Russian Orthodox Church Pushes For Gay Ban Referendum
Bad News in Mother Russia ( or, why Pussy Riot members are absolutely right about Putin and the current state of Russian society)
People who have followed the re-criminalisation of homosexuality in Russia can see what's happening in the light of the crackdown on ALL minority opinion or behavior there generally..
Russia's gays are right now "canaries in the coal mine" for a society where the public air is growing increasingly toxic as the country slides back towards the repression and paranoid harshness of Stalinist days
The causes for this are complex and beyond MY comprehension, frankly, other than the rather stale cliche that when people are anxious generally about their own values and security ( especially cultural/psychological security)--well in Russia in particular they seem to have a knee jerk response to rally around a "strong leader" ( of which Putin is almost a buffoonish caricature--the country's top karate champ, indeed, for instance! Shades of North Korea)
Of course, Putin has never written a "Mein Kampf" or a Maoist red book and does not have Stalin's crew of cowed lackey "Marxists" to twist the Communist Manifesto to mean anything Stalin wanted it to mean at any given moment...such as a rationale for starving millions of people to death during the collectivization of agriculture, especially in the Ukraine
Nor is he threatening " World Domination" by any means
So, a lot of people might say, "Well, it's all just a Russian affair"--well, it is and it isn't
Now the Russian Church is demanding a return to "traditional values" including the idea the homsexuality is a) a disease and b) a wicked and immoral state that is threatening the fabric of society. Soon they will say that homosexuality is a "contagion" like the Black Plague that has to be eradicated, just watch...
In other words, this "state church" ( offensive in its very concept to the ideals of the American Founding Fathers) is demanding a return to the Middle Ages, with witch burning and controlled hysteria that mimics what we have seen happening as a matter of course in tyrannies such as Nazi Germany in the past.
This turn of events has caught most worldwide civil rights activitists flatfooted, and we are heard people cautioning us not to protest too loudly because it might make the situation worse-- the same argument that was made about protesting Nazi anti-Semitism in the 1930's. Only a few Jews, in fact, like Dorothy Parker ( who was not even raised Jewish-- I mean, should I be calling her a Jew, anyway, since Orthodox Jews in Israel and Brooklyn would deny her wholeheartedly) and Ben Hecht, came out forcefully against this self imposed "Schweigens" and demanded the world pay attention...well, looks like we are in a repeat scenario now, folks
And don't say we haven't been given fair warning for what's ahead not just for gays but for anyone perceived as rocking the boat in any way in Russian society, period.
Agence France Presse
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By Dmitry Zaks
Posted: 01/10/2014 1:24 pm EST
The Church's abrupt intervention came amid a growing debate over whether the Kremlin should mount a stronger defence of traditional values that many in the overwhelmingly conservative country view as coming under attack from Europe and the United States.
Church spokesman Vsevolod Chaplin pointed to polls showing more than half of Russians viewing homosexuality as either an illness or a crime as a sign that the country was ready to revert to a Soviet-era homosexual ban.
"There is no question that society should discuss this issue since we live in a democracy," Chaplin told the online edition of the pro-government Izvestia daily.
"For this reason, it is precisely the majority of our people and not some outside powers that should decide what should be a criminal offence and what should not," he said.
High-profile global celebrities and sports stars have already urged athletes attending the February 7-23 Olympic Games on the Black Sea coast to show their support for Russia's lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender (LGBT) community by flashing protest signs.
Their call came after President Vladimir Putin last year signed fast-tracked legislation making it illegal to "promote" same-sex relationships in front of minors.
"I am convinced that such sexual contacts should be completely excluded from the life of our society," said the Church spokesman.
"If we manage to do this through moral pressure, all the better. But if we need to revert to assistance from the law, then let us ask the people if they are ready for this."
The Soviet Union criminalised homosexuality in 1934 at the height of repressions by Joseph Stalin that saw millions die in labour camps.
Post-Soviet Russia quietly repealed the law in 1993 while still allowing officials in big cities such as Moscow to ban gay pride parades and other displays of homosexual rights.
Most Russians back 'treating gays'
A study conducted by the independent Levada centre a month after the "homosexual propoganda" ban's adoption showed only one in five Russians believe that people were actually born gay.
More than a third said homosexuality should be treated medically and 13 percent backed the idea of making it a crime -- results suggesting that Chaplin's idea would pass easily if ever put to a vote.
The Kremlin did not immediately respond to the idea. But Putin had publicly promised in October to make sure that gay and lesbian "athletes, fans and guests feel comfortable at the Olympic Games."
Russia's LGBT community representatives said that Chaplin's comments pointed to a worrying trend.
"If you stage a referendum in Russia, 90 percent would back both the death penalty and the idea of shooting all homosexuals," gay pride parade organiser Eduard Murzin said in a telephone interview.
"By discriminating against minorities, the authorities want to deflect attention away from other problems," Murzin said.
Prominent Russian LGBT leader Nikolai Alexeyev said the Church spokesman appeared to be lobbying the Kremlin to back his idea.
"It may be that the authorities do not want to do this ... because this would only escalate tensions between Russia and the West," said Alexeyev.
"But these people are trying to give the idea a push," Alexeyev told AFP.
