Anyone else getting tired of seeing people carry water for homophobic expansionist tyrants?

[newthinking]

63. The first thing we need to do is as liberals is recognize the propaganda we are under

This has been a very sophisticated 10 year effort and has included two attempts (Orange Revolution was the first).

Question and research.

For instance where have we received this idea that Russia (while definitely behind in it's approach to LGBT rights) is so much worse than Ukraine? It isn't. Both countries are exactly at the same level.

This chart allows you to compare LGBT legal rights in two countries.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2014/may/-sp-gay-rights-world-lesbian-bisexual-transgender#country:804,643

Russia also has far less anti-semitism as a whole then not only Ukraine, but most countries of Eastern Europe. But is that what you have been led to believe?

There is work to do in all these countries. But we need to recognize that we are being manipulated and that effect is actually hurting the advancement of Human Rights around the world.

Russia actually has more laws that in general should protect the LGBT public that the US does. But more work is needed in the areas of education and application of those laws. For instance, Russia actually has stronger labor codes than the us and does not have "Right to work" laws and it is illegal to discriminate in hiring or firing or at work due to sexual orientation or preferences. In the US there are no specific protections against discrimination in the workplace in 29 states and thanks to "right to work" there is no recourse.

The US still has statutes that technically make homosexuality illegal in 12 states and the US military, while it is legal and technically protected throughout Russia. The primary difference is we have done much more education work so that those states only rarely attempt to use those laws as they know that there will be a backlash. And in Russia more work in education and enforcement needs to be done. I won't go into it much but one of the factors affecting Russia is that our own Right Wing Parties and right wing religious organizations infiltrated Russia very early on. They treat it like an experiment. I have no doubt that without their influence Russia would have advanced far more than it has. But that is getting off topic.

My point is that these things are much more complicated and severely agitated by the neocon shock doctrine preparation that has been occurring for 10 years. it is the neocons, neoliberals, and the International Republican institute that we should be fighting harder against, not Russia.

Russia is indeed a complex place with some very strong contradictions, which is all the more reason to let reason determine our approach.