# 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:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/41 "2022-03-29T06:34:42Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > far-left liberals That’s an oxymoron. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/42 "2022-03-29T08:53:53Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > …there was certainly a group of far-left liberals who embraced communism at that time… I would think that was more because they were far left than because they were liberal. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/43 "2022-03-29T09:56:28Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > That’s an oxymoron. Americans have their own terms for things. “Liberal”, to them, means leftist - nothing more, nothing less. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/44 "2022-03-29T09:57:49Z")
I doubt any but the most RW-partisan Americans think Lenin or Stalin or Castro were “liberals”. And the far-left is to the left of _those_. It’s not that they have their own definition of “liberal”, it’s that they seem to have no idea what “far-left” actually means. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/45 "2022-03-29T10:07:43Z")
Have to agree with **MrDibble** here **Alessan**. ---
**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 29, 2022, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/46 "2022-03-29T10:10:06Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Americans have their own terms for things. Some, for sure. Mostly those on the right. But the hardcore leftists I knew once upon a time despised “liberals” as do-nothing wimps who were only as left as was comfortable 😉. This old [Phil Ochs song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nFvhhCulaw) (or [Jello Biafra’s update](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nGJ3AjFF1Y) among many covers) about sums it up. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/47 "2022-03-29T12:09:24Z")
I’m going to buck the trend here as I think there may be something to it, but indirectly. Dictators like a society to be as they see it should be, with people following rules that lead to a controlled society that falls within certain guidelines that the dictator agrees with. Further religion is powerful and when decoupled from state control challenges the state authority. This aspect is who gets to set the rules, the state or the state and the church. So while I don’t think it’s a overwhelming reason I do think it’s a factor as the church supporting greater freedom then then state wants to allow will detract from Putin’s power and is a move towards greater freedom. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/48 "2022-04-01T20:06:21Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I doubt any but the most RW-partisan Americans think Lenin or Stalin or Castro were “liberals”. And the far-left is to the left of _those_ . > > It’s not that they have their own definition of “liberal”, it’s that they seem to have no idea what “far-left” actually means. The terms “liberal” “left” and “socialist” now simply mean: “A thing that I don’t understand in the slightest, but I have been told it is terrible so I hate it.” ---
**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:** [April 1, 2022, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195/49 "2022-04-01T21:10:40Z")
That’s not how American liberals, leftists, or progressives use the words. I agree that “socialism” is such a bastardized word in the US as to have little meaning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-russian-invasion-really-about-gay-pride-parades/961195.md?page=2)