To Russia with Love

The decidedly 'straight' Putin

Pink News reports that International protest against St Petersburg’s new law banning the promotion of “sodomy, lesbianism, bisexualism and transgenderism” have continued with a video highlighting the law’s effect. The would punish the promotion of homosexuality with a fine of 5,000 roubles, £107 or up to 50,000 roubles, £1,070 for holders of public posts.  Being gay is bad, being gay when you influence others is very very bad.


I'm not sure of the impact the video will have in stopping people from travelling to Russia, but it does help to raise this issue.

There is, I think, a sense that Russian politics are shifting at the moment and even if Putin wins (as expected) the Russian presidential election which takes place tomorrow, his grip on power is apparently slipping and growing number soy Russians openly question his leadership and seek greater democracy.

Protests against him are on the increase and his Soviet-esque authoritarian brand of Russian politics increasingly seems out of kilter with a  new generation of Russians.  It is that movement which I suspect will ultimately lead to progress on social issues such as gay rights, rather than a few tourists not going to St Petersburg for a holiday.

Check out the full story here.

Homosexuality and Constitutional Law

Simeon CR McIntosh, former Dean & Prof of Jurisprudence Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies has produced a fascinating piece on the constitutional debate in the West Indies about repealing their laws criminalising homosexuality. He concludes that 'I re-echo my agreement with Prime Minister Stuart, that he should not repeal the law criminalising homosexuality on the directive of the British or US government. Rather, he should repeal the law because it is the just thing to do.'

It's fascinating to see the arguments from a  jurisdiction in which law and the politics of religion are seemingly inseparable and constitutional law is deployed to defend traditional constructions of homosexuality as evil and thus behaviour that ought to be criminalised.

The full piece is well worth a read and can be viewed here.