Thanks so much for linking that it was a very interesting read.
This paragraph was pretty sad:
I visited two psychiatrists in the search for an answer to the question of whether it was possible to “cure” homosexuality — perhaps you will find this surprising. I admit that this was opportunism on my part (this time, perhaps, it can be forgiven), but I was incited to do this by the desire to find some kind of solution to this cursed dilemma. Least of all did I want to contradict the decision of the Soviet government. I was prepared to do anything if only to avoid the necessity of finding myself in contradiction with Soviet law. I took this step despite the fact that I did not know whether contemporary researchers had succeeded in establishing the true nature of homosexuality and the possibility of converting homosexuals into heterosexuals — that is, into people who engage in the sexual act only with members of the opposite sex. If such a possibility were in fact established, then everything would be much simpler of course.
I simply see no rational justification whatsoever for criminalising homosexuality. Even if you thought it was a mental disorder, you don't put people with schitzophrenia in jail.
I'm just honestly at a complete loss as to why the Soviets decided this was a good idea.
for the same reason people are for the criminalization of drug use and the buying of drugs while still believing drug addiction is a disease. people don't necessarily have coherent beliefs.
(it was already recriminalized by the individual SSRs years earlier, stalin's move was a mere formality, did you really think a country filled with conservative Christians, Muslims, and Jews needed stalin to force them to oppose homosexuality, rather than him making a popular democratic concession?)
Not all of the SSRs had it criminalised. Only Azerbaijan and the Central asian ones IIRC. And even still it was completely the wrong thing to do. You should have educated them instead of pandering to their reactionary views.
Many of those conservative people aren't going to be all that open-minded to what you have to say after all much effort has been out toward releasing their religious practices. I'll admit that I'm not super well informed on this (yet), but understanding was that the USSR caused a lot of issues for itself with it's attitudes toward religion (or at least the handling of it).
Edit: to clarify, I'd have rather seen a more lenient approach to religious practices, so that the political capital could be better spent on things like preventing the actual oppression of LGBT people. Saying "well he should have just done the right thing" is overly simplistic, but my understanding of Stalin is that this was a shortcomings of his leadership in general (though he had his strengths)
You can say that the party appealed to popular opinion but they made no effort whatsoever to change it. Homosexuality remained illegal and taboo in Soviet society until 1991, after which pretty much every Western country had decriminalised. Hell, the Warsaw pact states decriminalised it too.
The uncomforatble truth is that the soviet leadership was either actually homophobic or didn't care about gay people, or both.
Yeah I guess they should have done no progressive reforms whatsoever, spend no time at all building socialism and just dump everything into building tanks, guns and planes.
They did exactly that, for the Jews and others, getting mad at them for not being progressive enough when they were already the most progressive country in the world is radlib bullshit
They didn't even mean to decriminalize it in the first place, which is why it was almost immediately recriminalized in some places and longer in others.
Thanks so much for linking that it was a very interesting read.
This paragraph was pretty sad:
I suggest people read the whole thing.
I like the way he signed the letter:
Communist Greetings,
Electric Monk
I simply see no rational justification whatsoever for criminalising homosexuality. Even if you thought it was a mental disorder, you don't put people with schitzophrenia in jail.
I'm just honestly at a complete loss as to why the Soviets decided this was a good idea.
for the same reason people are for the criminalization of drug use and the buying of drugs while still believing drug addiction is a disease. people don't necessarily have coherent beliefs.
(it was already recriminalized by the individual SSRs years earlier, stalin's move was a mere formality, did you really think a country filled with conservative Christians, Muslims, and Jews needed stalin to force them to oppose homosexuality, rather than him making a popular democratic concession?)
Not all of the SSRs had it criminalised. Only Azerbaijan and the Central asian ones IIRC. And even still it was completely the wrong thing to do. You should have educated them instead of pandering to their reactionary views.
Many of those conservative people aren't going to be all that open-minded to what you have to say after all much effort has been out toward releasing their religious practices. I'll admit that I'm not super well informed on this (yet), but understanding was that the USSR caused a lot of issues for itself with it's attitudes toward religion (or at least the handling of it).
Edit: to clarify, I'd have rather seen a more lenient approach to religious practices, so that the political capital could be better spent on things like preventing the actual oppression of LGBT people. Saying "well he should have just done the right thing" is overly simplistic, but my understanding of Stalin is that this was a shortcomings of his leadership in general (though he had his strengths)
A land of contrasts and all that
You can say that the party appealed to popular opinion but they made no effort whatsoever to change it. Homosexuality remained illegal and taboo in Soviet society until 1991, after which pretty much every Western country had decriminalised. Hell, the Warsaw pact states decriminalised it too.
The uncomforatble truth is that the soviet leadership was either actually homophobic or didn't care about gay people, or both.
He should have split the country over sex while preparing for the next invasion?
Yeah I guess they should have done no progressive reforms whatsoever, spend no time at all building socialism and just dump everything into building tanks, guns and planes.
They did exactly that, for the Jews and others, getting mad at them for not being progressive enough when they were already the most progressive country in the world is radlib bullshit
No it is not radlib to get mad at them for regressing on a progressive policies.
Remove your rose tinted glasses, stop trying to make it seem like any criticism is unjustified.
They didn't even mean to decriminalize it in the first place, which is why it was almost immediately recriminalized in some places and longer in others.
"why is the state cutting down individuality to fit the collective, I don't get it"