Socio-cultural and ideological origins of homophobia in Russia

Abstract

In 2013 the State Duma of Russian Federation adopted a Federal Law “banning propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations among minors». This law provoked great discussions between sexual minorities and their opponents in the media: the first began to criticize the Law as infringing upon their rights, others, after a long silence, resumed their attacks on the homosexuals. Due to such discussions Sociologists think that homophobia is reviving in Russia. According to the American psychological Association, only 16% of the population in modern Russia can accept homosexuality as the norm (against 60% in USA and 80% in Europe). This is the public opinion in Russia. And only such cautious, squeamish attitude toward those people as not quite healthy pones allows sociologists to talk about a revival of homophobic attitudes in our country. In the article authors make an attempt to understand the arguments of opponents of sexual orientation and to trace the ideological origins of “Russian homophobia”. For this, the authors of the research are trying to answer the questions: is it correct to justify homosexuality as normal behavior, referring to the homosexual behavior of animals, how is homosexuality caused by norms of Russian culture, what is its contribution to the arts, what do world religions say about same-sex relationships, what is its impact on the development of the society, what does the modern medicine think about this phenomenon. There is an attempt to reproduce the logic of homophobic arguments, so common today in Russia, to understand its origins and ideological Foundation. This is done only for the purpose of finding compromises and developing balanced, tolerant positions on both sides. The authors hope that considerations expressed in the article will be useful in resolving such an important social and cultural issue as a confrontation between homosexuals and heterosexuals, and will make the contribution to the guarantees of rights and freedoms in the Russian Federation.