Though the U.S. believes Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has billions stashed away, according to the Wikileaks document dump, the man does have one respectable piece of a moral compass: he’s got no problem with gays serving in the Russian armed forces.
Speaking with Larry King, Putin says that while he does not support same-sex marriage, the idea of barring gay troops is ridiculous: “We have no ban. Sodomy, as it was called, was a criminal offense in the Soviet Union but under the current legislation it is not a crime.” I’d like to say “What a world where Putin has fewer problems with gays in the military than American officials,” but then the reasonable half of me thinks he’s pulling the vodka over our eyes.
Simon
Lol! Bullshit! He always had problems with gays, but he is full of crap and he wants to prove that Russia is more ‘civilized’ than USA. Even by lying that gays are so welcomed in Russian army.
J. Clarence
There might not be an actual policy in place, but Russia certainly isn’t the bastion of tolerance when it comes to gay rights for civilians, and it’s highly likely that would be the same for within the military.
jak
Please, America: no more crowing about being the greatest country on the face of the earth. Actually, you may just be the most hypocritical country, the most warlike country, and the most discriminatory country on the face of the earth.
Avenn
Bring back Morning Goods!!!
gina
No excusing homophobic US bullshit, but I also think Putin is doing a PR wash. The Russian military is known for intense problems with bullying and violence among its troups… often given tacit approval by the higher ups. Most of the ethnic minorities in Russia report high incidences of violence when serving in the Russian military, so I find it impossible to believe that, in such an environment, gay soldiers would be accepted.
JonDorian
@Avenn: Actually, I prefer Queerty without it. I can google images of hot guys anywhere. It’s the news that relates to me that I’m more interested in.
Steve
Russia is violently homophobic. Even without a ban in place, it would be a bad idea for men to come out in the Russian military.
Silhouette
There is no such a thing like DADT in Russia. So gays can freely service in the army
Avenn
@JonDorian: Using the same logic, couldn’t you google news anywhere? This is a collection of news, just as well as it can be a collection of those “hot guys”. Maybe you’d argue that it’s difficult to find gay-themed news elsewhere, but it’s also difficult to find classier non-porn pictures of hot guys. Peace 🙂
DR
This is a total PR wash. The gay reality in Russia?
-Every attempt at holding Pride events in Russia has ended with arrests or violence.
-No marriage recognition.
-Absolute refusal to consider legal protections.
-Gay couples cannot adopt (although single gay men and women can), no anti-discrimination laws.
-No official ban on openly gay soldiers, but they’re generally told to not come out.
This looks good for Russia, however, because the US is in the middle of what will probably be a week-long hearing on the issue, and he gets to sit back and tell the world that legally, Russia is more progressive than the US in this area.
Does anyone besides me find that to be just a bit embarrassing?!?
Alex Sarmiento
Fuck the Russian Federation, and fuck Vladimir Putin and his whore Dmitriy Medvyedev. Wikileaks was right: Putin is Batman, and Medvyedev is Robin. Why Johnny Weir has a hard on for anything Russian is beyond me. His coach isn’t even Russian!
hephaestion
@Alex Sarmiento: I assume Johnny Weir just loves Russian classical music, which IS fabulous, and which is mostly by gay composers (Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, etc.). But Russia is now where America was in the 60’s regarding gay rights. It’s impossible to be “out” and thrive in Russia now. Yet you watch their TV shows and you see gay people everywhere… yet the Russian populace hasn’t accepted that they are gay yet, just as Americans believed that Liberace & Paul Lynde were straight in the 60’s. Only a TINY minority of artsy people in Russia are accepting of gays today. Their laws are NOT anti-gay, but there are still tales of people being sent to mental hospitals for being gay, much like our Mormons do. They have a long way to go.
TripleB
Alex : Weir is a complete retard, anyway. An effeminate retard (double trouble).
camote
Article on gay activity in Russian Army:
http://www.vnnforum.com/showthread.php?t=76103
temoshi
This looks mostly like a tongue-in-cheek opportunity to claim moral superiority to the US. It is true that Russia does not have any formal ban on gays in the military, but we are overlooking the fact that Russia has a conscription army. There are already countless cases of abuse and hazing in the Russian military. It doesn’t matter if you’re gay with regards to being forced to serve, but the military culture is such that anyone who is gay will do everything they can to hide this.
feodor
I live in Russia. And I have to say, that army in the USA and here re different. U have a professional army, but we have army as duty for every men after 18 and if somebody publish a law, like “don’t ask don’t tell”, every straight guy would become gay only to avoid conscription into the army?
sorry for my english
Z-z
It seems that such a generalization about the army is rather out of place. In contrary I knew some guys who service and like it.
master adrian
@Simon: Well, there is no ban on gays in the Russian Army, period.
The fact that recrutes are raped and abused on a day2day basis by their peers and the higher ranks, and that the Russian military is HELL for gays is separate from that!
master adrian
@J. Clarence: Speaking of tolerance… were is tolerance in the American society? If students at a school want to create a chapter of a gay org, the school is banning them, if gay people want to be treated equally at the workplace, employers are allowed to sack them, if gays want to serve the country they are banned, if a gay couple want to rent a house the owner CAN deny them based on them being gay…….. tolerance!
When talking about tolerance in another country, or the lack thereof, then first start off with your own country, and look if it is there all around! If gay people are accepted on a federal basis!
Tallskin
@master adrian, I am english and live in the UK.
I have to remind you that the modern gay movement started in the US in the late 60s (and came out of the Hippy movement) and spread around the world.
yes, the recent progress of the US on gay equality makes me despair sometimes, but these hinderences and setbacks are due to religion.
If backward mafia-run shitholes like Russia even have the notion of gay rights and gay equality it is due solely to the ideas developed originally in the USA and spreading there in an underground fashion. I don’t recall Russia coming up with an original idea in over one hundred years in anything, let alone human rights. In fact the phrase “Russian human rights” is an Oxymoron.
That mafia funded, mass murdering little shit Putin runs russia like a fascist dictator, because he is a fascist dictator. He murders anyone who criticises him, he lets off bombs in apartment complexes in order that he can launch a war against Chechnya.
It is impossible that Russian school students could initiate a chapter of a gay org, because the school wouldn’t just ban them, they’d likely be imprisoned, raped and murdered. If gay people in Russian demanded to be treated equally in the workplace, their employers would not simply be allowed to sack them, they’d be imprisoned, raped and murdered. If gays wanted to serve their country in the Russian army …. well they’d have no choice, Russia has conscription, and kid conscripts are imprisoned, raped and murdered anyway. If a gay couple want to rent a house in Russia the owner CAN not simply deny them based on them being gay, he could also pay local corrupt officials to imprison, rape and murder them.
The point is the US is capable of change and is changing, whereas Russia…. well Russia has that mass murdering little shit Putin in charge and unless says YES then nothing will happen
Democracy in Russia, even in its most basic form, would be good.
jason
Russian men tend to admire homo-sensuality, not homosexuality. Homo-sensuality is where men bond together in a spiritual and physical way in a warm and loving embrace similar to man-crushes.
SteveC
The US Army is murderous, bigotted army. The US should be utterly ashamed that such a discriminatory institution is meant to be protecting them.
Dallas David
I wonder if Putin is gay.
For some reason, he sets off my gaydar.
Max Campbell
He is a stupid liar!! Russia is a hell for gays.
adman
I never met a Russian who didn’t have major scepticism if not outright disdain for any democratic idea, let alone sanctioned egalitarian legislation. I train with a lot of Russians in a martial art, and they just see it as weakness, quite frankly. These are a people who venerate to the point of mysticism the bonds between men in a warrior’s environment, if you want to know what I mean Google “Russian Systema”. You’re talking about a pure ballet where violence, intense hypnotic suggestion, spirituality, and “a man’s Honor” intersect. It’s actually quite mesmerizing to a man raised in pretty macho good ‘ol ‘Mericun surroundings, but yeah, Russian masculinity is a cult. Completely and totally. No gays allowed.