In pre-modern Tsarist times, Tsars would invariably find scapegoats in order to keep themselves in power. They would doubly reinforce their rule by utilizing the conservative Eastern Orthodoxy, which they forced onto their subjects. Since as early as the 1200s, these oppressed peoples were Jews, Muslims, Homosexuals, Women and of course political opponents. This widespread oppression lead directly to the populist uprisings of 1917.
The revolutionaries fought fervently against oppression. But with the death of Lenin, Stalin found himself in a very similar position to the Tsars: he needed to oppress people to cement his rule. With the absorption of the heavily Islamic Caucuses into the Soviet Union (as well as the official state religion being atheism), Muslims stopped being targets of harassment -- or at least not to the extent they had been. By the middle of World War 2, with the need for women in both combat and industrial roles, the oppression of women mostly ceased. The Jews, who continued to face oppression, were decimated in the holocaust and the surviving population moved away, either to the far east of Russia or to Israel.
With the fall of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin became the first democratically elected leader. However, instability in the 1990s allowed the rise of another autocrat, Vladimir Putin, who ran on the idea of strict law and order. Despite his platform, his first act as president was to dismiss corruption charges against the previous president. Soon he had to dismiss corruption charges against himself and silence political opposition, the same position Stalin was in after Lenin's death. With his crumbling public image and economy, Putin needed an enemy to rally the Russian people against. The easiest scapegoats were those going against traditional morals of the Russian Orthodox Church, namely LGBT groups.
In 2002, Putin said he would sign a law that outlawed all homosexual acts that was being debated in the Russian Duma. While it didn't pass, shortly afterwards the Russian president did sign a law that outlawed "speech, publications, groups, and ideas deemed ‘extremist,’ a broadly defined notion interpreted subjectively by officials.” Coupled with Putin's frequent appearances on state-TV denouncing homosexuality, these actions formed a clear directive to conservative groups and gave them new legitimacy.
Echoing Pride movements around the world, citizens of Moscow tried to hold pride parades. Religious leaders condemned the parades and advocated for publicly flogging anyone involved. In 2006, despite the government denying their parade permit, a pride parade was held. The marchers were attacked by Eastern Orthodox protesters and Neo-Nazi groups, and 50 marchers were arrested. Every year marches were held and participants were attacked and arrested. In 2010, a Russian advocate won a case in the European Court of Human Rights that stated that Russia must allow Pride marches, but so far the Russian government has ignored the ruling. In fact, shortly afterwards a court in Moscow ruled on the issue and directly contradicted the European Court.
The people have responded to the governmental and religious decrees for discrimination with resounding support. As such, most of the population of Russia is ambivalent to the plight of LGBT people. Even though homosexuality was legalized (mostly from international pressure), a law was unanimously passed in 2013 (with up to 90% of Russians supporting the law) that criminalizes spreading "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships" to minors. This has been used to shut down advocacy groups across the country and arrest the founders of many websites. Moreover, police officers will often turn away if homosexuals are being beaten or even murdered.
All of this is why my expert -- Artem Nikiforov, a member of the board of the LGBT Network -- says [Paraphrased translation]: "the only way to truly have Russian acceptance of LGBT people might be to create a democratic society and do away with the corruption of Russia." He goes on to say that "even though most Russians support Putin, it is because of state-sponsored news and his ability to change the subject to America. On state television, there are often people talking about the evils of homosexuality and glorifying Putin's anti-LGBT policies. And then, anytime he is questioned about human rights abuses in Russia, he brings up American police brutality, Guantanamo or other things. This way he can claim that Russia is just as democratic as other countries. Recently, with Donald Trump claiming 'fake news', Putin can now much more easily undermine the freedom of the press and legitimize his own fake media."
If Mr. Nikiforov is correct that in order for Russians to accept the LGBT community Russia must become more democratic, then there is a deeply troubling problem. According to him, one of the biggest hurdles is Putin's ability to claim that democracy has failed not only in Russia, but also around the globe. In this way, Putin uses the United States' domestic struggles to perpetuate his rule. In order to help fix this issue, Americans must challenge this false equivalency and actively fix our problems. We must not be the crutch that Vladimir Putin can use to stay in power. Our lacking discrimination laws regarding the LGBT community and the abuses committed by police help to justify Putin's autocratic rule to the Russian people. We must fix our domestic issues, not just for ourselves, but in order to fix human rights abuses abroad.
Written by Ezra Kruger for his International Relations course at Friends' Central High School in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.
Bibliography:
Well known newspaper, just for well-documented events such as the 2006 pride parades, the "gay propaganda law" etc. Provided well-sourced evidence and seemed pretty strictly journalistic.
The website of a liberal political party based in Moscow. Linked to many good sources and gave good general information to Moscow Pride parades year by year.
A network for lgbt people and services in ex-Soviet states. Gave good reporting on the entire area and how Russia differed from the others. Doesn't have the censorship laws because it isn't based in Russia, so it could be much more forthcoming with information.
A news and forum site for gay people in Russia. With it's click-bait articles and ads it reminded me a little of Buzzfeed. Felt very western and liberal, but did have censorship laws and information and sources was often hard to find.
A branch of the Human Rights Organization based in Russia explicitly for LGBT rights in the region. Very good reporting and general background information from as early as 2000. Very well-sourced material, and it doesn't fall under Russian censorship laws.
Ukrainian gay network. While there is certainly some animosity towards Russia, I found most of the information well-sourced and not as biased as one might think. Once again doesn't fall under Russian censorship laws which allows it to be pretty critical of the situation in Russia.
And of course my expert, Artem Nikiforov.