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Homophobic video warns Russians of dangers of not voting
Source: The Guardian
Homophobic video warns Russians of dangers of not voting
Video seeks to boost turnout at presidential election by playing on homophobia and xenophobia
Marc Bennetts in Moscow
Mon 19 Feb 2018 11.20 GMT
Russians who don’t vote in next month’s presidential elections risk seeing their country transformed into a gay-friendly state where people in their 50s are eligible for military conscription, a homophobic and xenophobic viral video has warned.
The three-minute video, which features professional actors, was uploaded to social media on Friday and Saturday and has been watched by millions of people. The actors say they do not know who ordered the video.
The video is set on 17 March, the eve of the presidential election, and starts with a middle-aged man mocking his wife, who wants to set an alarm clock to get up and vote. “As if they won’t elect someone without you,” he says.
He then falls asleep and dreams that a military official, flanked by two soldiers, including a black man, attempts to conscript him into the army. “I’m 52,” he protests. “Excellent. The conscription age has been increased to 60.”
He then goes into the kitchen, where a tattooed gay man sits filing his nails. “Who’s this?” he asks his wife. “I’m a gay on a homestay,” the man tells him, after which his wife reminds him that under a new law, Russian families are obliged to take in gay people who have been abandoned by their partners.
-snip-
Video seeks to boost turnout at presidential election by playing on homophobia and xenophobia
Marc Bennetts in Moscow
Mon 19 Feb 2018 11.20 GMT
Russians who don’t vote in next month’s presidential elections risk seeing their country transformed into a gay-friendly state where people in their 50s are eligible for military conscription, a homophobic and xenophobic viral video has warned.
The three-minute video, which features professional actors, was uploaded to social media on Friday and Saturday and has been watched by millions of people. The actors say they do not know who ordered the video.
The video is set on 17 March, the eve of the presidential election, and starts with a middle-aged man mocking his wife, who wants to set an alarm clock to get up and vote. “As if they won’t elect someone without you,” he says.
He then falls asleep and dreams that a military official, flanked by two soldiers, including a black man, attempts to conscript him into the army. “I’m 52,” he protests. “Excellent. The conscription age has been increased to 60.”
He then goes into the kitchen, where a tattooed gay man sits filing his nails. “Who’s this?” he asks his wife. “I’m a gay on a homestay,” the man tells him, after which his wife reminds him that under a new law, Russian families are obliged to take in gay people who have been abandoned by their partners.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/19/homophobic-video-warns-russians-of-dangers-of-not-voting
