I'm not sure hailing this as a triumph for democracy makes much sense. "Estonia Decided!" alright, but they decided against it by a large margin. Most Estonians are not in favor of gay marriage being recognized, and have been demonstrating against the bill for weeks. Parliament pushing through a law the people don't want isn't Estonia deciding, it is Estonian politicians deciding. http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=en&js=y&u=h...
It depends on who you ask, most of the older generation who grew up under soviet propaganda don't want it. While the younger generation supports this. The people demonstrating are funded by christian and Russian Orthodox churches which is fine but if you consider that something like 85% of Estonians are atheists then it becomes just weird as in they don't really showcase most of our views and are in it for their own reasons. All in all I think it was a right step forward for our country in becoming more accepting of people and in 10 years time it will pay off.
Can anyone clue me in as to why (ex-)soviet regions have such an adamant opposition to anything other than heterosexuality?
I'm an odd case I guess since I'm an American who is both gay and deeply interested in "all things" Russian. (My boyfriend is even more so since he's currently studying in Rostov).
I had the opportunity to visit Tallinn and St. Petersburg (along with Helsinki and Stockholm) last year and the perceivable difference in atmospheres was quite significant between cities.
I suppose it's difficult to describe, but the western cities (like Tallinn) felt so much more easy-going and "happy" compared to St. Petersburg (even though every Russian I conversed with was deeply proud of their city).
I'm sure I subconsciously projected my own biases onto the cities before I visited them, but I also feel as if there's objective credibility to what I observed (i.e. that you can "get a solid feel/understanding" of the city just by being there).
I just don't know why eastern countries like Russia have always felt so hostile towards same-sex individuals.
Russia is just oppressive in general, in all aspects. You might want to read "Letters from Russia" by Astolphe marquis de Custine for a historic perspective. That was Russia under tsars, it was much worse after revolution, until Stalin's death.
In the entire Russian history there never was a period when an average citizen could feel free. How could it feel 'happy' now?
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 27.0 ms ] threadI'm an odd case I guess since I'm an American who is both gay and deeply interested in "all things" Russian. (My boyfriend is even more so since he's currently studying in Rostov).
I had the opportunity to visit Tallinn and St. Petersburg (along with Helsinki and Stockholm) last year and the perceivable difference in atmospheres was quite significant between cities.
I suppose it's difficult to describe, but the western cities (like Tallinn) felt so much more easy-going and "happy" compared to St. Petersburg (even though every Russian I conversed with was deeply proud of their city).
I'm sure I subconsciously projected my own biases onto the cities before I visited them, but I also feel as if there's objective credibility to what I observed (i.e. that you can "get a solid feel/understanding" of the city just by being there).
I just don't know why eastern countries like Russia have always felt so hostile towards same-sex individuals.
Thoughts? Comments?
In the entire Russian history there never was a period when an average citizen could feel free. How could it feel 'happy' now?