Thus spake — not Zarathustra — but Vitaly Milonov, Member of Parliament for the United Russia party — Russia’s ruling political party, ultra-conservative, and fully supportive of Vladimir Putin. No surprise there.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s the background:

During this past week, Russia’s Supreme Court banned the activities nationwide of an “extremist organization” they dubbed “the international LGBT public movement.” The ruling was made on the basis of a motion from the Ministry of Justice . . . although there is no such organization in existence as a legal entity. The Supreme Court’s hearing “was held behind closed doors, but reporters were allowed in to hear the court’s decision. Nobody from ‘the defendant’s side’ had been present, the court said.” [Steve Rosenberg, Russia editor, Reuters Moscow, as reported by BBC News, Dec. 2, 2023.]

According to a Russian constitutional amendment three years ago, marriage is defined as a union between a man and a woman. Period, end of discussion. Same-sex unions are not recognized in Russia.

Reuters’ Steve Rosenberg asked Sergei Troshin, a municipal deputy in St. Petersburg who came out as gay last year, what the effect of the ruling would be. His response — unequivocal and frightening — was:

“I think this will mean that anyone whom the state considers an LGBT activist could receive a long prison sentence for ‘participating in an exremist organisation.’ For the organizer of such a group, the prison term will be even longer. This is real repression. There is panic in Russia’s LGBT community. People are emigrating urgently. The actual word we’re using is evacuation. We’re having to evacuate from our own country. It’s terrible.”

In accordance with the draconian legislation, and under threat of active enforcement of those laws, the LGBT community has obviously felt increased pressure to go into hiding. In 2013, a law was adopted prohibiting “the propaganda [amongst minors] of non-traditional sexual relations.” As of last year, those restrictions have been extended to include all age groups. References to LGBT people have even been deleted from books, films, advertisements and TV shows.

Shades of the Stalinist era, when attempts were made to erase history by deleting from history books and other publications the names — and even the pictures — of people who had fallen out of favor. If you don’t see it, it doesn’t exist . . . and never did.

*. *. *

And that brings us to Vitaly Milonov, described by Mr. Rosenberg as “a famously homophobic MP from the ruling party, United Russia,” who has claimed that the ban on LGBT groups was “not about sexual minorities or the private life of individuals. It’s more about the political agenda proclaimed by this LGBT international movement. They have their own tasks, their own goals. They act as a political force, a political structure and the goals of this structure contravene the Russian Constitution.”

Right. All of my gay friends are out there trying to overthrow the government, so it must be true in Russia too . . . right? It’s a freakin’ international conspiracy . . . or so Mr. Milonov would have us believe. As though they’re not already busy enough, just trying to live their lives without being hassled.

Then Mr. Rosenberg asked Milonov how the government could ban a “political structure” that doesn’t exist as such; and that was when Mr. Congeniality came back with his lovely response:

“Oh, it’s easy. We can ban any activities from LGBT international organisations here in Russia. That’s nice. We don’t need them. And I’m looking forward to the next step: banning the six-colour rainbow flag. We don’t need this flag. It’s a symbol of the fight with the traditional family. I hope that no-one can show this flag in Russia.”

All right, then. Now we’re getting somewhere. President Putin has already expounded on the importance of “traditional family values” when he implored Russian women to get busy having eight or more children in keeping with their grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ way of life. Back to the days when large families were needed to grow the population, to work on the farms and in the factories, when infant mortality rates were high . . . and when the only known method of birth control was abstinence.

Back to the days when the country’s leader was known as the Tsar.

And perhaps while he’s liberating one of those old bejeweled thrones from the Kremlin Armory for his office, he’d also like to bring back the old hammer-and-sickle flag. They’re from two different eras, of course; but truth and accuracy aren’t really the point here.

*. *. *

But what’s really behind it? Sergei Troshin believes it is political:

“I think [the court hearing] is linked to the presidential election next March. [The authorities] are creating an artificial enemy. They say ‘We are battling the West.’ The battle with LGBT people fits in with this anti-Western rhetoric. Fighting both the West and the LGBT community is popular amongst the conservative, anti-Western part of society. So this topic will be pushed in the run-up to the election.” [Steve Rosenberg, Reuters.]

Okay, so blame the U.S. again. Go ahead . . . we’re used to it.

Mr. Rosenberg also spoke with Maxim Goldman, who works for a Russian group that offers support to LGBT people. “As soon as we heard about the Supreme Court hearing, the people who run our organisation realised we would have to leave the country urgently. It became an emergency.” Mr. Goldman was headed to the airport with a small suitcase, but continued:

“I feel totally rejected by my own country. We’re supposed to have a democracy here. The people we put in power are supposed to take care of us. But the opposite is happening. They’re punishing us. They’re wiping their feet on us. I’m being forced out.”

Another diaspora?

*. *. *

Sergei Troshin, the St. Petersburg municipal deputy, is staying in Russia for now. But he admits:

“I have spoken a lot in the past about LGBT rights. It’s possible this will be enough to launch a criminal case against me. I hope not, but maybe. And this is terrifying. Russian society is soaked in fear. With every word you’re crossing a mine field. Say one thing and it might land you in prison for five years; say something else, and you’ll get 10 or 15 years behind bars.” [Steve Rosenberg, Reuters.]

*. *. *

So there you have it: life in Russia for today’s LGBT community. A few decades ago, the Soviet government denied that homosexuality existed in their workers’ paradise. They also denied the existence of AIDS. They had come a long way since then, finally facing and admitting the realities of the late 20th Century. And now . . . well, now we just climb into that old DeLorean, rev up the “flux capacitor,” and we’re Back To the Future.

I can’t help wondering, though: Just how far back does Putin want to go?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/4/23