# Is the Russian invasion really about gay pride parades? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** ukraine-invasion\ **Created:** [March 16, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195 "2022-03-16T16:49:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/1 "2022-03-16T16:49:59Z")
I read an interesting article on cnn by Delia Gallagher, sorry can’t do the linky thing! Basically she says recent words from high ups indicate keeping the Russian Orthodox faith intact and pure, especially as regards how homosexuality is viewed, may be at the core of this. More and more RO churches outside Russia have become independent of the Russian Pope (?), and often over changing attitudes on this issue. In places like Spain I guess it’s to be expected, but for Ukraine it’s a step too far or too close I suppose. It was an interesting read, I’m wondering if anyone here has any views to share. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/2 "2022-03-16T16:59:01Z")
Sounds like a real stretch.That would be like saying the Nazis put Jews to death in the Holocaust because of yarmulkes. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/3 "2022-03-16T17:00:03Z")
No. It’s Putin wanting to recreate the Soviet Union. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/4 "2022-03-16T17:01:22Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > It’s Putin wanting to recreate the Soviet Union. And/or the Russian Empire. Either way, I agree. As per a speech by Putin a few weeks ago (quoted in this Vox article): > [@](#): > > The central contention of Putin’s speech on Monday is that Ukraine and Russia are, in historical terms, essentially inseparable. > > “Ukraine is not just a neighboring country for us. It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space,” he said, per [the Kremlin’s official translation](http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/67828#sel=8:9:vX6,8:24:UFE;19:1:b6m,19:26:Xov;34:1:H38,35:35:2rw;52:72:Wl6,53:55:l2j;60:20:Xr6,60:56:Xry;68:19:WNj,68:80:22Z;69:57:Lj2,70:24:ksw). “Since time immemorial, the people living in the south-west of what has historically been Russian land have called themselves Russians.” > > What we now call Ukraine, he says, “was entirely created by Russia or, to be more precise, by Bolshevik Communist Russia.” In this questionable narrative, a trio of early Soviet leaders — Lenin, Stalin, and Khrushchev — carved land away from Russia and several nearby nations to create a distinct and ahistorical republic called Ukraine. The creation of Ukraine and the other Soviet republics was an attempt to win the support of “the most zealous nationalists” across the Soviet Union — at the expense of the historical idea of Russia. > **[Why is Putin attacking Ukraine? He told us.](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/2/23/22945781/russia-ukraine-putin-speech-transcript-february-22)** > > In a recent speech, the Russian president laid out the nationalist ideas that animate him — and helped cause the Ukraine crisis. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/5 "2022-03-16T17:05:00Z")
Short answer “no”. Long answer “nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo” ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/6 "2022-03-16T17:09:00Z")
@elbows Here’s the article. To do the linky thing, copy/paste the URL from the browser, remove everything in between the brackets (including the brackets), and remove the parentheses. > **[In Putin's vision for the world, a medieval narrative resurfaces | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/14/europe/patriarch-kirill-putin-spiritual-battle-intl-cmd/index.html)** > > Russian President Vladimir Putin has given several explanations for his country's war on Ukraine, and some are more plausible than others. They include stopping NATO's advance towards Russia's borders, protecting fellow Russians from "genocide" or... ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/7 "2022-03-16T17:16:04Z")
The Ucrainian flag is just 2/7 of the rainbow flag, the other 5/7ths are an excuse to be an imperialist aggressor. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/8 "2022-03-16T17:20:09Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > More and more RO churches outside Russia have become independent of the Russian Pope No - this is based on something real, but it is most unlikely to be the cause of anything. Putin is not that beholden to the patriarch of Moscow and has his own geopolitical agenda. The struggle between the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox church heated up in a big way in 2018 when the patriarch of Constantinople (considered first among equals) granted autocephalous status to Ukraine. It’s a big and thorny issue in Eastern Orthodox circles. So I have no doubt the patriarch of Moscow is fully backing Putin on this one. He regards that separation as illegitimate. But the tail does not wag the dog - it is not a cause, just more justification. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/9 "2022-03-16T18:00:25Z")
(Thanks for the lessons! Appreciate it greatly! ) ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/10 "2022-03-17T00:36:37Z")
That nutty idea about gay pride parades comes from Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, a great supporter of Putin. Here’s the full text of his sermon on March 6: > **[A Terrible Sermon: Patriarch of Moscow Blesses “Metaphysical” War Against the...](https://bitterwinter.org/patriarch-of-moscow-blesses-war-against-gay-prides/)** > > On March 6, ironically Forgiveness Sunday for the Orthodox, Patriarch Kirill abandoned all caution and blessed the war of aggression against Ukraine and the “false freedom” of democratic countries. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/11 "2022-03-17T01:45:10Z")
I don’t think wanting to suppress gay pride parades is Russia’s motivation for invading Ukraine, but I do agree with Richard Hanania that Western liberals’ hatred of Russia is driven by LGBT issues: > **[Russia as the "Great Satan" in the Liberal Imagination](https://richardhanania.substack.com/p/russia-as-the-great-satan-in-the?s=r)** > > Why the culture war is global and there will be no insurgency in Ukraine ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/12 "2022-03-17T01:51:25Z")
Huh? I grew up during the tail end of the cold war. Russia was the great enemy. This was well before LGBT rights made the front page. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/13 "2022-03-17T02:07:56Z")
So did I. Back then, liberals liked Russia and hated the CIA. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/14 "2022-03-17T02:58:59Z")
Ya got a cite for that? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/15 "2022-03-17T03:21:52Z")
Besides being an anti-gay diatribe, the screech was written on January 26. You know, back when Tucker Carlson was saying he supported Russia and how could anyone hate Putin? That world is dead and gone, blasted into rubble like Ukrainian cities. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/16 "2022-03-17T03:41:32Z")
Considering how laughably wrong that article’s predictions of the military results in Ukraine were, one wonders why anyone would give the tiniest benefit of the doubt to anything else in the article. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/17 "2022-03-17T03:49:17Z")
Yes, I was just about to post this bit: > [@](#): > > Once we step aside from culture war resentments and focus on the hard realities of geopolitics, it is clear that Russia will eventually get its way because it cares more about Ukraine than the US does, and has the ability to threaten or use military force to get what it wants. When resolve and capabilities line up on the same side, that side is going to win. And the reason that Americans don’t care about Ukraine is that Ukraine objectively does not matter to the US. All the sophistry in the world coming from MSNBC hosts, ex-generals on the payrolls of defense contractors, and think tank analysts can’t change people’s perceptions here. > > The only questions now are how far Putin will go, and how tough American sanctions will be. Washington is now [deluding itself](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/14/us/politics/russia-ukraine-biden-military.html) into believing that it can help facilitate an insurgency in Ukraine. This will not happen. True, it’s not Ukrainian insurgency - because the Ukrainian military is still fighting, in spite of his prediction that Russia will get whatever it wants because of its great army. Since he got all this wrong, why should we beleive anything else he said? Plus, anyone who uses a US tv show as the starting point for his political analysis, whether that’s _House of Cards_ or _The West Wing_, isn’t really worth listening to. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/18 "2022-03-17T03:55:47Z")
I was likewise amused that he’s so steeped in his own bullshit that he could not even imagine a situation where the Ukranian military is still operating, and went straight to assuming there’d only be an insurgency left. There are more gems on his main page, such as: > Yes, foreign policy elites are worse than Putin He apparently appeared on Tucker Carlson. Which probably tells you all you need to know. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/19 "2022-03-17T04:47:18Z")
Here’s a much better counterpoint; > **[No, the War in Ukraine Isn’t Because of Pronouns](https://gen.medium.com/no-the-war-in-ukraine-wasnt-because-of-pronouns-c3e3e8f938a3)** > > Punditry’s most embarrassing obsession comes to war time and it’s just as dumb as you’d expect it to be ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/20 "2022-03-17T04:54:32Z")
To the OP: In the sense that Trumpism is about bullying transgender kids. In other words, not really, but it’s a good distraction for rich motherfuckers to try to screw the rest of us over even more so than they already do. I have no doubt that Putin hates the fact that being gay isn’t illegal in Ukraine, but that’s not the real cause for the war any more than disputes between Orthodox bishops are. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195.md?page=2)