The LBTQ community is a world-known community that identifies itself as a movement of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. As in any other community, these are the people united and built around a common culture, social movements, and ideas. The LBTQ communities are peaceful entities that exist almost in all parts of the world, within which people celebrate and stand for their sexual orientation, which is different from the conservative understanding of malefemale relationships. Being a peaceful community that preserves its uniqueness without interfering with the rights of traditional heterogeneous people, the perception of this community varies from country to country, despite the fact that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims equality and freedom for all humans. In such a way, equality and non-discrimination have to be guaranteed to each and every person by international human rights law that is applicable regardless of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. However, there are states such as China and Russia that disregard this law due to deep-rooted cultural and social biases, while states like the U.S.A., on the other hand, support diversity of sexual identities and preferences. This essay will explore in more detail, discuss, and compare social and cultural perceptions of such matters as the LBTQ community and homosexuality in Russia, China, and the U.S.A. The discussion will be based on news articles from NBC, BBC, and other news agencies. Russia and China: the LBTQ community. The Russian Federation is a state with a rich history, within which social orders changed from empire to the establishment of the Soviet Union and from the Soviet Union to the Federation. Russian history has experienced many changes, yet the value of the traditional family has been fixed regardless of anything. In such a way, traditional families presuppose a patriarchal family of married, heterogeneous couples with kids. Yet over time, the patriarchy has almost gone, and now that there is equality between men and women, the heterogeneity of families has remained. In such a way, homosexuality is not supported as well as the activities of the LBTQ community. Despite the fact that the Russian government claims that homosexual people are considered regular members of Russian society and are not discriminated against in any way, discrimination still takes place. The evidence of that can be seen in the article "Russia: Putin's Kremlin targets LGBT in a new crackdown" by the BBC news agency. The discrimination can be seen in laws passed by the Russian government, as, for example, a new anti-LGBT law passed by the Russian Parliament in December 2022 prohibits any activities of the LBTQ community and states that individuals involved in homogenous activities can be fined up to 400,000 roubles ($5,840; £4,730) and much higher fines for organizations or journalists that are suspected to be involved in homosexual activities (Vernon, 2023). The laws passed tied up hands of homosexual people in such a way making it impossible to live in the country forcing some people to move to Europe or the U.S.A, where the diversity of sexual identities is considered as a normal phenomenon and treated without any kind of discrimination. In this way, the laws passed made the activities of the LBTQ community undercover and secretive. The reason behind Russian resistance to homosexuality, as mentioned before, is the deeprooted tradition of heterogeneous families, which is also supported by the Russian Orthodox Church. The Church does not oppress people belonging to the LBTQ community, yet it considers them as subjects to sin for whom opportunities for repentance and spiritual healing are open. The church does not reject them, as well as other sinners who come to the temple: thieves, adulterers, and gluttons. Anyone can come to the temple and bring their repentance. That is why the salvation of man and mankind is the Christian message. However, the church does not recognize the normality of sin. In such a way, the church calls for homosexual people to follow traditional values. According to the databases, around 71% of Russians profess Orthodoxy; consequently, all these people perceive homosexuality as a sin and do not tolerate it. Similar perception of homosexuality and the LGBT community in China, which has historical connections with Russia. China was under the influence of Russia, which led to the establishment of communist values that are still present in Chinese politics. The Chinese government, just like the Russian one, does openly oppress members of the LBTQ community putting obstacles for the operation of such centers. Nevertheless, China has experienced more positive shifts towards the protection of homosexual rights. These positive shifts are described in the article "Beijing LGBT Centre shuttered as crackdown grows in China" by the NBC news agency. Over the past decades, the Beijing LGBT Centre has evolved into a centre that is considered "a safe space for the community to host events" (Beijing LGBT Centre Shuttered as Crackdown Grows in China, 2023) despite the repressions of the government. The centre has also become an advocacy group aiming to "improve the living conditions for the sexually diverse community" (Beijing LGBT Centre Shuttered as Crackdown Grows in China, 2023). The centre provided lowcost mental health counselling and doctors who are capable of helping homosexual people without any bias. As the centre's goal changed, it held public talks, movie screenings, and other events. One of the transgender speakers at the centre was Mr. C, who doesn't use his real name to protect his parents' privacy. Mr. C sued his previous bosses because they fired him after giving him an 8day trial. Overall, for a certain period, the LBTQ community was actively developing, which was never the case for the Russian one, which keeps all its activities undercover. However, the development of the LGBT community in China was not long, since this May the Beijing centre shut down under a crackdown by Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government. The reason for the intolerance of homosexual people in China is based on social and cultural biases similar to those in Russia. China supports and appraises traditional heterogeneous families due to its long-standing conservatism rooted in its communist regime. The U.S.A and the LGBT Community. The United States of America is the opposite of China and Russia. The U.S. has always been a liberal state with an open-minded perspective on things. There is more freedom for homogenous people in terms of self-expression and recognition. There are laws that do not oppress, but on the contrary, they support being who you want to be and conduct parades to celebrate LGBT Month, which is also known as Pride Month. In the article published by the Palm Beach Post, "Palm Beach Pride: LGBTQ+ parade draws diverse support, families, and "mom hugs’"," The event received huge support; sponsors, boats, and signs at the event included Carrier, Florida Blue, Johnson & Johnson, Bank of America, Baptist Health, the Florida Panthers, Texas Roadhouse, Comcast, Discover The Palm Beaches, and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. The U.S.A. supports the rights of a homogenous community by conducting various events, which is completely opposed to Russia and China, where people have to hide and go undercover. The main reason behind that is the cultural and social openness of U.S. society. References Beijing LGBT Center shuttered as crackdown grows in China. (2023b, May 16). NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/beijing-lgbt-center-shutteredcrackdown-grows-china-rcna84708 Vernon, B. W. (2023b, January 23). Russia: Putin’s Kremlin targets LGBT in new crackdown. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64345693 Post, P. B. (2023, March 26). Palm Beach Pride: LGBTQ+ parade draws diverse support, families, ‘mom hugs.’ Palm Beach Post. https://eu.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/local/2023/03/26/palm-beach-pride-lgbtqparade-draws-diversity-families-mom-hugs/70050393007/
