(no subject)

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

This is a question out of blatant curiousity, so I don't know whether or not it's appropriate. I find this to be truer and truer the more I find out both in my community and online that a vast portion of those who are learning Russian and are interested in Russian, are in fact, gay. Is there something that's so appealing about Russian to homosexuals? Did I miss the "Gay Russia" meeting? If you're a homosexual yourself, please tell me why you're into the language. I myself started for the alphabet and upon hearing people speak it, they just sounded so smart.

And while on the topic, is Russia conservative on the homosexual issue?

Comments

[robotlyublyu.livejournal.com]

im straight, but im pretty sure there a lot of gay people interested in russia because of the group taty. even though they taty was never gay (although they were supposedly gay), a lot of people became interested in russia due to them.

[24karrot.livejournal.com]

I'm a lesbian...but I think it's as much of a language thing as it is a Russian thing. Russian's the second language I've been working on. I picked it because it was unique and fun and I have russian friends and...okay, because of taty too. :P Nothing wrong with cute russian girls...hehe.

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

Well that's intriguing... I too want to major in Linguistics/Genetics. Which raises yet another question. Why linguistics? I know there's a significant number of gays in the molecular biology region but more in linguistics.

[24karrot.livejournal.com]

I have noooo idea. I think there are a lot of gays in everything. :D Except for maybe like Christian majors, and even then there are probably a few, hehe.

[evaluna68.livejournal.com]

I've been studying Russia and Russian since 1986 in a formal way, long before Tatu. They might have added a bit of curiosity, but as someone who also has a degree in Spanish and has studied other languages formally, I think out of the guys who study languages in linguistics in general, there is a higher percentage of gay guys than in the general population anyway. (I'm talking about guys who are not native speakers of the language on which they are focusing their formal study - as a Spanish major, I had a fair number of classmates who were native speakers and wanted to teach Spanish, but that was really a separate category). Most of the male grad students, and a fair numbner of the professors, in the Slavics department where I went to grad school were gay. (I didn't study Slavics per se, but I did take classes in the Slavics dept. as part of an interdisciplinary graduate program in Russian & East European Studies.)

BTW, for a friend - funny this should come up here and now, but a journalism student of my acquaintance is leaving for Moscow soon to interview people on Russian perceptions of homosexuality. Any recommendations where he could find interview subjects? Any other LJ communities where he could post this? Most of the ones I know of are more devoted to strictly linguistic issues.

[no2ndtroy.livejournal.com]

Uh...I really like languages, and I happen to be gay. ;) I've always loved languages, and at my high school, either Russian or Spanish were offered, and since everyone was taking Spanish, I wanted to be different. I suppose that kind of has something to do with my anti-conformist attitude in general, but that's really only the casual link to my sexuality I can think of. I can't speak for everyone, though.

Russian for gays ~_^

[rottenshworz.livejournal.com]

http://xabalka.gay.ru/
Some phrases for everyday gay life in Russian =8-Ъ

[superslayer18.livejournal.com]

Tatu and cuz it rocks? I don't think anyone needs a reason to study russian because its just so FABULOUS! :turns of flamer mode: I think something similar was posted on Linguaphiles a while ago and a lot of the people there happened to be gay... My theory: Gay people like to diversify and culture themselves a lot, and language learning is very interesting to many of them more than it would be to a straight person, who should be perfectly content to not need to diversify. I know its random, but I think it kinda works lol.

[holyschist.livejournal.com]

Gay people like to diversify and culture themselves a lot, and language learning is very interesting to many of them more than it would be to a straight person, who should be perfectly content to not need to diversify.

That's...kind of reverse prejudiced, isn't it? I see no reason a straight person wouldn't want to learn many interesting things; all my life I have known intelligent, interesting people who love learning who happened to be straight. I liked learning random things long before I even started thinking about sexuality.

Any theory which rests on something to the effect of "We nonstraight people are so much more openminded and evolved than those heterosexuals" tends to strike me as rather questionable regardless.

[superslayer18.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying that gay people are more openminded than straight people. I'm saying that on average, based on my own observations, more gay people I know like other cultures and languages than the straight people i know. Its about a 1:5 ratio of gay to straight people that I know, and yet more gays are openminded/into other cultures and languages than there are straight people. I'm not saying we're more evolved, just that straight people may be more likely to be content with their natural setting because they feel comfortable there, whereas a gay person may like to know more of other people, places, and languages because they are not as comfortable or content in their normal place.

I don't claim to be a psychologist or sociologist, I merely claim to be a homo with an opinion and theory based on observing the people I know ^_^

[kahala.livejournal.com]

I think you're being not-a-little blinkered there... I'm straight and have been studying Russan for years; I also speak French and German, a bit of Greek and bits of Spanish and Italian, and a few words in Mandarin Chinese. And I'm not that unusual among straight people I know, many of whom have spent a lot of time travelling and learning languages.

I'm perfectly willing to accept that I may be wrong, but I suspect that you may have fellen into the trap of 'I know more x-type people who do y'='More x-type people do y'. Amongst my friends, I know a lot of guys who are very passionately into music, and fewer girls. This does not therefore mean that guys are more into music than girls; just that the ones I know, comparatively, are.

I think it depends more on the people you choose to hang out with, whether gay or straight; if you're interested in lanugages, other cultures, etc etc, you probably won't choose to surround yourself with people who think that's pointless. I've known plenty of gay people, as well as straight people, who think that learning languages is pointless - 'They all speak English anyway' - but plenty of gay and straight people who think like me.

And apologies if this comes across as ranting and/or rude; wasn't meant to be!

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

Something tells me you're a woman. Perhaps I should have clarified. I actually meant men. Gay men. Of course women are naturally good in like, anything (at least that's what my school tailors everyone to be), but gay men in particular seems to be fond of foreign languages. And not that I'm saying straight men are NOT part of that linguist circle, au contraire. Still, gays in linguistics are disproportionate in amount (?) than in society.

[kahala.livejournal.com]

That word there would be 'fallen', not 'fellen'.

Though fellen seems quite a pretty word :)

[megazoid.livejournal.com]

Everyone cares much less whether you gay or not nowadays. :)

[velocityb0y.livejournal.com]

I'm gay, but I never really saw any correlation between that and wanting to learn Russian. I became interested, among other reasons, because there recently seems to be a lot of Russian around in popular culture. I also love the sound of spoken Russian.

It also could be that there are a disproportionate number of gay people on LiveJournal.

[superslayer18.livejournal.com]

There are definately a lot moer gay guys on lj than there are straight guys, of that you are right.

[squodge.livejournal.com]

I'm learning Russian and I'm straight. I would guess that the ratio of gay:straight people is the same for the general population as it is for Russian learners. I chose Russian because I like the sound of it, there's lots of rich literature out there, and it's an easier language for me to tackle than something like Georgian or Turkish.

As for t.A.T.U., I listened to their music when I first heard it (in English) and it wasn't anything special. It was only after I started learning Russian that I began listening to their original, Russian-language versions and decided that I liked them... but really, for me, it's purely as a learning tool. I couldn't care less if they were two guys, a guy and a girl, two girls, etc!

~ squodge ~

[verucanato.livejournal.com]

Maybe it has to do with openmindedness. If you're queer you already have to deal with acceptance, and learning a new language and about another culture is an active way to be more accepting of different kinds of people.

[wingxnut18.livejournal.com]

I'm not gay. In fact, I'm learning Russian because of the girl I am madly in love with. Without her, I doubt I would have much in the way of a reason to want to learn the language. Considering I hear it spoken on a daily basis between her and her Russian born parents, it just seemed like a good idea to learn Russian to open up more levels of communication between us.

[24karrot.livejournal.com]

Not to jinx you or anything, but if something happens...you're going to stop studying? hehe.

[wingxnut18.livejournal.com]

I guess if that happens, and I'm bitter... Probably.. lol I don't forsee that happening though. ;)

[holyschist.livejournal.com]

I'm bi. I'm learning Russian because it may potentially prove useful to me both for my future field of work (paleontology/geology) and my hobby (medieval Mongol history and archaeology). I also happen to like languages a lot; I'm also studying Old Norse and Arabic and have in the past studied Japanese, Spanish, and French.

I don't like t.A.t.U. very much, and I find their pseudo-lesbian gimmick rather tacky.

I highly doubt that there's some weird sexuality-Russian connection.

[karashi.livejournal.com]

I don't know if Russia itself is conservative about homosexuality, but I'd guess it is. (I'm Russian but have lived in the States since I was two.) I suppose that even if it is conservative, there's probably some sort of underground scene.

I'm not sure what my orientation is yet.

[villanova.livejournal.com]

I've actually heard that Russia isnt conservative in regards to homosexuality but are quite open to it, i've been told this by russians and i've read, but dont quote me on that.

[karashi.livejournal.com]

Maybe that's just my parents then. ._.

But that's another rant :P

[kart.livejournal.com]

Well, when I spent a summer in Moscow there was a young Russian guy who initially hit on me a bit, until I figured out how to explain that I was straight.

Maybe it's a stereotype that male Russian-learners are gay, but I've never heard of such a thing! There were plenty of young devushkas who made passes at me as well. As far as gay/straight demographics go Russia is probably the same as anywhere else.

[ruggafluff.livejournal.com]

I have a friend-of-a-friend (I've never met her, seeing as she lives in Florida and I'm in Texas, but she's described to me as being a "raging lesbian", and yes I'm quoting) who was at least very interested in Russia because of tatu, though I don't know if said friend-of-friend was actually learning the language.

As to me, I'm straight, and I just like language-learning and the way Russian sounds, so I'm learning it. (I'd never even heard of tatu until after I started learning Russian, to be honest.)

I doubt there's much of a connection between homosexuality and the Russian language. At least, not any more of a connection than there is between homosexuality and any other language. Tatu may come into it the same way manga and anime makes people want to learn Japanese or something, though.

[mananas.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... I've noticed this to be true, at least in my own community. The Russian club is predominantly homosexual. Maybe the straight people were offended by them and that explains why they are not-so-present, not necessarily that gays like it better. There are probably plenty of explanations.

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

Well for those of you who have the opinion of Tatu being a major influence on our learning Russian, here's a thought: Gay men? Learn something because of lesbians? Not even real ones at that? C'mon, let's get real here...

Oh, and another reason I love languages is because whenever I'm learning them, I just laugh to myself saying "Now I can speak in 5 other countries without them knowing I'm an American..."

[ruggafluff.livejournal.com]

When I commented to that effect, I admittedly was mostly thinking of girls. (Probably because I know more gay/bi girls than I do boys. I just know more girls, period, seeing as I am one. Just worked out that way, I suppose.) I should have clarified, sorry.

[yk4ever.livejournal.com]

> And while on the topic, is Russia conservative on the homosexual issue?

Yup, most of us are. Although now there's no criminal penalty on gay sex (didn't you know that there was one during Soviet times?) and homosexuality is becoming somewhat popular in "higher society", majority of Russians won't consider it as something healthy and natural.

But, separating East and West, Russia has always been tolerant to foreign traditions, so you shouldn't be afraid of any oppression.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

>And while on the topic, is Russia conservative on the homosexual issue?

Moscow isn't. St.Petersburg partly isn't. The farther you go and the smaller the community is, the more conservative they get.

P.S. I'm straight, but I don't think this counts since I don't have to learn Russian, I'm a native :)

[kahala.livejournal.com]

The farther you go and the smaller the community is, the more conservative they get.

Very very true. Most of my experience of Russia is based on working in a small town (won't say which), and many of the people I met there - whilst otherwise lovely - had views on homosexuality which I'd call, in my most charitable mood, unenlightened.

[24karrot.livejournal.com]

I think that most countries are like that...unless you can think of any not that way. :P

[kalipso.livejournal.com]

I have a German friend who learns Russian and who is gay...really amusing coincidence)