This is what it's really like to be gay in Russia
While the U.S. has a lot of celebrating to do with our recent legalization of gay marriage, it's hard to believe just how hostile things are for same-sex couples in Russia. As is illustrated in the above video, homosexual relationships are stigmatized by most of the population.
So ChebuRussiaTV wanted to do an experiment. They took to the streets of Moscow, Russia to see how the public would react to two gay men holding hands.
The video was taken by a hidden camera in a backpack in front of the men, who bravely walked down the Moscow streets holding hands. It was posted by ChebuRussiaTV on July 12. As of today, just 2 days later, the video was garnered over 3.5 million views!
Before watching the video, it helps to understand a bit of background first. In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill banning the "propaganda of nontraditional sexual orientation." Essentially, this is indirect way of putting a "ban" on same-sex couples.
%shareLinks-quote="This law openly discriminates against LGBT people, legitimizes anti-LGBT violence, and seeks to erase LGBT people from the country's public life." type="quote" author="Hugh Williamson" authordesc="Director, Human Rights Watch" isquoteoftheday="false"%
Watch the video and see for yourself. Warning, it may hurt your soul:
Unlike Russian society, there are many countries that celebrate gay rights with fabulous pride parades:
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