As things go, the former Soviet Union is quite a homophobic
place. Over eighty-eight per
cent of Russians approve of the law banning ‘homosexual propaganda’,
including any assertion that homosexuality might not be deviant or morally
reprehensible behaviour. In other, even
more conservative Soviet Republics, hostility against the LGBT community is
even more dramatic. In relatively ‘democratic’
Georgia, one attempt to hold a Gay Pride’ parade, in May this year, was thwarted by a
furious mob egged on by extremist Orthodox clerics. According to recent surveys, ninety-six
per cent of Armenians believe homosexuality cannot be justified; and seventy-four
per cent of Ukrainians believe homosexuality should ‘not be accepted by
society’. These are disheartening figures; and they
provide politicians with dubious democratic legitimacy – like Vladimir Putin –
with welcome ways of restoring some form of moral authority, by using a
popularly marginalised group as a lightning rod.
