About real Russian traditions

Russian legislators in their holy war with “LGBT propaganda” like to appeal to some “traditional values” that this propaganda allegedly encroaches on. However, here, as in many other cases, it is worth digging a little into these traditional values, as it turns out that they are a hundred years old at lunchtime. Well, from the strength of 200-300, but no more.

So the Council Code (a large set of laws written in the 17th century and in force, one way or another, right up to 1832) does not contain any mention of homosexuality at all and, accordingly, its criminalization. When did this criminalization start? Under Peter I, who had seen enough of the life of British and Dutch Protestants during the Great Embassy, and began to establish similar orders in Russia. In the “Short Article” of 1706 there was a clause implying execution and burning for “a husband and husband are ashamed to compose.” Then military regulations appeared, where punishment was reduced to corporal punishment. Apparently, outside the army and navy, these laws did not apply. And only in 1832 in the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire did a clause appear that threatened for sodomy with deprivation of property, corporal punishment and exile in the settlement. According to the good imperial tradition, this was copied from the Germans.

Thus, before the reforms of Peter the Great, homosexuality in Russia was not criminalized in any way, and its complete criminalization in the Russian Empire lasted less than 100 years. All this was not at all a consequence of some of our own Russian traditions, but a consequence of the influence of the Protestant order on the Russian elite, which climbed out of their skin just to organize everything “like in Europe.”

This, of course, does not mean that tolerance reigned in Russia on this issue. Such things were regulated by the church, which, of course, prescribed church punishment for fornication, but not execution with burning, but repentance, excommunication, etc. And here it is also interesting to recall one good Christian tradition, especially popular in the Eastern Church and existing for many centuries - adelphopoiesis. It is literally a “same-sex union” made in the church. Now researchers are arguing whether this union was purely fraternal and chaste, or, let’s say, not quite chaste. I guess the truth is somewhere in the middle - it probably happened to both. And “everyone understood everything.”

Thus, domestic champions of LGBT bans defend only one, extremely dubious tradition - the tradition of the Russian authorities to imitate Western Protestant fanatics. It’s funny that the current Russian “conservative” campaigns are already under the influence of American Protestants. And it’s not just that domestic “conservatives” drool enviously, looking at the successes of American TV preachers (although this also exists). American Protestant organizations literally pumped Russian “conservatives” with money and recorded domestic bans on “LGBT propaganda” as lobbying merit (that’s where the real foreign agents are).

Therefore, all real Russian conservatives should oppose this imported Protestant heresy. For real Russian traditions - when people’s sexual behavior is regulated by religion and morality, and not by law. And still it is possible to revive adelphopoiesis. It was a good tradition.

Mihail Pojarsky 2022-08-08