Edit: I didn’t post the following quotes to say he’s a communist. He’s pivoting to centre-left positions with his rhetoric and 6 year plan. He called for reducing poverty by 2% in 6 years and for progressive taxation on the rich.
The true elite are all those serving Russia. Workers and soldiers, reliable, trustable, who have proven their devotion to Russia, the worthy people.
“The very word ‘elite’ has largely been discredited by those who, having no merit to society, consider themselves to be some kind of a caste with special rights and privileges. I specifically mean those who, in previous years, filled their pockets through all sorts of processes in the economy of the 1990s. Those are definitely not the elite,” the president said.
He’s made it clear the latter won’t happen. He’s said that queer people should be represented in society. Albeit with conservative rehtoric.
https://www.rt.com/russia/587507-putin-unexpected-lgbtq-thing/
i’m not saying it is going to happen. i am saying it is already happening. putin’s rhetoric in this article does not match his policy. the law clearly discriminates against queer people in media (not even bringing up marriage or trans discrimination laws). minimizing the effect of this policy on queer people and society in general is honestly disturbing.
The same situation exists in China by the way (homosexual TV dramas banned since 2016, no gay marriage, no transitioning for minors). I believe it would be an exaggeration to say it is in the “process of removing queer people from public life entirely” ? Homosexual marriage is a poor yardstick for LGBT rights. Russia and China are also sexually conservative not just with minors being exposed to homosexuality but with heteronormative porn as well.
The following is written by someone who worked with Soviet authorities to save thousands of homosexuals and the president of the largest European gay political association, Ornicar Project on European countries perpetuating LGBT discrimination and how gay marriage is used as a mask. https://www.voltairenet.org/article213494.html
Russia:
https://polit.ru/news/2008/05/23/donors/ —> 2008 Russia allows men who have sex with men to donate blood
https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-duma-rejects-antigay-coming-out-bill/27562736.html —> 2016, the Communist Party’s draft resolution to ban homosexuals from coming out is unanimously rejected.
2018, Russia’s health ministry makes it easier for Transgender people to change their gender on legal documents.
2023, The mechanism is removed completely, making it impossible to change the gender marker.