Prosecutions became rare, and a gay subculture developed. In comparison, England hanged 55 men for gay sex between 18.Īfter a reform of the penal code in 1903, this was drastically reduced to three months imprisonment. This was still less strict than many western neighbors. In 1832, a sodomy law was enacted punishing civilians with ‘birching’ or deportation to Siberia for four to five years to work in the internment camps. Consensual gay sex led to flogging, while male rape could bring death or life in prison. He included a clause against ‘men lying with men’ in his Military Articles, so it only applied to the army and navy. There was no state law against sodomy until 1716, when Peter the Great decided to westernize the empire. But even then, believers could use confession and were rarely disciplined. Under the Orthodox Church in the 15th and 16th centuries, sex between men was considered a sin. Sex between men, on the other hand, has faced more persecution. Lesbian sex has never been a crime in any part of Russia or the Soviet Union. So how did Russia become the largely homophobic nation we know today? Gay sex as a ‘crime’ in Russia In the 1920s, Russia even became the first country in the world to consider same-sex marriage. Once slammed as the ‘land of sodomy’ by its western European neighbors, there have been many years in its tumultuous history when many LGBTI people could live freely. Russia used to be one of the best places in the world to be gay.
