YouTube has removed a Russian advert from its platform because of its homophobic content.
The advert was created to encourage Russians to vote for measures President Vladimir Putin wants to introduce via an upcoming referendum.
To drive home its point, the advert shows a young boy in an orphanage. The advert is shown through the eyes of an orphanage worker who is capturing the moment on her cellphone when the child is to be introduced to his new parents.
“Are you excited to meet your new mum and dad?” she asks the boy. He says that he is.
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His happiness turns to dismay when he realizes his parents are a gay couple.
The person he thought would be his “mum” is depicted as a limp-wristed man wearing nail polish. The older man surprises the child with a gift: It’s a child’s size dress for him to wear.
This video is going viral in Russia today.
The clip warns Russians that if they don’t vote to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, gay couples will start adopting children in Russia. pic.twitter.com/TDuZkq16ue
— Coda Story (@CodaStory) June 2, 2020
Seeing the man give the child a dress, one of the orphanage workers spits on the ground in disgust, as they watch the boy being led away.
“Will you choose such a Russia? Decide the future of the country – vote for amendments to the constitution,” says a voiceover toward the end of the advert.
The message is clear: if you don’t vote for Putin’s proposals in the July referendum, Russia will become more liberal and pro-LGBTQ rights, with gay people eventually being allowed to adopt. Currently, only married, opposite-sex couples can adopt.
Related: Putin seeks to amend Russia’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage
The upcoming referendum does not cover adoption rights. However, it does include a constitutional amendment to define marriage as being between a man and a woman only. This would effectively prevent same-sex marriage legislation from being passed.
Although same-sex sexual activity is legal in Russia, LGBTQ people lack many other rights. In 2013, the country also introduced a notorious anti-gay propaganda law that bars the promotion of anything besides “traditional values” to minors. The legislation has been used to outlaw anything gay-related in the media and to ban Pride marches.
Putin’s use of a referendum is thought to go beyond a simple act of homophobia. The proposed legislation also includes a range of measures that political observers believe would greatly extend Putin’s powers and ability to rule Russia well beyond the terms of his Presidency (due to end in 2024).
Because such measures are unlikely to drag voters to the ballot box, adding populist legislation such as the ban on same-sex marriage may have been included for no other reason than to get people out to vote in favor of the amendments.
Related: Vladimir Putin says he won’t allow for LGBTQ families or marriages in Russia
YouTube acted to remove the clip after complaints from LGBTQ groups that it incited hatred, reports Thomson Reuters Foundation. However, the advert remains online on the widely-used Russian social media platform, VKontakte, where it has more than a million views.
Chrisk
Yep. The worse things get for Putin the more he’ll crack down on his favorite scapegoat. Unfortunately it’s all to easy since much of the Russian population are raging bigots.
Cam
Trump just spoke to Putin and a few days later are pushing to outlaw LGBT adoptions.
This isn’t coincidence.
rocknstan
Good point. The two are synchronous.
Name the few political campaigns that have not been run on the backs of LGBT people.
LGBT people: The eduring scapegoat of our neo-liberal and neo-fascist time.
Neoprene
“We begin bombing in five minutes.”
Kangol2
Kieran always tells us how pro-gay Don the Con is but did the Bleach Bum tell Putin to call off this homophobic, transphobic rhetoric and remove the anti-gay provisions in the upcoming law? Do you think Bunker B*tch even gives a damn about anyone but himself?
We can probably surmise Tangerine Tyrant was completely silent about this because he was busy taking dictation and orders from Putin about how to destroy the US even more.
On a different note, is the author of this piece British? I kept seeing “advert” instead of “ad,” which is what most people in the US call an advertisement, and “mum,” etc., so just wondering. Or is this article borrowed or repurposed from another site altogether?
Skip
Russia has, again, become a FAILED, OPPRESSIVE state not too dissimilar to what we had with the USSR.
I feel for the minorities having to live in that HELL, with no way out but a very risky fight. And I’m PRAYING that individuals with a CONSCIENCE and a HEART will work their way to the top in the not so distant future to replace the repugnant and liberate those that long for the freedom they very much deserve!
Chrisk
Russia still craves another Stalin and they found it in Putin. Hopefully he exits the same way ie poison. Talk about Karma at it’s finest.
Kangol2
@Skip, you do realize that the US is entering failed state territory with Don the Con, right? And now we learn today that Don the Con is planning to pull US troops out of Germany. Did Putin ask him to do this? Why now? Why did he allegedly call Putin right before trashing US governors over the protests? Why is he trying to force the other G7 countries into accepting Russia back into the fold? Why does Don the Con always seem to act like he’s a paid Russian agent? What do they have on him?
radiooutmike
Why would he bother with putting commercials out against it?
If it passes, he’ll put a presidential decree out there declaring the law null and void.
michel_banen
Vodka and bleach kill the brain.,….
Black Pegasus
LMAO that looked like an early 2000s Saturday Night Live sketch. Sorry for finding that ad so hilarious. I know real LGBTs are suffering in Russia.
TonyPSP
Trump’s Goa is to be just like his buddy Putin. Don’t think it can’t happen here.
JamJewel
1 million views out of a population of 144 million? Maybe the Russians are wising up. Makes no difference, tho, what with Putin have mastered the art of ballot harvesting and ballot-box stuffing.
James
PUTIN IS A SACK OF SHIT.
GayEGO
Putin needs to learn and evolve plus, not everyone likes to give a BJ!