The political undertones were strong this year and though I didn't think much of Ukraine's song I'm at least glad Russia didn't win. Russia shouldn't even be allowed to host Eurovision. I'm pretty sure given their anti-gay laws half the crowd and participants wouldn't even be allowed to attend or risk getting imprisoned just for being who they are and loving who they want. Russia's hate laws are the complete opposite of what Eurovision stands for and is supposed to promote. I'm surprised so many people voted for Russia. The song was pretty Euro-trash if you ask me. "Thunder and lighting, it's getting exciting", I mean seriously? And the presentation was too gimmicky for my taste.
[doublepost=1463323541][/doublepost]I hope Ukraine invites us back.
I know you are posting this as a good person who really wants the world to be a better place and genuinely feels angry when unfairness prevails. I understand and respect that. The problem is, the picture your mainstream media paints, is rather extreme and skewed.
Russia is not the most open-minded country. That's for sure. None of ex-USSR countries are. We come from a past that many of you in the West can't relate to. Sexual freedom in general is a very new concept in this part of the world. For a long time even talking about straight sex was a kind of taboo. Making one's sexual life a public matter in general is something older generations feel uncomfortable with. The Renaissance of the religion that has been banned for near a century is also a big contributing factor.
An average Russian does not have an experience of having an openly gay friend, neighbour, colleague or relative. All he/she sees is an exaggerated, foreign and rather aggressive image on TV. This society needs time and education. Most local gay people are aware of the context they live in and don't seek confrontation for the sake of confrontation. They leave their bed-stories in their bedrooms, just like most straight people do. When Western activists come in with zero regard for the country's culture, history and current state of affairs, seek provocation and then your media turns into another wave of anti-Russian hysteria, what does it do other than making you feel superior and making locals more annoyed?
It takes time for some things to change gradually. It took you time. You had a head start and yet a lot of Western countries are still far from perfect in this regard. Countries like Russia may need a bit more time to catch up. Tolerance and understanding is not a one-way street.
With this out of the way, things are not nearly as bad as you make them sound. The so-called 'draconian laws' are just one law that forbids the promotion of homosexual lifestyle among minors. It's a stupid law that I personally see as a step in wrong direction, but Russian laws regarding sexual education of children are generally very conservative.
It's perfectly legal to be gay in Russia. There is a decent gay scene in the country. Sergey Lazarev that represented Russia this year performs in gay clubs regularly. And although he's not out of the closet officially, the names of his current and ex boyfriends are hardly a secret. There are many other artists that don't make statements but don't exactly hide their orientation either. The 'evil of the evils' Putin has mentioned having homosexual friends more than once. So no, you are not going to be arrested for being gay in Russia. It's simply not fair to make it sound worse than countries of Middle East where being gay gets you imprisoned or killed. Your leaders shake hands with the leaders of those countries all the time.
It's true that if you make your sexuality visible on the streets somehow, you can be unfortunate to face aggression from some of the extreme representatives of the society. It does happen in your civilised countries too. The chances are maybe higher in Russia for the reasons I mentioned in the beginning of this post. But you are in for the huge
disappointment if you expect Ukraine to be different in this regard. It's actually more dangerous at this point, I'd say. The coup and events on the South-East of the country created the situation where the nationalistic feels are very high, the right-far groups believe in their impunity and they actually have weapons on their hands. In Russia police is much more likely to prevent violence. Moscow hosted Eurovision in 2009 and I don't recall any problems then.