Reasons for Russia's anti gay shift

[tpfkaw]

Out of curiosity, are there any authoritarian regimes in the world that are fairly tolerant of homosexuality?  Do all of them, whether religious or not, claim that the gay rights movement is an evil Western plot?

(I know Russia is technically a democracy, but come on.)

Men having sexual relations with men is viewed as fairly normal in much of the Muslim world, although self-identifying as homosexual is not and is persecuted.

[tpfkaw]

Huh... the few Americans of Russian descent I've met have actually all be quite socially liberal, and I've generally attributed it partially to the fact that communism left a relatively secular legacy in Russia. But it seems that as that legacy fades, Russia is going back to what it was before World War I... one of the most illiberal countries in Europe.

Most Russians I know are Orthodox Jews, so....