Russian Intolerance of Homosexual Behavior

Homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1933. One of the new laws Putin has put in order is an anti-blasphemy law that limits the freedom of speech and expression relating to religious customs or beliefs. The Russian community, in particular the rural and conservative population from which Putin draws most of his support, support the new laws that are in place. The law states that it seeks to “protect the younger generation from the effects of homosexual propaganda”. It says the

Many people from the United States hold the belief that being gay is something that has always been considered to be okay. They believe that it is just a given. Despite people’s current beliefs on the subject, for a very long time, it was something that was widely believed to be taboo. In the past, people were imprisoned due to their sexuality. Regardless, throughout the decades, people have pushed for the widespread acceptance of people who are part of the LGBT community. Today, homophobia still exists in some parts of the United States, but we have come a long way since the early 1900s.

During the 1980’s indulging in homosexual activity was considered in crime, people were imprisoned when caught doing so. But in 2003 some parts of the United States, suspended the law, and made homosexuality legal, soon European countries such as Canada, Belgium, and Netherlands passed an act which approved of homosexual weddings (Bonvillain 2006). If one digs deeper into this issue, where these debatable, one can find that it roots back from religions. Most religion disapprove of homosexuality but in religions such as Hindu, for sexuality, scriptures of homosexual activity only stated that it was normal and natural, to be attracted to the same sex (Bonvillain 2006). But in today’s society the main issue is regarding the issue of males being attracted to each other, an example of this issue is ‘Homophobia of men’. Homosexuality is considered to be a cultural construct, which apart from the ‘lesbian identities’ gave rise to the ‘gay identities’ (Herek 1986). It is common for normal men, to avoid influencing with homosexual men, as they fear what the public might think of them being judged as not ‘masculine’, where as its more normal for woman to associate with lesbians or homosexual women, as they are not being judged by the rest of the females (Herek 1986). Studies showed, that the social construction of gay identities meant that there was something psychologically wrong with that person,

This paper addresses human rights abuses against members of the LGBT community in Russia. The LGBT community has been a marginalized group of society in Russia in many ways throughout history, however the legislation that was recently passed in Russia goes a step further to strip these individuals of their human rights and dignity. The legislation is inconsistent with several human rights provisions in international treaties that have been ratified by Russia: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment (CAT); and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC); European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR); and the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT). There are also several articles in Russia’s own constitution which are incompatible with current human rights abuses against the LGBT community, as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and the Yogyakarta Principles.

Invention is the greatest idea of our time. Whether it is medical, scientific, social, or mechanical, a new invention of the day seems to be part of our everyday lives. Homosexuality is really no different. It may not be your everyday invention, but it clearly is and people throughout time to try and identify the first “known homosexual” in time. Some people wanted this new idea of homosexuality to just go away, but as time has gone on, it will not be going away anytime soon. It is getting to be more prominent in society and this paper takes the stand that in Canada especially, homosexuality is not seen by society overall as something different. Of course it is still not

International responses to the injustices LGBTQ+ people face in Russia is monumental. The international community has tried on multiple occasion to influence reform on the hate crimes and discrimination that Is rampant throughout the world’s largest country. One of the

In light of the recent election putting a man with questionable morality in the powerful seat of President, many in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community are fearful of the repercussions this will cause. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, “867 cases of hateful harassment or intimidation [were reported] in the United States in the 10 days after the November 8 election”, and swastikas adorned people’s cars and homes in angry graffiti, accompanying words such as “white power” and “fag”, “he she” and “die” (Yan). While the American legal system has come a long way in granting the homosexual community their natural rights, the present climate gives many a fear that things will go back to the way they were before, with homosexuals being oppressed and persecuted for simply loving who they love.

Gay rights has been an issue that has been controversial for decades, although it was never discussed until now. Society has changed over the last years, in fact it has changed so much in the past 20 years; with that said race, drugs, and sexuality are still the main factors in modern times. Not only does this subject affect America, but also other countries, they are just silent about it. We really don’t hear about any misconduct toward gays in other countries, besides Russia. The gays want their rights in America and Russia, they are speaking out and they will be heard. LBGT, Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgender, are not only fighting for their rights and equality, but to ban discrimination all around the world. Russia is more anti-gay and more extreme than America, they’d let extremist take advantage of homosexuals. Since Russia’s government strongly implements that being gay is wrong and will do anything to keep that mindset. America on the other hand is more towards equality for the LBGT, they’ve spoken out to demand the same rights as everyone else, slowly the LBGT in Russia are setting their foot down and want the freedom to walk the down the street with their loved ones and not be targeted. Russia and America have a different way of handling gay rights, and handling them as a whole. The battle of the gays has been going on for decades.

The history of Russia and the Soviet Union is rich with culture and tradition. This tradition dates back well before homosexuals were common throughout society. When members of the gay community finally felt comfortable to begin coming out to the public, the Soviet Union decided to suppress their actions by outlawing homosexuality. Though harsh, these laws were not much of a shock to

Homosexuals were even the forgotten victims of the Nazi regime. We do not know exactly how many of them died in the concentration camps because of the destruction of some data in the archives and because many of them were captured and persecuted by the Nazi Germany’s secret police: the Gestapo. The decree “Nacht und Nebel” ("Night and Fog"), a directive that Hitler signed on December 7, allowed the elimination of these people “without leaving any trace.” The Nazi regime persecuted Jehovah's Witnesses between 1933 and 1945 since they refused to join the army and to swear loyalty to it. In the Nazi Germany lived almost 25,000 of them and it is estimated that about 10,000 were killed in the concentration camps. Since 1923, Jehovah’s Witnesses

January, 1933 is when everything changed for homosexuals living in Germany. Homosexuals became heavily more scrutinized than previous years and even criminalized. Nazis began to crack down on homosexuals by introducing the law, Paragraph 175 which essentially made it illegal for any sexual acts or romantic relationship between two men. Homosexuals’ meeting places were continually being raided. With fear of being caught and arrested most homosexuals lost both heterosexual and homosexual friends. Those who they still recognized ignored them and passed by them on the street without a word. An anonymous homosexual recalls this, “In order not to mutually incriminate ourselves, we decided to no longer recognize each other. When we came across each

Brian Whitaker, in his paper ‘Unspeakable Love: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East’, argues that homophobia in Arab Muslim countries “is not a religious or a cultural issue, but is foremost a political problem of which culture and religion are reliant factors”, arguing that Homophobia in the Muslim world can be attributed to the attitude this world has to its counterpart, the modern secular European and Western

Homophobia is transporting Russia back in time to the late 1800s and early 1900s—the epoch of the racial issues in America. With several gay rights being legalized, it seemed that Russia had begun to accept the LGBT community into their society. But the violent and repressive actions towards gay people and their supporters have proved that Russia is not becoming any more tolerant of gays. It is unsure if Russians even view gays as humans. The present status of the Russian homophobia problem is starting to spiral out of control. Given Russia’s oscillating history with the LGBT community, it’s nearly impossible to predict whether or not Russia will accept or kill the gay people. Based on the current situation, it seems like the former will

The realization of the homosexuality in the modern western world as a cultural, sexual and a social category has been a result of complex power relations that surround sexuality and gender. The acceptance of homosexuality in the society has met its fair share of resistance and skepticism. The view that homosexuality can be in the same league as heterosexual has led it to be viewed as a normal behavioral and moral standard (Gallagher & Baker, 2006). Inasmuch as the skeptics may not want to accept the existence of homosexuality studies show that the habit is rampant today with many gay people coming out in the open. Of interest is the political acceptance of homosexuality with passing gay rights so that it can be recognized by law. This move has given homosexuals the ability to engage in legal entities like marriage (Gallagher & Baker, 2006).

On the other hand, in “Support for Homosexuals’ Civil Liberties”, the author states “traditional gender role attitudes and support for homosexuals’ civil liberties are found to negatively co-vary over time.” Religious attitudes differ in both their approaches to the roles of men and women in family settings and their approach towards homosexuality. The author explains that typical household is a male, who