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This thread is directly inspired by Beedok's thread, "Sleazy Hotels of the USSR"... for whatever reason, I made the mental jump to "Bath Houses of the USSR". :D

My what-if is self-explanatory, as most of mine are. Come up with a way to make the Soviet Union, instead of the United States, the superpower that destigmatizes/welcomes (or at least tolerates) the active gay life. I think this AHC is challenging, but doable. Any PoDs are fair game.

It's true that Russian/central Asian culture is more "macho" and gay-intolerant than that of the West, compared to OTL. At the same time, there are several reasons why a few social butterflies (so to speak ;) ) could change that enough so that we this direction becoming a reality. Here are some bases for a gay-friendly or gay-tolerant USSR:

1: To my understanding, Russia has a long-standing historical sauna culture, for socializing, relaxing, and getting relief from the savage winter cold. How hard is it for Russian baths to become gay meeting sites, however secretly?

2: You could have the victorious Soviets after WWII become more progressive towards homosexuals as a statement of being the opposite of the Nazis in terms of their gay policy.

3: Generally, Communism/socialism is seen as left-wing compared to the Western capitalistic states. While I'm aware that there has been plenty of Communist gay persecution in multiple places, how hard is it to bring about a Politburo leader who decides to take an open mind and heart on the "gay question", in order to present themselves as more enlightened/humane/tolerant than the reactionary Western capitalist states for propaganda purposes?

4: As an officially atheist state, traditional Judeo-Christian scriptural arguments against homosexuality don't work in the USSR.

Questions about my AHC:

--What city becomes the gay capital of the USSR? Moscow? Leningrad? Some little town far away in Siberia that attracts less attention? Vladivostok?

--When does the "gay perestroika" become a reality? I'm going to guess in the 1960s, and probably at the absolute earliest the very end of the 1950s.

--What is the exact legal status of practicing, open gays? Are their activities completely licit and protected? Technically illegal but ignored? Illegal de facto and de jure but practiced anyway? How are people who abuse/attack gays treated? Are they able to openly own any of their establishments or is it all "underground"?

--How many gays from the West/elsewhere move to the Soviet Union?

--Do we see actual, legally binding same-sex marriages before the fall of the Soviet Union, and if so how long before?

--Are Soviet leaders actually making pro-gay-rights public pronouncements internationally or is this simply a quiet, unspoken policy change?

--How does this affect relations with the West, and in particular the American Cold War view of the USSR in popular discourse and culture?

Have fun with this! I want this to be a really outstanding and stimulating thread! :cool:


MalcontentRex
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