Going
into Russia from Finland was a bit of a shock.
Finland was nearly a utopia, but Russia was anything but one. The country really surprised me, sometimes in
a good way, and sometimes in a not so good way.
Signs of capitalism were all around – luxury cars all over St Petersburg
and Moscow, more upscale shopping than you can imagine, and western
establishments flourishing all over the country. All of this, however, was intertwined with
signs of the past. Drab, gray buildings
abounded in many areas, and for every Volvo, Audi, and Bentley, there were at
least ten other junk models. The cities
were generally dirty and not well-maintained, though some of the more upscale
areas were immaculate. Inequality seemed
to be the norm.
The
Russians themselves were an interesting breed.
Going into the trip, I was told that Russians were cold and that you had
to be pushy to get anything. Indeed,
this wasn’t far off. Trying to get a
Russian to smile was a difficult task, but my travel mates and I accomplished
it a few times (albeit only a few).
Please and thank you won’t get you very far at all, but a firm tone and
stern expression will usually do the trick.
Then
there were the weird Russians. Like
those dressed in Kung Fu Panda and Shrek costumes for no apparent reason at Red
Square.
And
the one dude with his two monkeys at a popular restaurant in St
Petersburg. We followed him out onto the
street to get a picture. This would
never fly in the US or Australia.
Speaking
of eating in restaurants, have you ever tried going to a restaurant only to
find it was closed due to technical difficulties? No?
Well, it’s apparently a common occurrence in Russia as we found out when
we tried to go to the Chili’s in Moscow (yes, I tried to go to Chili’s… leave
me alone…)
For
a country that has fully embraced McDonald’s and Starbucks, anti-American
sentiment still seemed to run a bit high.
Our very first tour guide on day one advised the Americans in our group
to pretend to be Canadian or Australian if anyone asked, especially if that
anyone was a drunk Russian (and we had more than our fair share of encounters
with drunk Russians). We never really
experienced any real anti-American sentiment, but we didn’t take our chances
either. I was Aussie.
To
fully complement the anti-Americanism, there was a ton of Russian pride. Russians seemed to be very proud of their
heritage, culture, history, and everything else, and the fact that they were
hosting the Winter Olympics in Sochi was a big topic there. Everywhere we went (and on every can of Coke
we drank) there was something about Sochi.
Last
but not least, I couldn’t get away with writing a blog about Russia without
mentioning the gay issue. We booked this
trip several months before Russia’s notorious gay laws were passed in the Duma. Morally, I normally don’t want to spend my
tourism dollars in a place that is hostile to gays and lesbians (or anyone for
that matter), but I had already paid for everything. I was apprehensive about travelling there, especially
after reading about the topic in the media, but I was assured that it was
completely safe as long as I didn’t parade around or tell anyone about my
sexuality. Indeed, I never really had a
moment where I felt unsafe because of my sexuality (though I did opt to wear my
dark gray beanie in lieu of my colourful blue and green one for most of my time
in Russia, just to avoid drawing unwanted attention to myself).
Our
very first tour guide in St Petersburg could probably sense that me and one of
the other guys on the trip were gay, and without asking us about our sexuality
at all, asked the whole group one day over coffee whether we had heard of this
anti-gay law. We were shocked to hear
his take on the issue – that the law was ridiculous, that nobody really cared
or wanted it in effect, and that the politicians were only using it to shore up
support. Mind you, our tour guide was
young and had a lot of exposure to westerners so his view probably wasn’t
reflective of the population as a whole, but I was still taken aback (in a good
way) by his comments. Maybe it is like
the US a bit – it’s a political tool, the young people just don’t see it as an
issue, and eventually it will change.
Admittedly, Russia has a much longer journey ahead of itself on the
issue that the US probably ever did, but the issue they are facing now isn’t all
that dissimilar to what happened in the western world in the not-too-distant
past.
In
Moscow, a mate of mine who lives there advised that gay and lesbian couples
walking around holding hands in public is a common sight in the city. In the smaller city of Irkutsk, our tour
guide seemed to be quite liberal as well and I think he caught on very quickly
to the gays in the group. That brings
the question: is the western media
sensationalizing the issue?
I
had no problems when I was there, but I’m going to give that question a big “no”
response. Moscow is a big cosmopolitan
city, and the people we encountered everywhere we went on our trip are used to
dealing with tourists from the liberal countries in Europe, North America, and
Oceania, so their views on the issue and interactions with us can’t be
construed to be similar to Russians as a whole.
Going out in public as a civil rights activist would spell trouble – gay
pride parades are banned in Russia – and I imagine that being gay outside of
the few biggest cities would be terrifying for a child or teen struggling with
their sexuality.
I
definitely have a much less negative view (but still very negative) about the
situation in Russia after visiting, and not because I think the western media
exaggerates the story. I think the negative
coverage is well-deserved and should go further. My view is less negative now because just
like in the United States, Australia, and most other western countries, I can
see that the anti-gay views that exist at present will likely die out with the
older generations. Yes, it will take
much longer for Russia to get there than it did for those countries in the
west. Yes, their views are exceedingly
harsh for a country in Europe, but with all of Russia’s other civil rights
issues, it is hardly unexpected. Is it
fair? No. Is it just?
No. Is it unacceptable? Yes.
But in reality, just like the Netherlands, Canada, and Scandinavia have
beaten the United States and Australia to equal rights and equal treatment for
sexual minorities, so too will we beat Russia there. And Russia will beat Uganda, Nigeria,
Pakistan, and just about every other Islamic country and most African
countries. Can we move them along in the
right direction? Maybe. If I could wave a magic wand and make it
happen overnight I would, but I unfortunately don’t have that power (but imagine
what an amazing world we’d live in if I did!)
I’ll
leave that conversation to the activists, politicians, and thinkers. In the meantime, I can only suggest one
option: airlift all of the gays out of
Russia. Let’s distribute them throughout
the gay-friendly countries of the world.
And let’s date them. Because there
are some hot Russian men. Real hot.
