Russia Proposes Law Lifting Ban on Male Homosexuality

Renouncing a Stalin-era code of morality that condemned homosexuality as a crime, Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin on Wednesday proposed a new penal code that would lift a longstanding ban on “male love.”

Even under the relatively liberal politics of recent years, hundreds of men have been sentenced to labor camps under Article 121-1 of the Russian Criminal Code, a statute inherited from Soviet law that prohibits sex between men, the Ministry of Justice said.

Yeltsin’s proposal, part of a complete overhaul of the penal code, would wipe that law from the books. But Parliament must approve the new criminal statutes, and some gay activists fear that conservative legislators will resist the changes.

“The people who sit in Parliament don’t want to raise the issue because they’re afraid others will point at them and say they’re gays or lesbians,” said Dima Lychov, editor of a gay newspaper.

Punishable by up to five years in prison, male homosexuality has been illegal in Russia since 1934, when dictator Josef Stalin started a campaign to eradicate behavior he considered deviant and undisciplined. Lesbianism, while generally frowned upon as unnatural, is not against the law. Russia’s small but vocal gay rights movement has vigorously campaigned for repeal of Article 121-1 for years, culminating in a three-day hunger strike this spring.

Although they welcome the movement to legalize homosexuality, activists warn that gays will continue to face persecution in this strait-laced society. As recently as 1990, 30% of Russians believed that gays should be “destroyed,” according to a poll conducted by the independent Center for Public Opinion. Another 30% argued for isolating homosexuals from society; only one-third thought gays should be left alone.

In this atmosphere of oppression, many Russian gays hide their homosexuality. Afraid of exposure, they may also avoid testing for the virus that causes AIDS. Repealing Article 121-1 “will make the work of people who fight against AIDS easier,” said Alexander Naomov, who staffs an AIDS information hot line in Moscow.

Russian society already has grown more tolerant of homosexuality. Vendors sell gay newspapers openly in subway stations and along underground walkways. A floating gay disco in Moscow attracts scores of young men and women every weekend.

“Maybe if the government announces that it doesn’t consider homosexuality scary or criminal, public opinion will begin to change,” Lychov said.