What can the West do to combat homophobia in Russia?

I think the West needs to mind their own damn business, for once.

Russia is not a closed off country like North Korea. The west treating gay people as equal is a good way to demonstrate nothing horrible happens when you give gay people equal rights. Being a prosperous, productive country, where people have good lives sets an example. People have come to America for over 200 years for freedom and equality. Right now America is not leading the way for gay rights compared to Western and Northern Europe. Since Russia is part of Europe, EurAsia, those countries possibly have a strong influence, maybe more than America. Although, I know some of our TV shows are played or remade for Russia, so I guess Russia does have influence from America.

Russia needs to get through their own internal strife over gay rights probably. The west can’t force it. My guess is there are communities in Russia that embrace gay people. All the Russian people I know here in America are not antigay at all. I have never heard or seen any of them ever say anything negative about gay people, and they tend to be very individual rights oriented.

I don’t think that there is anything that the West can do, other than trying to “lead by example.” Societal change has to come from the inside.

Freedom everywhere and on nearly every topic needs to be advanced. The West could become more free itself, and that would probably help the most.

I agree with @JLeslie – we have to show (here, in the US) that gays are accepted and treated equally.

We can’t go in to RUssia and lecture (and “re-educate”) their population. That is cultural imperialism. Besides being ineffective, it is immoral.

If change is going to happen in Russia, if it is going to work, it has to come from within.

I am not sure, but I am guessing it will be fabulous!

It’s hard to imagine Lady Gag, Elton John, George Michael, and Bryan Boytano locked arm in arm, marching in Russia, singing “We will overcome!”

The best strategy is probably just being the good example that society didn’t crumble when we treated the LGBT community well.

World leaders need to come together and coax Putin out of the closet.

I’m assuming by ‘The West,’ you mean America? And Russia is not the opposite of ‘The West,’ anyway. There are protests and petitions in a variety of directions but, tbh, there’s plenty of anti-lgbtq violence and politics to deal with here.

Welcome Russian gay men and women to American and treat them—and all gay citizens—as equals.

@PhiNotPi Lead by example.

A pity that does not become the official motto of the US. The entire world would be better off.

I’m not sure we can do anything except like the other said, lead by example.

Here it seems to be a religious issue and also a homophobic hetero male issue, so figure out why Russians are so homophobic and work on it with your people. Changing the mind of one person at a time by communicating is a good start.

What you do in your bedroom is your business I don’t think the west is interested what’s going on in your bedroom and what ever your preferences may be unless if it’s a risk to national security and there is oil involved.

Don’t go to Russia. Do not spend money in that country. They’ll get the hint.

Being from ‘a small island that no-one takes any notice of’ (Putin, 2013) I reckon there is absolutely nothing we can do.
@tinyfaery A good idea but I doubt Russia will get the hint as Putin doesn’t care about what anyone thinks.
I would so like it to be different.
@Imsok00l – welcome to Fluther . . . have a great time!

If Russia sees its tourist dollars decline at an alarming rate, they will get the message. Money trumps ideology every time.

@tinyfaery There isn’t a tremendous amount of “western” tourists in Russia. Maybe they might notice a dent. A lot of Russian tourism is their own citizens.

It’s a brave statement to make that “money trumps ideology every time”, @tinyfaery, but for the 75 years or so that the Soviet Union was in power, it certainly did not.

No, the best counter to lack of freedom in several parts of the world is, as it has always been, to increase freedom elsewhere. That not only makes the freer places more attractive places to live, but it also encourages those with the means, ability and will to do so to emigrate to the freer place. That actually does get noticed.

It would be nice if “the West” were that place, and as far as LGBT folks go, it probably is.

Isn’t it lack of money that brought the USSR down? Like I said…

Well the antigay agenda is not about morals, but fascist propaganda. Most Russians claim to identify with orthodox Christian teachings, but yet aren’t the slightest bit religious. Most Russians support abortion rights, and they abort many babies due to various reasons. Russia is also having problems with their birthrates too, and Putin himself openly admitted this.

I don’t feel that vodka and olympic boycotts are going to do the trick. Russia will only change when their overly masculine culture becomes unpopular. I don’t see the latter scenerio occuring as long as most Russian males continue to act like dweebs, and as long as the Russian people continue to be sympathetic to authoritarian regimes, regardless which ‘ism’ they fall under.

Only around 15% of Russians polled were sympathetic to gay rights advocates or their causes, while neighboring Poland topped out at about 42%.

I think the West should not just mind its own damn business. We are one human family. Not caring about victims of evil policies is irresponsible. Why should people in Kansas care about flood victims in Colorado? Why should people in Europe care about Katrina flood victims? Why should Americans care about Iranian earthquake of Japanese tsunami victims? Because it’s humane.

So what can we do? Support the forces from within. Money. Sharing strategies. Expressing solidarity. And so forth.

@mattbrowne Russians, like the people of many other right-leaning cultures, seem to damn themselves more than the ‘problems; they seem so concerned about. I find it rather sick that Russians openly support abortion, and do it often, then turn around and condemn gays on ‘moral’ grounds.

Russia has become much more right wing, and it appears that many neo-nazis are now a very common sight throughout many Russian cities. I don’t believe that Russia was ever friendly towards gays though, even during the old U.S.S.R days.

@Paradox25 – This has to do with 70 years of totalitarian communism. In East Germany we still have more neo-Nazis than in West Germany and the reunification happened 23 years ago.