What Makes Russia so Homophobic?

In 1988 the “American Republican President Ronald Reagan...[Authorized] all four of the court’s major gay rights ruling” (Reuters,2015). This is when America noticed that everyone should be given equal rights regardless of their orientation. Shortly after this proposal gay marriage had become legalized in 12 American states, however, 36 states are still banning gay marriage (Weese,2013).In 2010 American action, President Obama “signed a law allowing gays to serve openly in the U.S military(Reuters,2015).This step occurred in Canada many years ago as well as equality for the all so many smaller actions have been taken to end hate crime. In Canada, Regina Saskatchewan Police Services have created a Report Homophobic Violence, Period (RHVP) training seminar, with hopes to eliminate hate crime towards the LGBTQ community (Hamelin, pg.A.4). This program not only aims to educate the authority system about hate crime towards LGBTQ communities but it also informs the police services of positive stigmas to refer to. Programs similar to the Saskatchewan training seminar should be created so that the severity of hate crime offences towards the LGBTQ are acknowledge. In Canada, “Vancouver reported the highest proportion of hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation (26%)” (Dowden, 2012).In 2009“74 per cent of hate crimes …were motivated by sexual orientation, with 63 per cent resulting in injury (Dowden, 2012). In recent hate crime studies a decrease in statistic shows that only “16% of motivated hate crimes…accounted for sexual orientation” (Dowden, 2012). But 65% of hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation were violent” (Dowden, 2012). This shows that Canada is in fact taking an initiative to end the discrimination against the LGBTQ community but not taking in counter of the severity in which these cases are causing. In addition to hate crime statistics for the

2. In the essay “Gender Treachery: Homophobia, Masculinity, and Threatened Identities” the terms ‘homophobia’ and ‘heterosexism’ are discussed. Hopkins contends that there is no distinct boundary between the two terms, but he outlines ways in which to distinguish the two terms. First,

Oppression against the LGBT, or Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender, community has been going on in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. Recently, Russian authorities have been cracking down on gay rights. Russian president Vladimir Putin has created new laws that do not ban homosexuality, but place restrictions on what can be said to children about homosexuality. The LGBT community can’t be proud of who they are in Russia. They can’t openly come out comfortably without feeling as if it’s wrong. LGBT rights are very important and are something that shouldn’t be discriminated against because they’re no different than anyone else. They shouldn’t be abused just because they like someone of the same gender. The LGBT community is full of the nicest and

“Although sharply divided, public attitudes toward gays and lesbians are rapidly changing to reflect greater acceptance, with younger generations leading the way” (NORC University of Chicago, 2010, p. 1). This push for international acceptance of the LGBT people could not come any sooner. Lesbians, gays, bisexuals as well as transgender individuals from around the world have almost all experienced some sort of discrimination in their lives. This is why there is such a gap between heterosexual and LGBT people. There are hundreds, if not more, reasons for why some people will not accept LGBT individuals and couples, whether it is religion, family values or simply the fact that some people find LGBT people unnatural. This is why the common sufferings

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.

Regrettably, in the US there are a lot more problems than homophobia. One of the ongoing problems in the US (that has been an issue forever) is racism. Yes, racism is still an issue, and now thanks to social media, it continues to be a trending topic. An example is this summer there were riots in Charlottesville that ended with death. (SAYERS) “One person was killed and 19 were hurt when a speeding car slammed into a throng of counter protesters in Charlottesville, where a "Unite the Right" rally of where white nationalists

Jody Dobrowski aged 24, was brutally murdered in South London in 2005 by two men who believed him to be homosexual. After such a severe, barbaric, inhumane act of homophobic violence, his own mother could not identify him, and his fingerprints had to be used. The judge described this as ‘homophobic thuggery’. Ian Baynham aged 62.Viciously assaulted by a young girl and boy; he punched him, whilst she repeatedly stamped and kicked him screaming ‘faggot’. His injuries were later fatal and he tragically died in hospital 18 days later. Christopher Schliach, Henry Bright, Jaap Bornkamp, Geoffrey Windsor, Daniel Jenkinson and a shocking many more, are all clear examples of hate crimes being metered out on gay men. Homophobia does kill, and isn’t reducing in frequency.

Kimmel’s definition of homophobia is this, “Homophobia is the fear that other men will unmask us, emasculate us, reveal to us and the world that we do not measure up, that we are not real men.” (pp. 47) When someone says homophobia in context today, them assume they are talking about the fear of same-sex interactions and relationships. This can be related to Kimmel’s definition due to the fact that straight men may fear gay men in the way that they have changed what

For the slightly more attentive observer, the situation is globally very different. To tell the truth, the 20th century has undoubtedly been one of the most violently homophobic periods of history: deportation to

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.

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

Many homophobes can trace their fear of homosexuality to their defensiveness about their own homosexual tendencies. This theory is one that has been around for some time, since Freud's time actually. Freud believed that heterosexual men who fear homosexual men do so because they defend against their own feelings for men( Goleman 3). Though old, this theory is still the diagnosis of many present homophobes. Many men are frightened by the thought that they mat have a gay neighbor, and this fear is shared by the children.

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

Most homophobism stems from people not understanding what it means to be queer. “An estimated 3.5% of adults in the United States identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, and an estimated 0.3% of adults are transgender”(Gates 1). Since so few people identify themselves under one of those categories, not many people understand what it means. Someone who is a lesbian is a girl attracted to a