Throughout history there has been a lot of controversy on free speech and free press in Russia and the restrictions on it. This essay will reflect on the Russian government and the restrictions it has placed on speech and press involving homosexuality during Putin's ruling.
According to findings on Freedom House.org, the constitution instated in 1993 established a strong presidency with the power to dismiss and appoint the prime minister, pending parliament approval. Putin entered the Russian government in 1999, after serving as President for two four-year terms, he remained working as prime minister until 2012. After already overstaying his position in power, a constitutional amendment that was put in place in 2008 which made him able to serve a six-year term as president again and he will be eligible for another term this year. In an article found on LexisNexis Acedemic, Melissa Dawson wrote about the first constitution to be adopted by Russia after the fall of communism in 1993. This constitution claimed a commitment to freedom of speech and thought, and forbid censorship. The constitution of 1993 also states that citizens may not be compelled to express opinions and guarantees the right to transmit, seek out and obtain information. Despite this, citizens were not allowed to withhold state secrets or emergency information. The point of this was to draw a balance between free speech and other competing values.
There are countless articles that touch on the topic of Russia's free speech restrictions. One of these restrictions is the censorship of homosexuality in academics and the overall community. In an article found on EBSCOhost, author Laurie Essig states that the censorship in Russia is in fact real and deeply troubling. The Russian government has put a ban on "homosexual propaganda" and in some cases takes the ban too far. Essig was asked to talk about her current research at a large academic conference in Moscow. Her research was about Russia's state views and when it was brought to the attention of hosts of the academic conference that her views on homosexuality would be present during her speech, the council asked her if she would be okay speaking about older works she had done that didn’t include talk about homosexuality. In August 2015, Moscows city council shut down a film festival known for its queer content and other very controversial themes. The irony of this situation is that instead of telling the community that they shut down the festival because if its content the council said its decision was based on "difficult economic conditions". Later the council introduced a festival with a new "youth-oriented, positive one". Essig also touched on her time as a college student in Russia. She states that she knew people that risked their freedom and even their lives to publish journals on topics such as, feminist theories, political satire, and/or gay literature. These people, along with many others created spaces that they could share their views openly. Sometimes these articles were read at cafes, in classrooms, or even around someone's kitchen table. Even though in these open spaces the government could not forbid your speech, Essig states the when the speeches offended or undermined the ethics of the people at the gathering, a vigorous debate occurred. Another interesting view displayed in Essig's article was the contradiction between the extremely strict views in Russia and the extremely relaxed views in America. During her time speaking in Russian schools and American schools, she says that in American classrooms they often encourage her to include trigger warnings into her courses (which are taught on topics including gender, race, and sexuality), whereas in Russian classrooms she tries to steer away from topics that might trigger students.
It is stated on Freedom House.org that LGBT people are subject to a considerable amount of discrimination in Russia. In late 2015, the parliament considered passing a bill that would penalize anyone who expressed public affection in nontraditional ways. There was also a law passed in 2013 that banned any information that promoted any kind of nontraditional sexual relationships. This caused many violent outbreaks and an extensive amount of pressure was put on LGBT activists to stay quiet. Information supporting these facts was also found in an article by Omar Encarnacion which stated that the law passed in 2013 was so broad that it outlaws gay-pride parades, gay symbols such as the rainbow flag and the simple act of admitting you are gay in a public setting. This article also stated that a whopping 84 percent of Russian citizens disapprove of homosexuality.
An example of homosexuality being present in press would be in the Russian translation of the book "The Hours". Originally written by Michael Cunningham in 1998, Russian poet Dmitrii Vendeniapin translated the piece into Russian. Alexandra Berlina stated in an article titled "Homosexuality in the Russian Translation of The Hours", that the references to same-sex relations and gay identity are the most problematic aspects of the translation. After overviewing the target context, Berlina found that translations of relevant terms including but not limited to queer and dyke were not added to the text, neither were many of the gay issues that were brought up in the original text. In the Russian translation the book was changed in many other ways to make it seem anti-gay or less gay for the largely homophobic community in Russia. Vendeniapin also translated another book written by Cunningham called A Home at the End of the World, which also included dense homosexual context in the English version. In the article, Berlina states that Vendeniapin hand picked every piece he translated and he chose to translate these pieces because he wasn’t afraid to confront the gay sex scenes in these novels and give a less harsh view of them to the Russian readers. A direct quote from the article states, "The first chapter concerning Clarissa offers a striking example. Clarissa is thinkingabout Mary’s attitude to her; both women are lesbian: "a queer theorist […] mocks you, privately, for your comforts and your quaint(she must consider them quaint) notions about lesbian identity"(Eng 23). In Vedeniapin’s version, this becomes: "somnitelnoi osoby […] preziraet ee za liubov’ k komfortu i strannuiu (ona,konechno, schitaet eto strannym) lesbiiskuiu orientatsiu." (Rus 31) "an extremely dubious person […] despises her love for comfort and strange(she, of course, considers it strange) lesbian orientation (back-translation)"". Clearly based on this translation, Vendeniapin took out the word queer and substituted it for "extremely dubious" and refers to lesbian identity as lesbian orientation to soften the harshness of the text.
In conclusion, there are many ways that freedom of speech and freedom of press are restricted in Russia. These ways include, restricting speeches and education on homosexuality, passing laws that limit gay rights and limiting the content in published texts.