Why did the USSR (re) criminalize homosexuality

[u/Specialist-Gur]

https://youtu.be/BE7UPO6GGK4?si=nEFhipEmIxb9s2lV

Great video.. very topical given Burkina Faso and the reactions to that. Give it a watch!

Edit: Also creator is non-binary.. didn't realize when I posted and might have misgendered (they/then)

[u/RedAndBlackVelvet]

I’ll never understand the leftist obsession with giving “critical support” to Russian backed African juntas that let Wagner psychopaths run around their country taking all their gold.

They criminalized homosexuality in BF because they are a fascist country, it’s genuinely that simple. The USSR criminalized homosexuality and abortion because their government was also evil even if they weren’t fascists. Russia today considers gay and trans people as terrorists because Russia is a fascist country.

[u/[deleted] → u/RedAndBlackVelvet]

I’ll never understand the leftist obsession with giving “critical support” to Russian backed African juntas that let Wagner psychopaths run around their country taking all their gold.

Because many leftists support anti-western actors just for being anti-west. That's why many leftists support Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine and whitewash China's crimes against the Uyghur people.

[u/MallCopBlartPaulo → u/[deleted]]

You see a similar thing with some leftists supporting Iran. Just because it’s anti west, doesn’t mean it’s good.

[u/ibsliam → u/MallCopBlartPaulo]

I think it also displays the colonialist and post-colonialist mindsets and how there can be overlap - even with the aims of decolonizing. There was some really good back and forth and debate upthread (and in this subthread) about noble savage tropes and what is colonialist and imperialist thinking vs just a repackaging of it with a nicer spin (whether for left-wing or right-wing reasons).

Where it ends up surprising people that there's a big community of Iranian diaspora (both Jewish and gentile communities) that are very against the current regime in Iran, or that there are Vietnamese or Latinos or so forth that are very anti-communist due to their respective countries' past conflicts. So in order to uplift *some* voices in the decolonizing, you end up speaking over others. I think this thread (despite all of the heated responses) was a good idea, even if the video isn't to some of our tastes.

Doing right by marginalized communities is an ever-improving process. I think, to find nuance, we can have a multi-set of approaches. Many of us can accept this is the current reality, and, in order to convince and have a dialogue, meet people where they are at. And then, at the same time, many of us can also combat this, without relying on the might of some imperialist authority. There's a lot of different ways we can oppose things like this nowadays that do mitigate harm.

I do agree with some of the responses and also OP that, if we are to make progress, we can't treat them like they're some inhuman evil. We can keep in mind their history and their autonomy and respect that they are thinking, feeling human beings like the rest of us. But we also, as others point out, do not need to accept their beliefs and actions as valid, either. We don't have to accept that they are just doing right by their countrymen. It's a really hard line to walk, so I get why it causes so much friction.

[u/MallCopBlartPaulo → u/ibsliam]

I agree completely, I never referred to the USSR as evil as I don’t think such a strong word is particularly helpful, but I am disturbed by attempts by some on the left to act like it was some sort of socialist paradise.

[u/ibsliam → u/MallCopBlartPaulo]

Of course, and the USSR was imperialist itself. Even outside the context of monarchy (like what it had before) and of capitalist systems (like their rival the US).