a motion by MPs from the largest party United Russia and the smaller Liberal and Communist Party, according to which the propaganda law should be relativized in order to bring it into line with international standards. While there was previously talk of a ban on propaganda for a nontraditional relationship, in the future any form of sexual relationship - even among heterosexuals - should be punished if it results in a priority being imposed on sexual acts that should be imposed directly. Conversely, activists like Aleksejew do not see any real change to the current legal situation, as they fear that the law will continue to be used as a cover for bans on CSDs and other events. In the opinion of the activists, however, it will be more difficult to forbid a relationship between two homosexuals that is based on pure relationship, even if it reports in a positive way about homosexual family life. The definition of how values ​​are lived in Russia can also be applied to homosexuals in connection with traditional relationships, and in Russia the principle of legality applies to most crimes. According to Art. 29 of the Russian Constitution , freedom of expression is only to be restricted in exceptional cases by means of a fundamental rights barrier, for example in order not to violate the religious values ​​of individuals. The newly planned law, on the other hand, restricts the freedom of expression of all lovers to a greater degree in a way that - at least in traditional relationships - even under the Russian constitution, according to the unanimous opinion, cannot be accepted. There is also agreement in literature and literature that according to Article 125, Paragraph 4 of the Constitution, here the Constitutional Court can only declare laws as such, but not their application in individual cases, to be unconstitutional , which means that the entire law is void or remains as a whole and in the event that the Duma has to deliberate again and the individual citizens will only benefit from it when the new law is passed.

Attitude of leading politicians to legislation

Many Russian politicians are in favor of banning "homosexual propaganda"; Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev spoke out against it. "Not all moral questions, [...] behavioral habits [and] questions of interpersonal communication have to be regulated by law," Medvedev explained in his October 2012 interview.

Minister of Health Veronika Skworzowa , who has been in office since May 2012, compared homosexuality with an illness and “harmful mediated habits” such as drug use or smoking. Nevertheless, lesbians and gays should not be discriminated against, said the politician. Skvorzova also emphasized the important task of the state to protect children from the "pathological representatives of homosexualism ". The author of the Petersburg law Vitaly Milonov , who described homosexuality as a test of God and a disease that " can be cured easily with prayer and fasting ," has a similar opinion .

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov supports the prohibition laws supposedly protecting Russian society from homosexuals. On February 26, 2013, during a conversation with the Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans , he said that Russia had no obligations to allow “aggressive propaganda of homosexuality”. Lavrov recalled that homosexual acts were a criminal offense in the Soviet Union. The Russian Foreign Minister pointed out that homosexuals in Russia can do “their things” “in absolute freedom and without punishment” and are therefore not discriminated against. However, the state wants to limit discrimination in the opposite direction and not allow a small group to be given the right "to aggressively promote their own values, which are alien to most people, and to force them on children," said Lavrov.

Attitude of further personalities

In August 2013, the US silver medalist Nick Symmonds criticized the Russian government's actions against homosexuals at the 2013 World Athletics Championships in Moscow and dedicated his medal to gays and lesbians. The Swedish high jumper Emma Green Tregaro and the 200 meter sprinter Moa Hjelmer also started the qualifications with their fingernails painted in the colors of the rainbow. The Russian world champion in pole vault Jelena Isinbayeva defended the internationally controversial law shortly afterwards.

Attitude of the German Foreign Office and the Russian Consul General in Germany

According to Chapter 1, Article 15 of the Russian Constitution , the European Convention on Human Rights - similar to many other European countries - is to be placed above national laws. In this context, the Foreign Office described it as a violation of the ECHR, as the human rights of minorities are restricted and freedom of expression is weakened for no apparent reason. Article 29 of the Russian Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, which can only be restricted if it attacks social or national groups or their beliefs in a hateful manner.

In the opinion of several associations in literature and literature, the “Propaganda Act” also violates the rights of equality before the law laid down in Article 19, Paragraph 1 . In paragraph 2, the state then also guarantees equality before the law in the sense of “other circumstances”. With regard to the general acceptance of homosexuality in the western world, the regional customary international law of the ECHR and the current UN resolutions on homosexuality, homosexuality is largely to be regarded as equal. Russia has acceded to a variety of international conventions and agreements that guarantee freedom of expression. According to Article 135, changes to the fundamental rights laid down in Chapter 2 of the Russian Constitution are not possible through the Federal Assembly, but only through a referendum in which at least half of the citizens entitled to vote must take part.

The Russian Consul General Andrej Grozow declared that the law should protect against health impairments and that children should not be ethically influenced. The law also does not provide for any draconian penalties, but mostly fines. In science there is no evidence of any negative influence on this, and it is also explained that young homosexuals in particular need to be informed about their own homosexuality in a positive way so that they can protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases .

Council of Europe resolution in October 2013

At the beginning of October 2013, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe condemned Russia for violating freedom of assembly and freedom of expression on the basis of the enacted law against gay “propaganda” . This was preceded by a judgment of the ECHR which, among other things, declared the ban on the CSD in Moscow to be unlawful because of the violation of the Convention's protection against discrimination.

Judgment of the United Nations Human Rights Committee

The activist Irina Fedotova had lodged a complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva against the regional law in the Ryazan region . The Human Rights Committee has now ruled that the Russian authorities have violated the right to freedom of expression and the prohibition of discrimination under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights . The restriction of freedom of expression by the law against "gay propaganda" was " not based on reasonable and objective criteria ", according to the judgment (1932/2010) of the UN Human Rights Committee. Russia has not given reasonable grounds for a ban, nor has it banned heterosexual propaganda as well. Previously, GayRussia brought the case to committee after several rulings in Russia confirmed the legality of the regional propaganda laws. For the first time since the regional laws came into force, the Ryazan District Court overturned or amended the conviction - based on the 1932/2010 judgment of the Human Rights Committee.

June 2017: Basic judgment of the European Court of Human Rights

In June 2017 the "Homopropaganda Act" was assessed by the European Court of Human Rights as a violation of the Human Rights Convention . This judgment was confirmed again in November 2018 by a further judgment of the European Court of Human Rights.

Attitude to the rights of homosexuals

Approval of an LGBT rally in Moscow on the occasion of the 2018 presidential election

President Putin's attitude

Back in 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin described homosexuals as part of a “demographic problem” in Russia. According to the state television broadcaster Russia Today , in March 2013 President Putin instructed the Russian government and the Russian Supreme Court to draft legislation on the general ban on adoption by same-sex couples abroad by July 1, 2013.

At a press conference in Amsterdam , during Putin's official visit to the Netherlands on April 8, 2013, the Russian President said on the issue of human rights of homosexuals in Russia that no rights of sexual minorities in Russia would be curtailed because they “enjoy all freedoms and rights like the rest of the citizens of Russia ”. Putin stressed that the Russian government in Moscow can hardly influence such laws against "gay propaganda" that are being passed in some Russian regions. The opening of marriage to same-sex couples in Russia is unthinkable from the point of view of the Russian president, because that could result in deaths in Chechnya , for example .

Attitude to raising children by homosexuals

In July 2012, the Russian consulate in London warned Russian parents about the “poor accommodation of their children in some British language schools ”. Among other things, it was about the children who are on language holidays in England being placed with homosexual host parents.

In an interview in October 2012, Russian President’s Commissioner on the Rights of Children, Pavel Astakhov , mentioned that he proposed to the President to add to the list of diseases for which pedagogues working with children can be dismissed. Astachow was astonished that the existing list did not include sexual preferences and that “people practicing same-sex love” as well as pedophiles , zoophiles , necrophiles and various fetishists could work with children.

In February 2013, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that it was necessary to review the possible “psychological harm” that a Russian orphan had been caused by adoption by a US citizen who was in a lesbian relationship while filling out the adoption papers before the Russian authorities have kept secret.

In her interview on February 24, 2013 on the talk show Wladimir Posners on Perwy kanal , the chairwoman of the Duma committee on affairs of families, women and children Jelena Misulina said that same-sex couples want to adopt children, which is why they are interested in that there were orphans . The politician also said that second-generation children born through artificial insemination are infertile .

After the lower chamber of the French parliament approved the introduction of same-sex marriage , the Russian President's Commissioner on Children's Rights Pavel Astakhov declared that Russia would not give up orphans for adoption by homosexual couples. On June 3, 2013, President Vladimir Putin signed Federal Law No. 167 banning the adoption of orphans by same-sex couples. The law had previously been passed unanimously in the Duma. The law, which affects both Russian civil and family law, also affects adoptions by any single person living outside of Russia in countries that recognize same-sex marriage . This means that singles who wish to adopt are generally suspected of being homosexual. The aim of the law is to protect the child from “artificial imposition of unconventional sexual behavior” as well as from “the emergence of complexes, emotional suffering and stress” by same-sex parents. The reason for the law was the recognition of same-sex marriages in France, which also allows same-sex couples to adopt children.

On September 5, 2013, a new bill was submitted to the Duma that supplements the Russian Family Code and provides for the removal of custody of their adopted and biological children from parents who “allow non-traditional sexual relations” .

Attitude of the religious communities

Christianity

Carnival float for the homophobic attitude of Putin and the church at the Rose Monday procession in Düsseldorf 2014

The Russian Orthodox Church counts homosexuality among the "immoral [n] Western [n] influences [n]". Church spokesman Vsevolod Chaplin said the public display of the homosexual way of life will be rejected by Russian society and will encourage people to protest. Tschaplin warned of the negative influence of sexual minorities on children. The Orthodox are also against child adoption by people who openly proclaim their homosexuality. The Church rejects equality between same-sex couples and “traditional families” and is against government support for such couples.

In his speech on January 7, 2013 at the Orthodox Christmas celebration , Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow and All Russia compared homosexuality with drunkenness , drug use , adultery and prostitution and counted them among the other “ evils ” listed as causes of the breakdown of traditional families. In a TV interview on the Orthodox Easter celebrations on May 5th, Kyrill I called same-sex marriage a “vice” that would lead to “the destruction of personality” and possible economic, financial, political or ecological crises. The big protests in Paris against the opening of marriage were a "pleasant surprise" for the patriarch. In July 2013, at a church service in Moscow, Kyrill declared that legalized same-sex connections were "a very dangerous apocalyptic symptom". The legal legitimacy of "gay marriage" means that "the people take the path of self-destruction".

Russian journalist Vladimir Posner describes the Russian Orthodox Church as the main source of homophobia in Russia.

Islam

In February 2006 , on the occasion of the planned first “ Moscow Pride ”, the Grand Mufti of Russia, Talgat Tajuddin , announced that Mohammed himself had ordered homosexuals to be killed because their behavior would lead to the end of the human race. Homosexuals should be whipped when they take to the streets. Any normal person would do this - both Muslims and Orthodox Christians .

Other clergy have distanced themselves from this harsh rhetoric, but not from the rejection of homosexuality. Mufti Nafigulla Ashirov , in charge of the Asian part of the country, spoke out against violence, but also said that gay parades should have no place in the lives of normal people.

Judaism

Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar described homosexuals as "sexual perverts" and the parade as a violation of morality, he compared them to cartoons of Mohammed .

Homosexuality in culture

Presentation of the film Different from the others at the International Gay-Lesbian Film Festival "Side by Side" in St. Petersburg in October 2009

Gay and lesbian culture

The first attempt to publish an LGBT magazine was made in 1989. The newspaper Tema (Eng. Topic , in Russian colloquial language comparable to the term scene ) appeared until the end of 1990. In later years several other non-periodical newspapers and magazines appeared for gays and lesbians, but they did not exist for long.

The only existing gay magazine in Russia, Kvir (English queer ), which has been published regularly since August 2003, stopped its print publication with the December 2012 issue and switched to the online format.

Since December 1999, the so-called samizdat , ie self-published, has been the lesbian literary magazine Ostrow ("Insel", as a reference to the island of Lesbos ). The magazine is usually published four times a year with a circulation of 200 copies. She publishes texts by and for women - poetry, prose and journalism. Over 50 issues have appeared so far. Ostrow is currently the oldest and only Russian magazine for lesbian women. For larger texts, a literature supplement is provided, which appears in a rhythm similar to the journal itself. The “Ostrow” cultural and educational project based on the magazine has existed since 2012 - an Internet site on which the issues that have appeared so far are gradually made accessible. The project offers an overview of feminist-lesbian texts in Russia over the past 15 years.

Representation of homosexuals in the media

Russian cinema and television are seldom devoted to homosexuality. The homosexual characters that can be seen are mostly clichéd minor characters. In the 2000s, the first films came out that showed gay or lesbian characters in leading roles. The 2004 film You I Love is a love triangle between a woman and two men. The 2009 tragic comedy Wesseltschaki tells about drag queens , the 2011 film You and I tells a lesbian love story.

The Russian remake of the Spanish series Física o Química sparked wide and heated discussions in society. However, the series was discontinued after the first season, before the love story between two young men could become a main line of the series.

The Russian broadcaster TNT postponed the second season of the series Glee to the later night (at 3 a.m.), but the first kiss between Kurt and Blain was cut out of the episode shown in January 2013, which caused a lot of angry reports on Russian Twitter .

On February 10, 2013, the Russian state television broadcaster Rossiya 1 claimed in a report on the French government's efforts to establish same-sex marriage that 40 percent of people raised in rainbow families had sexually transmitted diseases , 40 percent were prone to adultery , and at least 12 percent were more likely to have sexually transmitted diseases once thought of suicide . It was also reported that 98 percent of French homosexuals do not want children and 79 percent of them only have sexual contact with strangers.

The plan of the Russian director Kirill Serebrennikow to film the life of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky failed in autumn 2013 because Serebrennikov could not find sufficient funding for the filming. In addition, the Russian Minister of Culture, Vladimir Medinsky , called for the composer's private life and his homosexuality to be ignored. According to the state cinema fund, the project simply had no commercial potential. The project also lost other sponsors who refused to participate in a “scandalous” film. So far it remains unclear whether and when the shooting will start.

The ban on Kirill Serebrennikov's most recent work at the Bolshoi Theater (July 2017), a ballet developed together with the choreographer Yuri Possochow about the personality of Rudolf Nureyev , whose premiere was postponed to 2018 , also caused a stir .

Music and celebrities

The pop duo tATu , considered lesbian, was very successful in Russia in the 2000s.

There are no celebrities outed in Russia . The pop singer Boris Moiseyev came out in the early 1990s, but revoked his homosexuality in 2010 in an interview with the broadcaster TNT . Several of his concerts had to be canceled after protests by religious activists.

The Russian pop duo tATu has often been accused of promoting homosexuality and pedophilia. Tabeless games on stage and the allusion to the alleged homosexuality of the two singers became an integral part of their appearances. Lena Katina and Julia Wolkowa also take up the topic in their music videos . The music video " Ja soschla s uma " (in German "I lost my mind"), published in December 2000, shows an intense kiss between the two singers and exposes the dismissive reaction of other people. Although it was widely criticized, the music video was broadcast very often on music television and received numerous awards ( MTV Video Music Award 2001 , MTV Russia Music Video of the Year ). According to their own statement, the aim of the band was not to praise homosexuality, but to profile it as a natural lifestyle that should no longer be frowned upon as strange. In 2014, on a Russian TV show, Volkova made anti-gay statements and said she would support her lesbian daughter, but not accept and even despise her gay son, because two women are aesthetic and two men are unnatural. Katina, on the other hand, has repeatedly publicly advocated LGBT rights.

Trials against western stars

Madonna speaks out against homophobia at her concert in Russia.

On October 11, 2012, a St. Petersburg court began investigating a lawsuit against Madonna for alleged "homosexual propaganda" when she appeared in August, during which she called for tolerance of homosexuals, hurting the feelings of several believers and violating the law that the "Homopropaganda" forbids, allegedly violated. The claim for damages amounted to the equivalent of 8.3 million euros. The lawsuit against Madonna was dismissed by the court on November 22nd and the plaintiffs have to pay the legal fees of the concert organizers who were also accused.

After a concert in St. Petersburg on December 9, 2012, Lady Gaga was also sued by the St. Petersburg city councilor Vitaly Milonov because she had encouraged young people to come out during her performance. In this case too, the lawsuit was ultimately dismissed.

See also

literature

  • Tomas M. Mielke: The homosexual vocabulary in Russian: Consensual and camp sexuality between men . Sagner, 1995, ISBN 9783876906218 .
  • Vladimir Nabokoff : Homosexuality in the Russian Criminal Code (PDF; 332 kB) , first published in: Vestnik Prava , 1902
  • Dan Healey: Homosexual Desire in Revolutionary Russia: The Regulation of Sexual and Gender Dissent (Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 2001). Pp. Xvi + 392.
  • Dan Healey: Homosexual Existence and Existing Socialism: New Light on the Repression of Male Homosexuality in Stalin's Russia , GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 8, 3 (2002): 349-78.
  • Dan Healey: Sexual Cultures in Russia in Encyclopedia of Sociology, Ed. George Ritzer (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006), vol. 8, pp. 4223-27.
  • Tomas M. Mielke: The Russian Homosexual Lexicon: Consensual and Prison Camp Sexuality Among Men . CreateSpace, 2017, ISBN 9781544658490 .

Web links

Commons : Homosexuality in Russia  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Brian M. Heiss: Russian Federation Anti-Gay Laws: An Analysis & Deconstruction. (PDF) January 21, 2014, accessed on November 17, 2017 (English).
  2. ↑ The Legalization of Homosexuality in the Soviet Union: A Milestone in the History of Sexual Liberation . ( Klasseegegenklasse.org [accessed August 26, 2018]).
  3. ↑ Kerstin Eschrich: Conversation with Iryna Matsevko about homosexuals in the former Soviet Union . Jungle World No. 5. February 4, 2010. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  4. ^ Soviet Union: Rings on discount . Der Spiegel , 48/1978. November 27, 1978. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  5. ^ Reprisals against Russia's homosexuals . Frankfurter Rundschau . February 24, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  6. ↑ a b c d e RIA Novosti: Putin calls for a ban on adoption for homosexual couples , March 29, 2013
  7. ↑ Russia wants to punish speeches about homosexuality . Star . March 29, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  8. ↑ Parade planned in Moscow: police arrest homosexuals . n-tv . May 27, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  9. ↑ Russians for Outlawing Homosexuality . tagesschau.de . April 23, 2012. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved on April 27, 2013.
  10. ↑ Russia: Moscow police arrest gays before song contest . The time . May 16, 2009. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 19, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.zeit.de
  11. ^ Secret gay festival in St. Petersburg . The daily mirror . October 26, 2009. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  12. ↑ Orthodox activists urge Facebook ban over gay wedding icons ( English ) Russia Today . July 11, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  13. ↑ a b Lewada Center: Гомосексуальность в российском общественном мнении ( Memento of the original from May 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , August 6, 2010 (Russian) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.levada.ru
  14. ↑ a b Life Sity News: 'Moscow is not Sodom': Orthodox Christians disrupt illegal 'gay pride' demo in front of city council , May 30, 2012 (English)
  15. ↑ a b c d e f Quarteera: Survey by the Levada Center: Homophobic Moods in Russia , March 12, 2013
  16. ↑ Half of Russia for Forced Healing and Punishments for Homosexuals . RIA Novosti . May 17, 2013. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  17. ↑ Almost half of Russians are in favor of gay equality , RBK, May 23, 2019
  18. ↑ Russia News: Recognition of four gay organizations denied , September 26, 2011
  19. ↑ a b Moscow: OB Luschkow describes the gay parade as a "Satanshow" . RIA Novosti . January 29, 2007. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
  20. ^ Nikolai Alekseev Profile ( English ) The Guardian . Archived from the original on May 20, 2008. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  21. ↑ Queer.de: Moscow court confirms ban on CSD , 23 August 2006
  22. ↑ Queer.de: Court: Ban on the CSD Moscow OK , September 20, 2006
  23. ↑ Queer.de: Demos of gays and lesbians in Poland and Russia , November 20, 2010
  24. ↑ Queer.de: Russia: Nationalists hit the gay demo , January 21, 2013
  25. ↑ Quarteera: Violent attack on LGBT demonstration in Voronezh , January 21, 2013
  26. ↑ RIA Novosti: Gay action in Voronezh ends with the beating of its participants , January 20, 2013
  27. ↑ Pinknews: Angry crowd of fascists attack gay activists in Russian city of Voronezh , January 20, 2013 (English)
  28. ↑ RosBalt: "Священное Питание" Виталия Милонова , February 11, 2013 (Russian)
  29. ↑ Quarteera: Protest actions against homophobic law in Russia , January 22, 2013
  30. ↑ Tatjana Marschanskich, Julia Ponomarjowa: A law for the common people . Russia today. March 7, 2013. Retrieved on April 27, 2013.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / russland-heute.de  
  31. ↑ After gay law: "We want to show more" . Russia currently . May 24, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  32. ^ Dietrich Beyrau: Political scandal in Tambow and homopolitics in Russia . Russia analyzes NO. 168. July 11, 2008. Archived from the original on August 6, 2014. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 13, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.laender-analysen.de
  33. ↑ a b Russia may permit first gay march 500km from Moscow ( English ) pinknews.co.uk. October 8, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2013.
  34. ↑ Генпрокуратура разрешила губернатору "рвать гомиков на куски" ( Russian ) NEWSru.com. July 28, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2013.
  35. ↑ a b Politicians are rampaging against homosexuals in Russia . The world . April 9, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  36. ↑ a b c d RIA Novosti: Talking about it prohibited: Russia is wrestling with "gay propaganda" , October 4th, 2012
  37. ↑ Quarteera: Ban on "gay propaganda" demanded for Moscow , October 9, 2012
  38. ↑ Quarteera: Kaliningrad Passes Law Banning Propaganda of Homosexuality , January 24, 2013
  39. ↑ taz: Demo against homophobia in Russia , July 13, 2012
  40. ↑ a b c Der Spiegel: Duma wants to ban gays from the public , March 29, 2012
  41. ↑ Die Welt: St. Petersburg Bans Advertising for Homosexuality , February 8, 2012
  42. ↑ Deutsche Welle: Pressure on Russia's homosexuals is growing , March 2, 2012
  43. ↑ Сайт Gay.ru внесен в единый реестр запрещенных ресурсов . In: Echo Moskwy , March 30, 2018.
    Gay.ru внесен в реестр сайтов с запрещенной информацией . In: Radio Free Europe , March 30, 2018.
  44. ↑ Queer.de: Russian Constitutional Court confirms law against "gay propaganda"
  45. ↑ RIA Novosti: Supreme Court rejects complaint against gay propaganda ban in St. Petersburg , October 3, 2012
  46. ↑ "Яблоко" Петербурга оспаривает закон о "гей-пропаганде" ( Russian ) BBC Russian. March 26, 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
  47. ↑ «Яблочники» предлагают ЗАКСу не позориться и отменить «гомофобскую» статью закона ( Russian ) Official homepage of the Yabloko party. March 26, 2013. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 12, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.spb.yabloko.ru
  48. ^ Chronicle of Shame , Homosexual Initiative Vienna
  49. ↑ From the archive , Lambda-Nachrichten 2/2005
  50. ^ Anti-Gay Bill Approved in Kaliningrad ( English ) The Moscow Times . January 25, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  51. ↑ Queer.de: Irkutsk forbids gay "propaganda" , April 26, 2013
  52. ^ Stephan Laack: Anti-homosexual law in the Russian parliament . tagesschau.de . March 29, 2012. Archived from the original on March 31, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  53. ↑ Duma adopts ban on "homosexual propaganda" in first reading . The world . January 25, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  54. ↑ Human Rights Commissioner for Russia: "Law against Homosexual Propaganda" . Foreign Office . June 12, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  55. ↑ Horst Kläuser: Duma banishes open homosexuality . tagesschau.de. June 11, 2013. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  56. ↑ Julia Smirnova: Russia declares homosexuals fair game . The world . June 11, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  57. ↑ Russia: Police arrest LGBT activists during protest in front of the Duma . Queer.de. June 11, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  58. ↑ Putin punishes "homosexual propaganda" . Time online . June 30, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  59. ↑ a b Russia: Putin signs anti-homosexual law . Spiegel Online . June 30, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  60. ↑ queer.de Russia: "Propaganda" law before revision
  61. ↑ wissmit The View to the East (II) - Sport in Russia: A lawless area?
  62. ↑ Europainstitut The legal system of Russia N. Vitruk The protection of fundamental rights , 1995, p 113ff., 116
  63. ↑ DeutschlandRadio: Duma advises on homophobia law , December 19, 2012.
  64. ^ RIA Novosti: Medvedev: No ban on homosexuality necessary , October 7, 2012.
  65. ↑ a b GGG.at: Homosexuality for Russian Health Minister Disease , July 12, 2012
  66. ↑ Russia currently: Author of the Gay Law: Homosexuals can be “cured” by prayer , 25 September 2012
  67. ↑ GGG.at: St. Petersburg MP would “bring gay son to the priest” , September 27, 2012
  68. ↑ Quarteera: Russian Foreign Ministry defends ban on "homosexual propaganda" on the European stage , February 27, 2013
  69. ↑ World Athletics Championships: Symmonds dedicates silver medal to homosexuals , Spiegel-Online of August 14, 2013
  70. ↑ Homosexual Law in Russia: Nation endangered by the rainbow . taz . August 16, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  71. ↑ Issinbayeva defends anti-homosexual law , Die Welt, August 15, 2013
  72. ↑ Foreign Office Human Rights Commissioner for Russia: "Law against Homosexual Propaganda
  73. ↑ quarteera Declaration by "Coming Out" St. Petersburg on the adoption of the Federal Law "On Propaganda of Non-Traditional Sexual Relationships Among Minors , accessed January 18, 2014.
  74. ↑ Garant Services The Russian Constitution, Chapter 9. Constitutional amendments and revision of the constitution
  75. ^ Norbert Blech queer.de Russian Consul General in Munich defends "Propaganda" law
  76. ^ Council of Europe criticizes Russia . Queer.de. October 2, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  77. ↑ queer.de United Nations: Russia violates the rights of gays and lesbians
  78. ↑ queer.de Council of Europe criticizes Russia
  79. ↑ Queer.de: Laws against gay "propaganda" violate the human rights convention
  80. ↑ Queer.de: Russia convicted again for ban on CSD , accessed on November 27, 2018
  81. ↑ Russia today: Putin demands adoption ban for homosexual couples  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , March 30, 2013@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / russland-heute.de  
  82. ↑ a b c Südwest Presse: Putin pledges support for homosexuals , April 10, 2013
  83. ^ RIA Novosti: Putin: Rights of homosexuals in Russia not diminished , April 8, 2013
  84. ↑ Die welt: Russian consulate warns language students about gay host parents , July 18, 2012
  85. ↑ GGG.at: Russian Embassy warns of gay host families in England , July 19, 2012
  86. ↑ VZ.ru: Астахов предложил запретить людям с секс-девиациями работать с детьми , October 8, 2012 (Russian)
  87. ↑ Kommersant: Елена Мизулина: "Когда я голосовала за" закон Димы Яковлева ", это было политическое ганитическое голитическое ганитическое ганитическое ганосоское , February 25, 2013 (Russian)
  88. ↑ The Red Flag: No Adoption of Russian Orphans by French Homosexuals , February 5, 2013
  89. ↑ The President of Russia. Kremlin press service: official text of the law ( memento of the original from May 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Russian), July 3, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / text.document.kremlin.ru
  90. ↑ a b Putin bans homosexual child adoption . Radio voice of Russia. March 7, 2013. Archived from the original on January 31, 2014. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 17, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / german.ruvr.ru
  91. ↑ Russia's homosexuals have to fear for custody . Time online . May 9, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  92. ^ Russian Orthodox Church against Gay Parade in Moscow . Russia currently. March 21, 2007. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  93. ↑ Russian Church: Homosexuality must neither be persecuted nor propagated . RIA Novosti . December 30, 2009. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  94. ^ Press review from January 7, 2013 . Voice of Russia . January 7, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  95. ↑ Moscow Patriarch hopes to work with Pope Francis . kath.net . May 6, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  96. ↑ Patriarch names gay marriage a symptom of the end of the world . Spiegel Online . July 21, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  97. ↑ Православие - главный источник гомофобии в России ( Russian ) Official homepage of Vladimir Posner. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  98. ↑ Russia aktuell: Gay Parade Moscow: Mufti threatens to kill homosexuals , February 15, 2006
  99. ↑ ProChurch: Берл Лазар: Гей-парады оскорбляют верующих не меньше, чем карикатуры , February 15, 2006 (Russian)
  100. ↑ NEWSru.com: Берл Лазар назвал предстоящий гей-парад в Иерусалиме непристойным пиаром сексменьшинств November 8, 2006,
  101. ↑ Quarteera: Only gay magazine in Russia discontinues print edition , January 18, 2013
  102. ↑ Gay.ru: Журнал "Остров" попытается стать "культурно-образовательным" проектом
  103. ↑ Радикально-феминистский художественно-публицистический журнал Остров ( Russian ). Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  104. ↑ Russian TV station censors series "Glee" . Quarteera. January 10, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  105. ↑ Однополые браки: субкультура меньшинств перерождает нормы ( Russian ) Rossiya 1 . February 10, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  106. ↑ Homophobia in Russia: Kremlin wants to censor Tchaikovsky film . Spiegel-Online . September 19, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  107. ↑ Bernd Großheim: Debate about a film project on Tchaikovsky: Russia's fear of the "scandalous" . tagesschau.de. October 1, 2013. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  108. ↑ [1]
  109. ↑ TNT: Cosmopolitan: Выпуск №169 с Борисом Моисеевым, часть 1 ( Memento of the original from January 30, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Russian) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / tnt-online.ru
  110. ↑ Gay.ru: Russian Orthodox Church Demands Ban of Openly Gay Boris Moiseev's Concert , March 20, 2006 (English)
  111. ↑ Все сошли с ума ( Russian ) Kommersant , №18 (2621). February 4, 2003. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  112. ↑ Image: tATu: What happened to the Russian pop duo? , December 13, 2012
  113. ↑ About Tatu. In: www.tatu.ru. Archived from the original on October 15, 2002 ; accessed on January 9, 2015 .
  114. ↑ tatu.website.pl: [2] (Polish)
  115. ↑ Focus Online: tATu singer Julija Wolkowa: “Couldn't accept a gay son” , September 22, 2014
  116. ↑ Sutki: [3] , September 22, 2014
  117. ↑ KVIR: Lena Katina: "What role does it play who sleeps with whom!" , April 8, 2013 (Russian)
  118. ↑ Frankfurter Rundschau: Court examines million dollar lawsuit against Madonna , October 11, 2012
  119. ↑ Spiegel Online: Russian court dismisses suit against Madonna , November 22, 2012
  120. ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: Russian court dismisses suit against Madonna , November 23, 2012
  121. ↑ Focus: Russian sues Lady Gaga over appeal for tolerance , December 21, 2012
  122. ^ Indictment against Lady Gaga , Berliner Zeitung of July 22, 2013