Summary
Russian police raided several Moscow nightclubs, including LGBTQ+ venues Mono and Arma, under anti-“LGBT propaganda” laws, confiscating devices and detaining individuals, including a travel agency director accused of organizing a trip for LGBTQ+ clients.
The raids coincide with the one-year anniversary of Russia outlawing the “international LGBT movement” as an extremist organization, part of President Vladimir Putin’s broader crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights.
Framed as defending “traditional family values,” these measures reflect escalating repression amid Russia’s conservative shift since its war in Ukraine began.
Sneak peak of the upcoming years in some US states…
When you hear Republicans say Russia is “defending Western values”, this is what they’re talking about.
Scary scary rainbows.
Hoping for Russians to have their own Stonewall.
I really think that the notion that the world has broadly become more progressive over time is entirely fabricated. It was an invention purely to deflect from the ways in which society hasn’t progressed. The past decade has been defined by unified international bigotry. People are as racist, as misogynistic, as homophobic as they always have been. People hate minorities as much as they ever did in the past. Bigotry has only temporarily become partially non-explicit. As we have seen with the election result, they will become entirely explicit as soon as they have solidified their power.
Such a large percentage of the population need only hear the words “transgender” or “cisgender” or “pronouns,” and their immediate response is hate. I’ve watched it happen since I transitioned in 2014. Every year, it’s gotten worse. Large-scale state sanctioned violence against us isn’t just very likely. It’s an inevitability. The modern, far-right ultra nationalists have created one of the most successful propaganda engines in history. People support these nightclub raids. People support movements to criminalize gender non-conformity and non-heterosexual orientation. It is very likely we will see similar acts of violence in America in the near future. It’s been done here before and with enough support or even enough indifference it will happen again.
Like look at any fox news comment section on essentially any subject. Trans people are always mentioned there, always in reference to how we should be forcefully put through conversion therapy or how we should be in jail or how children cant know their gender identity unless its cis. There are millions of people out there who legitimately believe that I am not who I say am. After a decade of hormones and surgery that have dramatically improved my quality of life, I’m still insane.
What do we do? I’m concerned you’re correct, but not sure what to do about it. Getting armed etc is all reactionary, how do we create a place where people can express themselves without impinging the rights of others… It’s crazy that we thought it was the US, but what a joke it’s playing out to be.
