Thread: RT coverage on gay rights in Russia

Originally Posted by Deborski

Gay rights in Russia: Facts and Myths — RT News
I am actually impressed with RT's coverage of this issue. Considering that it is a state-funded Russian news organization, they actually do a good job of covering the story fairly and accurately. Soviet news agencies were notoriously biased and would have been blasting everyone with lies and propaganda to cover up the reality of the situation, but RT has done a good job of balancing their reporting here.
Certainly RT is more "fair and balanced" than FOX "news" is.

That was a really good article. But the journalist never really answered the question "But why are homosexuals being punished?". They only said how but not why.
And I totally do agree about Fox news. It's just all about political rants. So is USA Today, CNN, the New York Times, the Washington Post, NBC, CBS, ABC, etc etc.
But I have a system now. I look for a topic at Reuters. Then I find the same topic at Le Monde, RT, Российская Газета, Pravda, and other sources. And I talk to other people about it like Tosevski. He's always reading stuff in Slovenia. Then I can decide what adds up and what doesn't. But mostly the American media doesn't add up.

Originally Posted by Deborski

When I returned to the US, most people were uninterested in the experience. Others called me a "communist" and some resented me for going there to help "the Russians," insisting I should only help "my own people." I had a letter of recommendation from the President of the Lenteleradiokomitet, who was a personal friend of Yeltsin, but it meant nothing in the US. Less than nothing, really. I ended up having to start my career all over again from scratch, and I worked my way through the ranks of local TV news as a field reporter, covering crime and other beats in the US. I finally left the business when I became too disgusted with the state of newsmedia in America.
For a long time, I stopped even talking about Russia because I got so many negative comments whenever I tried to bring it up. Mostly people laughed at me or called me a communist, although I never was a member of the communist party, nor was I affiliated with any political party in Russia. I lost touch with my friends in Russia. It is a long and complicated story. But a couple years back we all reconnected, thanks to Facebook, and I decided to go back to studying Russian with the hopes of potentially teaching English in Russia one day.

That happens now - and even before the Snowden thing. It happens in real life and online. I was trying to defend a Russian newbie at a "Nonsense" forum last winter. I mean, it's not even a serious forum. But I got verbally slammed for doing it and even got warned that I could get banned. The Russian newbie got banned and I didn't see him violate the TOS ever!
Btw, have you seen all the anti-Russian stuff in the mainstream USA media? I've just been all "Why?". And this journalist in Forbes even suggested that Obama should make serious issues at the Sochi olympics (last 3 paragraphs). Imo, our country needs to stay away from the Olympics if they just want to start drama!
Putin the Predictable: Guest Snowden - Forbes

Well, today is grammar day so I won't be reading much news. But reading the news in Russian - while using the google translator - has helped me to understand how Russian people communicate. There is a huge difference between the way Russians put their thoughts into words and the way we do. But it is getting easier to understand.

@ Maxmixiv: I was looking at pictures of your city, Omsk, yesterday. It looks really cool and it's not that far north of Baikonur. Do you ever watch the Soyuz launches? Just curious. I've been checking out lots of cities all over Russia.

Originally Posted by UhOhXplode

Btw, have you seen all the anti-Russian stuff in the mainstream USA media? I've just been all "Why?". And this journalist in Forbes even suggested that Obama should make serious issues at the Sochi olympics (last 3 paragraphs). Imo, our country needs to stay away from the Olympics if they just want to

It's unbelievable how ignorant, arrogant and prejudiced some of the commentators on US TV sometimes are, and particularly when it comes to Russia.

It's THEIR loss, though. Who cares?
If they want to sit on the other side of the Atlantic and hate a country they never visited and don't have the true facts about.... then let them! It's particularly sad though since Russians absolutely seem prepared to give the USA and Americans a chance and some are really positive. Meanwhile Americans with very few exceptions are literally swimming in prejudice.

On the other hand I think in Europe it's really important that people stop having these Hollywood and FOX inspired ideas about Russia.

The whole paranoia about defense against Russia, when Russia couldn't care less about Europe from a military perspective. All the slander about the gas/oil situation, like it was somehow Russia's FAULT that it sits on the gas and needs to ship and sell it to Europe, or that Russia has some evil masterplan to use this to hurt Europe. There is no sign of that, yet it's constantly hinted at anyway.

I hope the Winter Olympics changes things.

The recent drama about gay rights in Russia is a worry though: Fingers crossed there will be no big gay pride manifestation during the Olympics and Russia overreacting. I think it would be much more dignified if Russia responded to a gay manifestation with a shake of the head and just let them do their thing. I think a lot of people just think it looks stupid and tasteless anyway, but it would be tons worse if the demonstrators were dragged off in handcuffs, and JUST the footage to fit with the prejudice.

Originally Posted by UhOhXplode

Putin the Predictable: Guest Snowden - Forbes

Isn't that magazine the the mouthpiece of the elites in the USA, essentially? Not popular on this side of the pond at all, but I've come across it.
I mean, what they are writing isn't even objectively true!
And Obama isn't quite aggressive enough in his foreign policy for the journalists at Forbes clearly!

If they want to boycott the Olympic games they'll just look like a kid who has a trauma in the supermarket when he doesn't get the sweets he wants!
Didn't they actually boycott the games in Moscow too? I was too young wouldn't have known. Or did they just say they would..?
What if every country that had a complaint against the USA had boycotted the games there? Hardly anyone apart from the UK and a few arab emirates would have turned up....

Since they can't find anything seriously wrong that Russia does, they are blowing this gay thing out of ALL PROPORTIONS. Don't fall for it, Deborski and others! I mean, anyone who wants to worry about gay rights should start in the US allied Saudi Arabia, just about any gulf state or any country in Africa. All that Russia does is prevents a parade. Meanwhile in the USA plenty of people are prevented from demonstrating about other things.

And in this, I have to say that Sweden is worse than the USA. People are totally up in arms about this. I just can't relate at all, but they had 12 years of pro - gay media while I've been out of the country, so I am out of touch. They now genuinely believe this is super important. Maybe I'm getting old or something, but I honestly think they have lost all sense of proportion. http://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/fok...-prideparaden/

As regards gay rights, I am not going to be drawn into a debate on the subject in this forum. I see no point in discussing it. I will only say that I have very close friends who are gay, and that they are not evil, or sick, or brainwashed, or whatever else people say about them. When my husband was dying in the hospital, the friend who helped me, who held me as I cried through the night, was a lesbian. She never tried to come onto me, or "turn me gay" or any of that rubbish. She was kind, compassionate and caring and she was THERE for me, which is a lot more than I can say for my own family, or for the so-called Christians, who like to sit in judgement of others but don't seem to understand that concept about "love your neighbor" as well as my gay friends do. Frankly, I do not care what other people do in their bedrooms, whether they are gay or straight, it makes no difference to me. As long as everyone is consensual and an adult, it should not be the business of the church, or the state, to intrude on their personal lives.

My primary concern about Russia's new laws, is the ambiguity of them. Simply stating that "gay propaganda" is illegal leaves things very wide open. Does it mean I can be arrested for saying something like I just said above? If so, I will not travel to Russia until things change. There are also laws now against "offending the sensibilities of religious people." I find that extremely disturbing. Sure, it's Russia's business what it does and I will not travel there to try to change things, that would never have been my purpose. But to be worried about being arrested or fined just for speaking my mind, is not a way I want to live.

And that's all I wish to say on the subject in this forum.

Originally Posted by Hanna

...And in this, I have to say that Sweden is worse than the USA. People are totally up in arms about this. I just can't relate at all, but they had 12 years of pro - gay media while I've been out of the country, so I am out of touch. They now genuinely believe this is super important. Maybe I'm getting old or something, but I honestly think they have lost all sense of proportion. Fokus på Ryssland i Prideparaden - DN.SE

И Нидерланды!