In this piece of investigative journalism, Austin Harrington discusses what may be the true reasons behind Putin’s anti-gay rhetoric.
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The anti-gay rhetoric coming from Russia has captured the attention and criticism of the world as they prepare to host their first Olympic Winter Games. As the homophobic doctrine of the Putin administration continues to catch headlines, questions arise about the possible origins of the law. Sexual relations between two consenting adults of the same sex has been decriminalized in Russia since 1993, so why does this government now feel the need to implement stringent propaganda laws against a minority group that has very little political sway? A prominent source inside Moscow (who wishes to remain anonymous) suggested to me that this is not a full-out assault on homosexuality but instead a strategic political move to undermine the influence of a single person; a rising star in the Russian government, the First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office, Volodin Vyacheslav.
“Soon the Governor sent him off to Moscow as a way to quiet down his fame…”
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On the surface Volodin seems like another hard-nosed Russian bureaucrat and Putin-loyalist, but it’s his private life that may be causing some tension with the Russian President. The rumors of Volodin’s homosexuality have been widespread throughout Russia for years. In 2005, a Russian political analyst named Eduard Abrosimov wrote an article about Volodin’s sexual orientation and was sent to prison for eight months on the charge of libel. Since then, no journalist has taken up the issue out of fear of imprisonment, but the rumors continued. Even to the point of suggesting his wife and daughter do not really exist. This was brought into question when a recent income declaration was checked against his official biography. In the bio, Volodin is shown to have a wife and a daughter but in the income declaration there is hardly any mention of his daughter, who is only shown as a Deputy Assistant to another member of “United Russia” (Putin’s political party), and his wife is nowhere to be found. Questions have been raised about the possibility of Volodin fabricating a family to seem more traditional but as of yet no answers have been given by the government.
Volodin comes from Saratov, an area of Russia known for its political influence. It was in Saratov that Volodin was able to hone the aggressive ruthlessness needed to thrive on the Russian political stage. His power became so great that he controlled the local charter of United Russia, the Saratov Duma (an advisory council to Grand Princes and Russian Czars) as well as all forms of media in the area. His power allowed him to rise to the rank of Deputy Governor of the Saratov region under Governor Ayatskov. But quickly problems arose for Volodin when Governor Ayatskov began to disapprove of Volodin’s popularity. Soon the Governor sent him off to Moscow as a way to quiet down his fame in Saratov before the Gubernatorial elections, which Volodin was rumored to be running in.
“…as with any animal, a politician is most dangerous when afraid.”
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Over the next decade, Volodin would become a fierce competitor in the political atmosphere of Moscow. He would become known as merciless politician and a strict United Russia Party proponent, while still covering up any rumor or reporting on his homosexual lifestyle. Eventually, in the winter of 2011, it was announced that the First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office, Vladislav Surkov, the architect of the Putin Presidency, was being asked to resign because Putin did not approve of an interview where Surkov spoke of opposing political parties in a favorable light. It was also announced that Volodin Vyacheslav was to be appointed to the vacated position.
Since Volodin took the position in 2011 the Putin administration has pushed militantly to the right on almost every political issue, but it would be nearly two years before they decided to pursue the LBGT community. With that kind of distance between his appointment to the office and the decision to illegalize “gay propaganda” it doesn’t seem likely that this was an objective pushed by Volodin. Is it possible that Putin has once again turned against the First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office, like he did before with Surkov? It wouldn’t be the first time in his career that Volodin’s popularity caused fear in the political elite of Russia’s upper crust. And as with any animal, a politician is most dangerous when afraid.
Putin has created a law that makes it illegal to spread or promote the homosexual lifestyle. This practically makes it illegal to speak about equality or gay rights in Russia. Was that his goal? To stop people from speaking out? Is it possible that Putin is in fear of Volodin becoming a spokesperson for a gay rights movement in Russia that could see Putin dethroned? While on paper Volodin doesn’t seem like a typical advocate for any human rights group, if the new anti-gay policy from the Putin administration is directed at Volodin it does seem likely that Putin knows something that the rest of us don’t.
While bands like “Pussy Riot” (who was, until recently, imprisoned for violating the new law) and other LGBT activists, continue to face penalties for their support of equality behind the Iron Curtain, questions will continue to circle about the real motives surrounding the change in policy. It may be that the Putin administration is on its way out due to the waves made by an unlikely up-and-comer and these policies are just a last ditch effort by a struggling political faction that knows their days are numbered. Or it may just be the same old tired homophobic rhetoric that we have come to expect from conservative world leaders. Only time will tell but I, for one, am hoping for the former.
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–Photo: Iñigo Bilbao/Flickr
Personally I don’t KNOW(and don’t much care) whether Putin’s homophobic crusade stems from personal prejudice or a desrie to suck up to conservative elements in Russian society or thw Orthodox Church leadership- the litmus test of any society is HOW it treats its minorities(religious, racial and now sexual)-based on this line of argument- I would have to award Putin’s Russia an “F”!
Terry
Well done, Austin! Loved the article!
Could this also be a way for Putin to garner even more support from conservative elements like the Russian Orthodox churches? My impression is that there’s a big nationalist flavor to the homophobia — the argument that being gay is “un-Russian,” one of those “foreign” things introduced from the decadent West. The politics of sexual orientation are almost always bound up with us/them ideas, and homophobia is almost always wrapped up in other phobias like xenophobia, misogyny, sexual anxieties, etc.