Sex, Alcohol, and Soul: Violent Reactions to Coming Out after the “Gay Propaganda” Law in Russia

Abstract

This article is focused on a particular set of social relations in Russia: sexuality and violence in the context of consumption of alcohol. We look at how violence erupts after revelation of queer sexuality of one of the participants of collective drinking. Discussions of homosexuality in Russia became especially heated after the adoption of the bill against the “propaganda of non‐traditional family values” in 2013. This law primarily marks information about homosexuality as inappropriate and dangerous to minors. We review court decisions on violence against gay men before and after the introduction of this law. The court cases we analyze are not cases of the “propaganda” law enforcement, but routine violent felonies. As we selected only those cases that involve alcohol consumption from a larger sample, we analyze the stories told in these court files focusing on interaction rituals during the practice of collective heavy drinking. We demonstrate how this ritual is centered around confirmation of masculinity, ceremonies of sharing, and exchange of respect. We also show that these ritualized practices are interrupted and confused by introduction of information about one of the participants' queer sexuality. This interruption evolves into violent reactions, including murder. Nevertheless, the ritual of drinking supports both a “conversation of souls” (sharing intimate secrets) and violent reactions to the information that challenges masculinity of the ritual's participants.

An overview of coming out research: Introducing a three‐lens typology

“…One new lens could be ‘coming out when’. This addition would highlight currently underemphasised publications on LGBTQ+ elders and mid‐life adults (e.g., Almack, 2015; Hunter, 2005; Jenkins et al., 2010; Johnston & Jenkins, 2004; Muraco et al., 2008; Phillips & Marks, 2006; Reid, 1995; Villar et al., 2019), the generational differences in coming out narratives (e.g., Dunlap, 2014), and potentially even historic accounts (e.g., Bérubé, 1990; Kondakov & Shtorn, 2021). Another beneficial lens addition would be ‘coming out through’, the categorisation of coming out publications based on the different ways participants and researchers define a coming out act.…”

Violent Affections: Queer sexuality, techniques of power, and law in Russia

“…I collected the cases from 2010 to 2016 -the three years prior to the 2013 'gay propaganda' law and the three years after its adoption, which also happened to be all the available years in these two databases at the time. Detailed accounts of my methodology and the processing of search results are published elsewhere (Kondakov 2017c;Kondakov and Shtorn 2021).…”

“…The contexts of the crimes described in the rulings and the professional status of victims and perpetrators, which is sometimes revealed, suggests that many of the criminal incidents occurred in deprived settings: poor neighbourhoods, towns and villages across Russia. A common pastime in such places is to gather in someone's flat to drink strong liquor -a consumption pattern associated with poverty (Shtorn 2018;Kondakov and Shtorn 2021) -and as the drinking progresses, sexual tensions may develop, which may result in violence. Such everyday crimes would commonly result in average sentences.…”

Доказательства Вреда: Опыт Пациентов И медицинские Стандарты В судебных Решениях

“…Материалы судебных решений используются в социологических исследованиях права с целью проследить институциальные, социокультурные, исторические предпосылки работы судов и юридической профессии (см., Bocharov 2021;Jacobs, Carmichael 2002;Dannefer, Schutt 1987). К этим материалам также обращаются исследователи, которые рассматривают решения судов как артефакты социальных процессов, не ограниченных сферой правоприменения -например, трансформации гендерных отношений в контексте неотрадиционалистского поворота в постсоветском обществе (Kondakov, Shtorn 2021).…”

“…В них отражены разные перспективы и истории (истцов, ответчиков, экспертов и пр. ), каждая со своей логикой повествования и своим языком (Kondakov, Shtorn 2021).…”