This is what government sanctioned bigotry looks like in Russia:

[sufrommich]

A video of two men pretending to be gay, with a hidden camera in front of them to record reactions from people on the streets of Moscow, has gone viral – garnering one million views in just one day.

The short video is in Russian with English subtitles. The two men begin by explaining they wanted to see the reactions of Russians to two men holding hands, after the United States Supreme Court declared a constitutional right for same-sex couples to marriage.

The responses are what you might expect. A lot of cursing, condemnation, and two men separately and "accidentally" bumping into the "couple." At one point it looked like it would get violent, but aside from a hefty slam, that was the extent of the violence.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin's war on LGBT people continues, the rest of the world seems to have moved on from the international condemnation in the year leading up to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Meanwhile, the attacks on LGBT people in Russia, supported by Putin's reign and fostered by the anti-gay culture he has created, continues.

http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/1_million_views_in_1_day_video_of_reactions_to_two_gay_men_holding_hands_in_moscow_goes_viral

[Igel]

1. Some things are just backwards.

"Fostered by the anti-gay culture he has created."

It's one thing to play to the masses as a populist.

It's another thing to demagogue the masses into changing their views.

Putin's the former, not the latter. He plays off of what the bottom 2/3 or 3/4 want and believe and need to believe; he may exacerbate it, by telling them how wonderfully right they are, but he doesn't so much "foster" as just sort of weed the garden that's already there, he throws them red meat. Peer pressure does the rest.

Now, the entire "antifascist" thing is a bit murkier, because while there really was and should have been a lot of anti-fascist rhetoric and animus, making the WWII the be-all and end-all of Russian nationalism and patriotism was a project that took decades, as pro-communist fervor faded and society became jaded with the endless sacrifices. It's all that survived, really, past 1990.

[NuclearDem]

2. Putin's a fascist piece of shit.