This blog post was inspired by a facebook conversations sparked by this article from Slavic Sacramento, which explored the meaning of PRIDE in todayโs political climate and the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals across immigrant communities.
This post is a record, a reflection, and a response. What began as a tense online exchange quickly unraveled into a case study in fear, misinformation, and targeted moral panic. I share it here not to elevate the voice of hate, but to give others a mirror into how these attacks often play outโand how they can be met with clarity and truth.
Prologue: A Familiar Pattern
If you’re openly LGBTQ+, especially in Russian-speaking spaces, you eventually encounter someone like Vladimir. It begins predictably: a claim that queer people are โforcing their lifestyleโ on others. But what followed in this case wasnโt just disagreementโit was escalation. And it got personal, fast.
“ะัะปะธ ะฑั ะฒั ัะฐะบ ััะธะปะตะฝะฝะพ ะฝะต ะฝะฐะฒัะทัะฒะฐะปะธ ัะฒะพะธ ัะพะผะฝะธัะตะปัะฝัะต ัะตะฝะฝะพััะธ ะธ ะพะฑัะฐะท ะถะธะทะฝะธ, ะฒะฐั ะฑั ะฝะธะบัะพ ะธ ะฝะต ะทะฐะผะตัะฐะป.”
“If you didnโt so aggressively push your questionable values and lifestyle, no one would even notice you.”
I responded with what I thought was a straightforward clarification: being visible is not the same as imposing. LGBTQ+ people arenโt demanding special rights, just equal treatment. I referenced the dignity of existing freely and without fear.
Vladimir didnโt agree. He escalated quickly, launching into graphic accusations and pseudo-factual claims. From slanderous personal stories to ideological talking points, his replies grew angrier, longer, and more disturbing. He began to project accusations rooted in old Soviet taboos, laden with sexualized imagery and rumors passed off as lived experience.
The Claims and the Rebuttals
Here are just a few of his key assertions:
“ะะพะผะพัะตะบััะฐะปะธััั ัะพะฒัะฐัะฐัั ะผะฐะปััะธะบะพะฒ ะฒ ัะพั-ะฑะธะทะฝะตัะต.”
“Homosexuals seduce boys in the entertainment industry.”
“ะะฐัะต ะดะฒะธะถะตะฝะธะต โ ััะพ ะฒ ะฝะตะบะพัะพัะพะผ ัะผััะปะต ัะตััะพัะธะทะผ.”
“Your movement is, in a certain sense, terrorism.”
“ะั ะฟะพะดะดะตัะถะธะฒะฐะตัะต ัะตััะพัะธััะพะฒ ะฒ ะะฐะปะตััะธะฝะต. ะญัะพ ัะฐะบั.”
“You support terrorists in Palestine. Thatโs a fact.”
Each claim is not just inflammatory but designed to provoke, dehumanize, and deflect. They echo dangerous tropes used for decades to incite fear against marginalized groups. By framing LGBTQ+ identity as inherently predatory or destabilizing, Vladimir relies on centuries-old slander to justify exclusion.
The Truth Behind the Noise
LGBTQ+ Visibility Is Not Propaganda
LGBTQ+ people exist in every society and always have. Visibility does not force anyone to be queerโit simply allows those who are to live safely. When schools acknowledge LGBTQ+ identities, youth experience lower rates of depression, bullying, and suicide.
Visibility fosters resilience. It builds safe spaces. And it affirms that all childrenโregardless of how they grow upโdeserve truth, not shame.
Source: GLSEN. (2021). The 2021 National School Climate Survey. https://www.glsen.org/research/2021-national-school-climate-survey
The “Grooming” Myth Is Debunked
The myth that LGBTQ+ people are uniquely predatory stems from moral panics in the 20th century. It has no scientific basis. Numerous studies from both the American Psychological Association and the FBI demonstrate no correlation between LGBTQ+ identity and abuse.
Spreading this lie not only stigmatizes queer peopleโit diverts attention from real abuse prevention.
Sources:
- American Psychological Association. (2008). Answers to Your Questions for a Better Understanding of Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality. https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbtq/orientation
- Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2019). Crime in the United States: Uniform Crime Reports. https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019
LGBTQ+ and Palestinian Solidarity
Vladimirโs third point is a red herring. Some LGBTQ+ activists in the West have expressed solidarity with Palestinian civiliansโnot Hamas or terrorism. These actions are rooted in humanitarian concern, not ideological alliance. They reflect a commitment to opposing oppression wherever it occurs.
Ironically, LGBTQ+ people face persecution in Gaza. Many flee to Israel or Europe to survive. Supporting Palestinian peopleโs human rights while condemning violent regimes is not hypocrisyโitโs nuance.
Sources:
- Human Rights Watch. (2020). Palestinian Authorities Arrest Activists from LGBT Group. https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/16/palestinian-authorities-arrest-activists-lgbt-group
- OutRight International. (2022). Palestine. https://outrightinternational.org/region/palestine
- BBC. (2021). The LGBTQ Palestinians Seeking Asylum in Israel. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-57411274
Why the Rage?
After stepping away from the thread, I asked the question that haunts most of us who endure this kind of attack:
Why does someone like Vladimir care so much, and why does his tone get darker the more you respond with facts?
Projection
People who obsess over the sexual behavior of others often have unresolved issuesโinternalized shame, latent curiosity, or unresolved trauma. Vladimirโs fixation with soldier prostitution, street corners, and entertainment industry stories is oddly detailed. This points not to analysis, but projection.
Loss of Control
In many authoritarian or patriarchal cultures, LGBTQ+ visibility is seen as chaosโsomething that threatens a rigid worldview. People like Vladimir may not be harmed directly by our existence, but they resent no longer controlling the narrative.
They see acknowledgment of LGBTQ+ identity as an erasure of their authority. Rage replaces understanding when power is questioned.
Moral Panic as Identity
Vladimir doesnโt just argue. He performs. His moral outrage is not accidentalโitโs central to how he sees himself: as a warrior for traditional values. This performance gives him status in online circles.
But moral panic is a hollow identity. It depends on an enemy. And when that enemy pushes back with compassion and truth, it collapses.
My Final Response
To Vladimir, I wrote:
“ะั ะฝะต ะดะตะปะธัะตัั ัะฐะบัะฐะผะธ โ ะฒั ะพะฟัะฐะฒะดัะฒะฐะตัะต ะฝะตะฝะฐะฒะธััั. ะั ะฟัะตะฒัะฐัะฐะตัะต ะปะธัะฝัะต ัะฟะธะทะพะดั ะฒ ะพะฑะพะฑัะตะฝะธั, ัะฐะทะถะธะณะฐะตัะต ัััะฐั ะธ ะพัะบะฐะทัะฒะฐะตัะต ะปัะดัะผ ะฒ ะฟัะฐะฒะต ะฝะฐ ัะฒะฐะถะตะฝะธะต. ะญัะพ ะฝะต ะฟัะฐะฒะดะฐ โ ััะพ ะดะตะผะฐะณะพะณะธั.”
“Youโre not sharing factsโyouโre justifying hate. You turn isolated stories into generalizations, fuel fear, and deny people the right to dignity. Thatโs not truthโitโs demagoguery.”
I chose not to respond further. Because truth deserves clarity, but it also deserves peace.
A Word to the Silent Readers
To anyone reading whoโs been targeted, misrepresented, or told you are โtoo muchโ: your existence is not a provocation. You donโt owe anyone silence. You donโt need permission to live, love, or speak.
Let the record show: hate lost this round. Because truth stood up. And stayed standing.
References
American Psychological Association. (2008). Answers to Your Questions for a Better Understanding of Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality. https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbtq/orientation
BBC. (2021). The LGBTQ Palestinians Seeking Asylum in Israel. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-57411274
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2019). Crime in the United States: Uniform Crime Reports. https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019
GLSEN. (2021). The 2021 National School Climate Survey. https://www.glsen.org/research/2021-national-school-climate-survey
Human Rights Watch. (2020). Palestinian Authorities Arrest Activists from LGBT Group. https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/16/palestinian-authorities-arrest-activists-lgbt-group
OutRight International. (2022). Palestine. https://outrightinternational.org/region/palestine
Mikhail Oparin 