Red closet

The hidden history of gay oppression in the USSR

Bibliographic Data

ID23554391
AuthorsRustam Alexander
Year2023
Publication date2023-05-23
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueRed Closet (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherManchester University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.7765/9781526167460
OpenAlexW4377820455
Open LibraryOL39273694M
ISBN9781526167460
LanguageEN
Citations received3

This book begins in 1934, when the brutal Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin enacts sodomy laws, unleashing a wave of brutal detentions of homosexual men in large Soviet cities. It then recounts the individual stories of people whose lives were directly affected by Stalin’s decision to outlaw male homosexuality. This varied cast includes a naive Scottish journalist based in Moscow who dares to write to Stalin attempting to free his lover from detention, and a homosexual theatre student who comes to Moscow in pursuit of his dreams amid Stalin’s harsh repressions and mass arrests. A fearless doctor in Siberia provides medical treatment for gay men at his own peril, while a much-loved Soviet singer hides his homosexuality from the secret police. A polarising and wily KGB officer goes on the run, in pursuit of sex with men, yet willing to betray them if it helps to resurrect his career. The book also paints the poignant picture of a young returning Soviet diplomat who has contracted a strange new immune disease in Tanzania and his journey to discover the truth. All these stories are true, based on real people and carefully researched. Each vignette helps paint the hitherto unknown picture of how Soviet oppression of gay people actually originated and was perpetuated, from Stalin’s rule until the demise of the USSR. And again recently, under Putin’s rule, homophobia is again on the rise."

Closet · Demise · Dictator · Homosexuality · Officer · Political science · Politics · Sociology · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Gender Studies · History · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Sex work and related issues

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