Vladimir Putin — Photo: Presidential Executive Office of Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to cast the United States, and the West in general, as a threat to Russian culture and values amid near-universal condemnation of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking in Moscow last Friday, Putin criticized the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for opposing Russia’s military expansion.
Specifically, he claimed that the West was pushing ideas and concepts that social conservatives — not to mention the influential Russian Orthodox Church — oppose.
“[Western countries] spit on the natural right of billions of people, most of humanity, to freedom and justice, to determine their own future on their own. Now they have completely moved to a radical denial of moral norms, religion, and family,” Putin claimed, utilizing well-worn homophobic and transphobic tropes that compare same-sex marriage to polygamy and attack the very concept of gender identity, reports LGBTQ Nation.
Addressing “all the citizens of Russia,” Putin said, “Do we want to have, here, in our country, in Russia, parent number one, number two, number three instead of mom and dad? Have they gone mad out there? Do we really want perversions that lead to degradation and extinction to be imposed on children in our schools from the primary grades? To be drummed into them that there are various supposed genders besides women and men, and to be offered a sex change operation? Do we want all this for our country and our children?”
Putin’s remarks were a well-timed attempt to blunt criticism from the West of elections, held in Russian-sympathetic territories in eastern Ukraine, in which voters allegedly chose to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.
The United States has since called the elections a “sham” meant to justify Russia’s seizure of Ukrainian land.
A fierce opponent of LGBTQ rights, Putin has sought to cast anti-LGBTQ views and positions as a distinctive and inherent part of Russian culture. He expanded enforcement of the country’s 2013 anti-LGBTQ propaganda law, which prohibits the dissemination of information concerning homosexuality and gender nonconformity to minors, to apply to adults as well.
The law has been used to crack down on free expression and silence LGBTQ activists, censor positive or neutral media depictions of LGBTQ individuals, break up families headed by same-sex couples, and harass Russian citizens.
Putin — and the Russian government — have also looked the other way while Chechnya, an autonomous Russian republic with a majority-Muslim population, carries out an ongoing “purge” of LGBTQ citizens.
Since December 2016, police and military officials have arrested individuals suspected of being queer, detained them, tortured them, and placed them under surveillance, often claiming that those detained have engaged in illicit activities such as drug dealing or “terrorism.”
Critics of the Russian government estimate a few dozen people have been killed as part of the ongoing campaign, in which detainees are tortured and abused until they name other suspected “homosexuals.”
As The Washington Postnoted in its coverage of Putin’s speech, the Russian president has asserted that the country will never give up on its attempt to annex Ukraine and that the West, especially the United States, poses a greater threat to the world than Russia’s authoritarian government — not only culturally, but militarily.
Putin sought to exploit the West’s historic treatment of Asian, African, and Native American populations and its seizure of natural or economic resources during colonialism to claim that Russia is merely defending itself against a greater menace.
He invoked the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as “creat[ing] precedent” for the large-scale use of nuclear weapons by countries who possess them.
“Let me also remind you that the United States, together with the British, turned Dresden, Hamburg, Cologne and many other German cities into ruins without any military necessity during World War II. And this was done defiantly, without any, I repeat, military necessity,” he said. “There was only one goal, just as in the case of the nuclear bombings in Japan: to intimidate both our country and the whole world.”
Authorities have charged the women with “distributing obscene material” for writing danmei, gay male romance fiction popular among young female readers.
At least 30 women in their 20s have been arrested in China since February for publishing gay-themed erotica. They have been charged with "producing and distributing obscene material."
Many of the women published their work on Haitang Literature City, a Taiwan-hosted platform known for "danmei," a genre of gay male romance and erotica. According to The New York Times, the site is only accessible through software that bypasses China's Internet firewall. Danmei has attracted a largely young, female audience.
Inspired by Japanese manga, danmei emerged online in the 1990s and quickly grew in popularity. Dozens of titles have topped bestseller lists, and in 2021, sixty were optioned for film or TV. Several major Chinese stars launched their careers in danmei-based dramas.
In a clear jab at LGBTQ Pride Month, U.S. Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) introduced a resolution last week to declare June as "Family Month" — a move right-wing outlet The Daily Wire hailed as an effort to "reclaim the first month of summer from LGBTQ ideology."
The American family is under relentless attack from a radical leftist agenda that seeks to erase truth, redefine marriage, and confuse our children," Miller told The Daily Wire.
"By recognizing June as Family Month, we reject the lie of 'Pride' and instead honor God's timeless and perfect design. If we truly want to restore our nation, we must stand united to protect and uphold the foundation upon which it was built — the family."
Support for same-sex marriage has decreased over the past three years, driven by a drastic drop in support from Republicans, according to a recent Gallup poll.
Overall support for same-sex marriage among American adults stands at 68%, down from a high of 71% in 2022.
While 88% of Democrats and 76% of independents support same-sex nuptials, Republican support has tumbled from a high of 55% in 2021 and 2022 to just 41% in 2025.
It’s unclear what’s driving the trend. It could be that Republicans are changing their minds on the issue or that more socially liberal individuals are refusing to identify as Republicans.
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