Russian Survey Show Hate Against Gays Has Risen To Over 80% in the Soviet Union

A Levada Center survey released Thursday showed that 83 percent of Russians thought gay sex was “always reprehensible” or “almost always reprehensible,” with little distinction between the opinions of younger and older generations. 

The rise in anti- gay sentiment has risen steadily in Russian in the years following the imposing of the harsh 2013 anti-gay propaganda law that forbids them from promoting their sexuality, which has been condemned by the European Court of Human Rights. The law imposes heavy fines and arrests on individuals who spread “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations.” Since the law was enacted, hate crimes against the LGBT community have doubled..

Previous surveys showed that 68 percent of Russians opposed gay sex in 1998, and 76 opposed it in 2008, according to the Moscow Times. 

Vladimir Putin has denied that there are bans on the LGBT community and pointed out that Islamic nations have harsher rules against homosexuality dismissed reports of the anti-gay purge in the Russian republic of Chechnya where there been reports of detention centers, torture, and genocide against gay men in the region.