Okay, so contrary to popular knowledge, the Russian LGBTQ community has a long and rich history and culture. I'm not a massive authority, but I am a Russianist (writing about Russian colonialism in Siberia) who wants to specialise in queer history for her MPhil
The Russian Orthodox Church used to be surprisingly ambivalent about homosexuality and gender non conformity. In fact, our earliest documented bans come from the SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. Some have theorised that this is due to Russia becoming more "European" under Peter the Great
I would hesitate to argue that, as Russian historiography is often split between Europhiles and Russophiles. However, Russia did have strong ties to Central Asia throughout the Middle Ages, especially with the Golden Hoard post 1280 and Khazar Khaganate in its VERY early history
Anyway. One of our earliest sources on Russian homosexuality is Sigismund von Herberstein who was an Austrian courtier. In Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii he is positively shocked at open displays of homosexuality by Russian nobles under Vasilii III
Of course, this could be the work of a Catholic Austrian shocked by the frighteningly foreign Russia of 1517, but there is likely some truth to the claim. Later under Vasilii's son, Ivan the Terrible, English poet George Turberville also was shocked by open homosexuality
This is funny because in 1568 Ivan was deep in the Oprichnina phase of his rule, murdering THOUSANDS, possibly founding an end-of-the-world death cult. Turberville is like, sure everyone's dying but THE H O M O S E X
A 17th Century German commentator (I forget his name) also mentions open displays of Russian homosexuality and I think even female homosexuality. He notes it was practised through all strata of society and wasn't criminalised
Of course, Early Modern Russia was NOT a queer paradise. Homosexuality was still leveraged as an insult - it happened to Ivan the Terrible several times - and when Lzhedmitry I was killed his body was dragged naked through the streets of Moscow next to that of his supposed lover
An interesting route of enquiry would probably be to search for incidences of homosexuality between member of the Russian clergy - both lay and monastic - as this hasn't really been done scholarly before
"Sodomy" (Muzhelozhstvo) was banned between members of the armed forces in 1716 and church law (which is different from civil law in Russia) prohibited GNC behaviours amongst women from at least the C.17th - girls were punished for being overly masculine
As this is a nice break in the continuity, I'm going to stop this here for the moment as I'm going to meet a friend at UCL. HOWEVER, it's going to continue in a couple of hours. Look out for the GULAG system, psychiatry, Nijinsky and Diaghilev, and oral sex 🏳️🌈🇷🇺
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