‘Better to be a Dictator than Gay’: Homophobic Discourses in Belarusian Politics

Abstract

This essay analyses the political discourses employed by both the Belarusian authorities and the opposition with regard to homophobia and the LGBT community. It explores the anti-LGBT rhetoric and political homophobia that has been identified in the literature on Russian and Ukrainian politics as a baseline for examining neighbouring Belarus. It identifies which homophobic discourses are present in Belarus and how political homophobia is wielded by different actors on the domestic political scene. THE FIRST, AND SO FAR ONLY, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC of Belarus, Aliaksandr Lukashenka, has been notorious for his colourful quotes during over a quarter of a century in office, and these have included a number of homophobic statements. Most famously, he proclaimed that it was 'better to be a dictator than gay' in 2012, in reference to meeting Germany's openly gay Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle (Matveev 2012). Nevertheless, homosexuality was decriminalised in the country in 1994, four months before Lukashenka was elected president. The first attempt to hold a gay pride event in any post-Soviet republic took place in the Belarusian capital Minsk in 1999 (Mantsevich 2015, p. 26). Belarusians themselves cite tolerance as being a key attribute of their national identity (Kaspe 2017, pp. 37-9). This essay explores political homophobia in Belarus, beyond individual prejudices and societal attitudes alone. Political homophobia in this context can be viewed as a purposeful strategy pursued by state actors and political movements (Bosia & Weiss 2013, p. 15). More specifically, this essay examines the political discourses present in the homophobia that has been employed on the Belarusian political scene, both by the incumbent authorities and their political opponents. For the purposes of this research, discourses can be defined as 'public articulations and

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