Brief Overview of LGBTQIA+ History in Russia
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1917
The Russian Soviet Republic (RSFSR) decriminalized homosexuality and transgender identification within Russia . Not only did it not apply to the entirety of the Soviet Union but it also failed to protect the LGBTQIA+ from persecution such as employment discrimination.
1933
Homosexuality was recriminalized and made punishable by hard labor. Joseph Stalin equated homosexuality with pedophilia, deeming men 'pederasts', meaning men who have sex with boys. Ironically, the laws impeding sexual expression and repressing sexual identity spurred an increase in research and awareness, though not necessarily in tolerance.
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1953
2013
Nikitia Khrushchev took office and attempted to erase homosexuality from the public psyche, mentioning them only to depict homosexual/LGBTQIA+ people as disease spreading child molesters.
Putin passed the gay propaganda law preventing media which depicts "non traditional sexual relationships" from being distributed. He claims to be protecting traditional Russian values against the west.