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Topics: Russia, World News, Film and TV
Tom Wood
A controversial Russian politician who is known for his homophobic and discriminatory views is to be the host of a new anti-LGBTQ+ TV show called ‘I’m Not Gay’.
Vitaly Milonov was the author of a famous ‘anti-gay propaganda’ law, and he featured in the first episode of the show, which pits contestants against one another to guess which one of them is gay in order to win a cash prize.
A voiceover says: “Finding a gay in our country is like finding a working McDonald’s.
“They definitely exist but there are very few of them and not everyone knows about them.”
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The show sees eight men – including a blogger, an MMA fighter, and a sexologist – all moving into a house together.
Each episode ends with a contestant being ejected from the house if they are suspected of being gay.
If they are gay, the other housemates split a 2,000,000 ruble – about £21,000 – prize between them, but if the gay man isn’t found then he wins the prize.
There’s a number of details about the show that are particularly deplorable, including a soundtrack that includes the noises of rooster, a Russian slang word for gay men, and the ‘testing’ of the contestant’s reactions by a number of models who aren’t wearing a great deal.
48-year-old Milonov told the participants: “I hope that you will quickly figure out the gay,” and then made a throat-slitting gesture.
Then, once the show had concluded and they’d falsely identified the gay contestant, he said: “You killed an innocent person.”
The show has been viewed almost 700,000 times on YouTube so far, and the reviews haven’t been universally positive.
One wrote: What’s the point of this? Who are you going to expose next? Muslims? Jews?”
Homosexuality isn’t actually illegal in Russia, but it is not permitted for two people of the same sex to marry.
Legislation written by Milonov and waved through by President Vladimir Putin in 2013 means that it is illegal to ‘promote’ a homosexual lifestyle to minors.
The exact definition of what that means is widely interpreted and has been criticised by human rights activists, who say that it normalises discrimination and has resulted in an increase in hate crimes.
Since the law was passed, dozens of gay men have been reportedly tortured in Chechnya in southern Russia.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected]