Thursday, July 11, 2013

Anti-gay bigotry and anti-blasphemy go together

President Putin of Russia has signed into law anti-gay and anti-blasphemy bills passed by the Russian parliament. One of them criminalizes the promotion of homosexuality and the other criminalizes blasphemy. The simultaneity of the two bills coming into force is historically ominous.

In Europe, the death penalty for homosexuality was introduced by the Catholic church in the 13th century, at the outset of the Renaissance when the church started losing its power due to enlightenment. In Russia, the tsar Nicholas I, tapping into Orthodox Christianity, instituted severe criminal penalties for homosexuality in the middle of the 19th century when his reactionary regime was losing its grip on the country. In Nazi Germany, homosexuals were persecuted along with Jews. In Stalin's Russia, homosexuals were  persecuted as unstable bourgeois elements susceptible to recruitment for espionage. And in MacArthy's America homosexuality was synonymous with communism.  At major historical junctures, homosexuals have been a scapegoat to blame for lack of harvest, or poverty, or bourgeois decadence, or espionage.

Throughout history, the persecution of homosexuals has been ideologically supported either by religion or totalitarian ideology. Come to think of it, there is not much of a difference between the evolution of the Catholic Church in Europe and of the Communist regime in Russia. Both set out to build a paradise -- in heaven or on earth; both started out as martyrs; both developed into repressive, murdering machines. Nor is there much of a difference between Nazism and Christianity. The Nazi concentration camps are nothing but an actual realization of the idea of Christian Hell, a fantasy about exterminating minorities and opposition groups.

So Vladimir Putin did not re-invent the wheel when he, backed by the Orthodox Church, signed the anti-gay and anti-blasphemy laws. He did so because he understands the importance of religion as a locus of superstition and prejudice in controlling society.

Today, when Putin's support is dwindling he is trying to divide society to prolong his regime by sponsoring hatred against homosexuals. I am far from thinking that Putin is a pios Christian who sincerely despises gays. He is attacking homosexuals because as a minority, they are a very convenient scapegoat; years of stigmatization of homosexuality in the Soviet Union have formed negative public attitudes to homosexuality. Clinging on to power, Putin is capitalizing on this old-age mentality and distracting people from a new set of economic problems looming over the country.

The price for this state-sponsored homophobia will be an increase in vigilante violence against homosexuals in Russia. It has become routine in Russia to beat openly gay people or people who are perceived to be gay; and most recently there have also been reported three murders motivated by homophobia. We can only expect to see anti-gay violence increase -- along with suicides of LGBT youth in Russia who will be getting a message of non-acceptance from the government.


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