Timothy Snyder reports that gay marriage got implicated in the Ukrainian uprising and the Russian response.
Putin’s appeal to Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych included, as everyone knows, financial incentives. It also included warnings about the effect of entering the EU: The “gay conspiracy” has “dominated Russian propaganda throughout last year but which had been essentially absent from Ukraine. Perhaps Ukraine could join in? Yes indeed: the Ukrainian prime minister began to explain to his population that Ukraine could not have closer cooperation with Europe, since the EU was interested chiefly in gay marriage.”
As the protest unfolded in the Maidan, and Ukrainian protesters dubbed the square Euromaidan, Russian media described it as “Gayeuromaidan.” The protesters included some gay activists, and “this was exploited by both the Russian and Ukrainian regimes in their internal propaganda. The Russian press presented the protest as part of a larger gay conspiracy.”
One can mock Russian paranoia, and certainly must oppose Russian bullying, but the issue is not imaginary. This summer I met Romanian Orthodox Christians embittered against the EU for forcing a new marriage regime on Romania, against the will of most Romanians. If they survive the transition, Ukrainians will face the same choice soon enough.
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