WI:Homosexuality is Legal Under Communist Countries?

I was curious about how communism dealt with Homosexuality over the years, and for the most part, it was condemned in many communist countires and was illegal. However, for a brief time fallowing the Russian Revolution, Homosexuality was actually decriminalized. it wassn't until Joe Stalin came along that it was made illegal.

So, lets say Stalin doesn't reciminalize Homosexuality, and that it remains legal in the Soviet Union. Other communist countries eventually also take this stance, and we have communist countries being the most progressive countries in the world in terms of gay rights.

What sort of impact would this have on the Cold War, as well as East/West Diplomacy? How might this change the gay rights movement in America and elsewhere?
 
History would go as normal, except Conservatives in America would claim that Gays are Communist (Even though I am both:p)
 
Well...I'd dearly love to have that have been the case, but Russian hard-left was actually pretty homophobic, and they approached it from a utilitarian perceptive - this is decadent, unproductive activity etc. Plus it was an awully convenient charge to throw at someone politically inconvenient. That's why 121 is the "political" statute; usually coupled with "grooming of the underaged" it sent many a dissident for a short but career-ruining stint in the work-camps.

It is personally my opinion that the period prior to Stalin's constitution was more that of uncertainty than genuine liberalism, and 1937 codified the prevailing opinion.

That said, if for some reason Stalin or someone equally hardcore is not in charge and soft opposition groups like Kollontai/Shlyapnikov's Worker's Opposition etc. have more say, that could truly become the case. The POD would have to be fairly early and would create a lot of butterflies.

However, assuming that Stalin was simply in an exceedingly good mood and made it so, what would happen? Domestically, there could be a new direction to the arts, and they would lose that blackmail opportunity, but it could win even more support among intellectuals and liberals abroad. In the West, Gay-Red Witch-hunts would greatly intensify. A Cambridge Five kind of event would be a great watershed moments to really vicious persecution. Ironically, that attitude would make that kind of event more likely.
 
Well...I'd dearly love to have that have been the case, but Russian hard-left was actually pretty homophobic, and they approached it from a utilitarian perceptive - this is decadent, unproductive activity etc. Plus it was an awully convenient charge to throw at someone politically inconvenient. That's why 121 is the "political" statute; usually coupled with "grooming of the underaged" it sent many a dissident for a short but career-ruining stint in the work-camps.

However, homosexuality was legalised in the 1950's in the DDR, since 1962 in the Czech Republic and Hungary and in 1932 in Poland.
 
However, homosexuality was legalised in the 1950's in the DDR, since 1962 in the Czech Republic and Hungary and in 1932 in Poland.

In the late '80s there was even a state-run gay nightclub opened up in East Berlin and at least one LGBT themed move managed to get made before the Wall came down.

Communist regimes tended to regard homosexuality as a combination of mental illness and bourgeoisie decedance. However it's not hard to imagine an Eastern bloc country declaring that homosexuality doesn't represent any threat to the Socialist order & that anti-gay prejudice is merely a relic of unscientific religious superstition that has no place in a modern secular country (basically this is what happened IRL in places like Hungary & East Germany).
 
In the late '80s there was even a state-run gay nightclub opened up in East Berlin and at least one LGBT themed move managed to get made before the Wall came down.

Communist regimes tended to regard homosexuality as a combination of mental illness and bourgeoisie decedance. However it's not hard to imagine an Eastern bloc country declaring that homosexuality doesn't represent any threat to the Socialist order & that anti-gay prejudice is merely a relic of unscientific religious superstition that has no place in a modern secular country (basically this is what happened IRL in places like Hungary & East Germany).

I think the popular term was bourgeois deviationism, certainly some far left factions in the UK used that one up until the mid-80's.

According to Fulbrook in The People's State - the DDR kept a careful eye on Warme Brüder as they felt they were used to subversive lifestyles and were politically suspect. Homosexuality was not allowed in the VoPo, although the DDR seemed to be happier about lesbians.

I understand that there were a couple of gay bars in Prague during Communist times.
 
In the late '80s there was even a state-run gay nightclub opened up in East Berlin and at least one LGBT themed move managed to get made before the Wall came down..

Why does state-run gay nightclub sound like such an incredibly German thing, DDR or not? :p
 
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