“Putin needed an enemy, an Other, against which to mobilize. LGBT people are really convenient: we're sort of the ultimate foreign agent.” PeopleEnemyNeededUltimateAgentsLgbtConvenientPutin Author:Masha Gessen
“LGBT people are really convenient: we're sort of the ultimate foreign agent in Russia. There's no doubt in anyone's mind that the values that affirm nontraditional relationships, that affirm feminism, come from abroad. If you've established - and this isn't up for discussion - that foreign agents are bad, and foreign influence is bad, and the West is our enemy, then there's no better expression of the West's influence than gays and lesbians.” PeopleMindValuesEnemyDoubtFeminismInfluenceGayUltimateDiscussionLgbt Author:Masha Gessen
“For the first ten years, Vladimir Putin was constructing his power structure, and now he's defending it. He's retrenching, mobilizing a shrinking constituency, constructing an enemy that's really scary. It's war. And when you look at the anti-gay campaign, it's a classic case of war rhetoric: demonstrating an immediate and extreme danger.” WarEnemyDangerScaryClassicRhetoricReally Scary Author:Masha Gessen
