Question is in the title. Where can I find information about gay and trans rights in the Soviet Union? Or if anyone would be able to share what they know. I understand it was decriminalized in 1917, but that’s about it.

I suppose sources about modern China and LGBTQ would be nice as well, post revolution and current.

Very hard to find trustworthy sources.

  • @tisamantis@lemmygrad.ml
    9•2 years ago

    “Contrary to popular belief,the USSR did not have any anti-LGBTQ laws.”

    I’m sorry, but this is copium. We must admit mistakes where they are made.

    This is an old edition of the Criminal Code. (from 1926)

    TL: Article 154-a. Sexual intercourse of a man with a man (sodomy) - imprisonment for a term of three to five years.

    Sodomy committed with the use of violence or with the use of the dependent position of the victim - imprisonment for a term of three to eight years

    This is new Code. (from 1960)

    Pedophilia is covered by Articles 119 and 120 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR in later years. Most documents you can find now are the amended version from 1993 (bottom line on screenshot says so), when sodomy was decriminalized and 1st part of 121 was removed. (Art 121 in last 2 screenshots covers rape)

    TL:

    Article 119. Sexual intercourse with a person who has not reached adulthood. (lit. sexual maturity)

    Sexual intercourse with a children, shall be punishable by deprivation of liberty for a term of up to three years. The same actions associated with the satisfaction of sexual passion in perverted forms - shall be punishable by deprivation of liberty for a term of up to six years.

    Article 120. Indecent acts against minors - shall be punishable by deprivation of liberty for a term of up to three years.

    Article 121: Same as 2nd half of Article 154a above + pedophilia, but term is 7 years.

    Sources (can find other ones):

    https://istmat.org/files/uploads/49552/ugolovnyy_kodeks_rsfsr_-_1950.pdf - older codex http://www.kremlin.ru/acts/bank/2/print - newer codex https://www.consultant.ru/document/cons_doc_LAW_2950/6d8a39804bfe82e851812361be108dd1296a042c/ - same as 2nd link

    • AdvancedAktion
      6•2 years ago

      Is there any other erroneous claims in my post or the links?

      How strictly were these laws implemented?

      Is there any statistics regarding this?

      • @tisamantis@lemmygrad.ml
        3•2 years ago

        My sources (I don’t trust them myself) claim roughly the following:

        1. Charges of sodomy were sometimes used when dealing with spies, suspected spies or people conducting counterrevolutionary activities. Case of D.T. Florinsky (they were invited to People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs by Chicherin, btw…) is cited - they were jailed for 5 years for sodomy, after that they were also charged w/ espionage and executed in 1937. This seems like internal party struggle. Other people who faced similar charges were B.A. Prozorovsky, B.S. Pshibishevsky. Whether or not these people were spies is unknown to me, but charging people with sodomy is just…sad?

        2. OGPU may have dealt with (suspected) homosexuals in an extrajudicial manner. In 1930, “raids on homosexuals” (“with intent of dealing with german spies”) were conducted and at least 175 people were arrested, rumors state they may have been Zinovyev or Trotsky supporters. It seems there is no data on number of people charged w/ sodomy during this time period.

        3. After Stalin’s death, apparently anti-homosexual practices became even worse. My numbers show the average number of people sentenced every year between 1961 and 1991 is around 500-800 people, with spikes to >1200 in 1970s. As numbers are estimates by Dan Healey, they should not be trusted.

        Unlike what I posted before, which were pictures of official legal documents, this information is not trustworthy at all, comes primarily from a single source, may actually carry intent of smearing the USSR. Alas, this picture of USSR seems reasonable to me, because:

        1. Nearly everyone was homophobic in the past. (Yes, that includes Stalin. If Stalin wasn’t a homophobe, he would object to homophobic legislation.)

        2. Homophobia is extremely widespread in Russian minds today, and it had to come from somewhere.

        I think someone more competent than me should study material and make judgements about this issue. Alas, that someone should probably know the Russian language.

        P.S. I wanted to post an actual link to the wiki article, but it’s was being formatted weird. I’ll reiterate: Don’t trust anything. https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/История_преследования_гомосексуалов_в_России