This new viral Russian ad campaign will be the perfect antidote for those of you who have woken up each day over the past year thinking “Ugh, if only I could live in Russia!” While it is obviously the land of dreams, this video, suspected to be financed by the Putin campaign according to the New York Daily News, highlights one of the country’s teeny-tiny little quirk – the government and many Russian citizens are soul-crushingly homophobic. The video has amassed just under 3.5 million views on Facebook and is a sad reminder of the widespread anti-gay sentiment facing the LGBTQ community in Russia, as well as other countries around the world.
The Russian election is set for March 18th of this year, and this pro-voting video imagines a dystopian Russia caused by a weak turnout at the polls. After brushing off his wife’s desire to vote in the election, we see a man’s worst nightmares regarding the future of his country come to life before his very eyes. These include a black member of the military “dubbing” with white military members, and, of course, the presence of a homosexual in the man’s very own house. Someone forgot to set the homosexual traps. Here’s more on the plot deets:
The waking nightmare he finds himself in the next morning because of his apathy includes walking to the kitchen to find a “gay on a homestay,” part of a program where Russian families are forced to support LGBT people who don’t have partners. The gay man, seen eating a banana, later appears in bed next to the clip’s middle aged protagonist before he wakes up.
The gay man is wearing an off-the-shoulder Flashdance fantasy, because, you know us, it is the uniform. I’m wearing one right now. With a current 80% approval rating, President Putin is all but guaranteed a win in the March 18th election, but analysts suspect that he could still be fearful of a weak turnout at the polls – a fear that most likely led to the creation of this video. But if Putin has taken any pointers from soul sister President Trump since the start of his own presidency, he’ll ignore the pesky actual numbers anyway and declare the turnout as “Huge.” Or “огромный.” I’m brushing up on my Russian for my obvious move.
Ironically, a “gay on a homestay” program would probably be the perfect answer to anti-LGBTQ sentiment in Russia, and I do hope that it becomes a part of governmental policy. What do you think of the video? Let us know in the comments!
