A homophobic ad being shared on a top social media site and Facebook attempts to get people to vote in the upcoming Russian regional election by comparing not voting to being gay. Russia is known for homophobia and for being dangerously violent for LGBTQ people, especially under Vladimir Putin.
The 60-second spot shows two young men in a discussion as they walk down a street, sit on a park bench, use a restroom, ride the bus, and walk into an apartment.
One of the men, as The Moscow Times notes, says voting is “an illusion of democracy.”
As they begin undressing each other before sex, one of the men says, “They’re amoral. They think they can fool the people.”
“Let the others go and vote,” the other says. “We have more important things to do.”
The screen darkens and a date, September 9, Election Day for many governor and mayoral races, appears.
“This isn’t the first time a Russian commercial has suggested not voting will lead to homosexuality,” NewNowNext reports. “An ad that ran ahead of the March 2018 presidential elections warned that not voting could lead to heterosexual men being forced to live with gay men.”
The Moscow Times reports “rumors said the video was the work of the local governor of Samara, but no direct connection has been made to any campaign.”
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