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Post by pieter on Sept 9, 2019 6:12:50 GMT -7
Dear folks,
For me the re-emerging of the Cold War is tragic, unnessecary, bad, illogical and sad. I love the Russian culture, Russian music, Russian architecture, Russian poetry (Alexander Pushkin, Osip Mandelstam, Vladimir Mayakovsky, and ofcourse Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy), Russian literature (Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Nikolai Gogol, Ivan Turgenev and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn), Russian history, Russian dance, Russian Spaceflight, Russian Chessplayers who play chess on a top level, the films of Andrei Tarkovsky, the paintings of Ilya Repin, Kazimir Malevich, Wassily Kandinsky, El El Lissitzky, and the music of Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Prokofiev and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. I don't like the Russian rulers, politics, policies in the Ukraine, Syria and other parts of the world and inside the Russian Federation however. With Polish roots (50%) and my families history (family in Siberian camps, Katyn victims, Kazakhstan, the Stalinist Urząd Bezpieczeństwa (1945–1954) and NKVD -predecessor of the KGB- terror in Poland and the communist rule and opression due to the Sovjet liberation/occupation of Poland in 1945) I am not naive concerning Russia, but I oppose economical sanctions against Russia out of financial, economical, pragmatic, human(istic), cultural and European reasons. I think that Western leaders should speak loud and openly about Human rights abuses and the attack on, abuse of and threatening of the LGBT community in the Russian Federation. I am against the sanctions, because Polish farmers, Polish entrepreneurs, Polish Transport firms and Polish traders (Import & Export companies) with Russia have great financial-economical problems due to these sanctions. A lot of Polish farmers, small Polish entrepreneurs, the Polish middle class and Polish import & export firms suffer greatly under the present sactions. Polish fruit (apples), Polish vegetables, Polish Potatoes, Polish meat (cow, pig and chicken meat) can't be exported to the huge and very important market of the Russian Federation. Russian products can't be imported either. Both Poles and Russians suffer from these sanctions. And not only Poles and Russians also Dutch firms, entrepreneurs, businesspeople and farmers. And Germans, Scandinavians and other European people too who had import & export trade ties with Russia. My position, opinion and stance might be seen as opportunistic and capitalistic, but it is a fact that people live through their work, economy, financial affairs and foreign trade ties. They have to sell their products, services, knowledge, consumer goods, agricultural products and thus trade to live. I really, really mean it seriously that these sanctions are extremely deplorable and bad for Polish farmers and Polish entrepreneurs.
We Westerners (Western-Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and last but not least Israel) should have good ties with both the Russian Federation and the Ukraine and other players in the region like Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, the Baltic states, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Poland.
In that Russian connection I am linked to the past, and am not a contemporary Russian expert. Lost my Russian contacts in the early nineties. Moving from Amsterdam to Arnhem ment the end of the Russian connection in a time (back then) that I had no internet nor cell phone, no Social media and no direct lines. Today that would have been different.
Back the subject of the opression and attacks on Gay and Lesbians in the Russian Federation
The filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein, the Russian dancers Rudolf Nureyev and Vaslav Nijinsky (of Polish descent), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and the impresario Sergei Diaghilev of The Ballets Russes (French: [balɛ ʁys]) were gay. Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company based in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. Vaslav Nijinsky was Sergei Diaghilev lover and one of the dancers of Ballets Russes. The Russian-born composer, pianist, and conductor Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was bi-sexual in nature. Fyodor, who was born into a mixed Polish-Russian family, was "descended from a long line of Polish grandees, senators and landowners." He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century. Stravinsky cooperated with Sergei Diaghilev and Vaslav Nijinsky.Sergei DiaghilevIgor Fyodorovich StravinskyVaslav NijinskyModest Ilyich TchaikovskyRudolf NureyevModest Ilyich TchaikovskyRussian dramatist, opera librettist and translator Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the younger brother of the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, was homosexual like his brother.
Modest chose to dedicate his entire life to literature and music. He wrote plays, translated sonnets by Shakespeare into Russian and wrote librettos for operas by his brother Pyotr, as well as for other composers such as Eduard Nápravník, Arseny Koreshchenko, Anton Arensky and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Being the nearest friend of his brother, he became his first biographer, and also the founder of the Tchaikovsky Museum in Klin. Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyDiscussion of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's personal life, especially his sexuality, has perhaps been the most extensive of any composer in the 19th century and certainly of any Russian composer of his time. It has also at times caused considerable confusion, from Soviet efforts to expunge all references to same-sex attraction and portray him as a heterosexual, to efforts at armchair analysis by Western biographers. Biographers have generally agreed that Tchaikovsky was homosexual. He sought the company of other men in his circle for extended periods, "associating openly and establishing professional connections with them". His first love was reportedly Sergey Kireyev, a younger fellow student at the Imperial School of Jurisprudence. According to Modest Tchaikovsky, this was Pyotr Ilyich's "strongest, longest and purest love". The degree to which the composer might have felt comfortable with his sexual nature has, however, remained open to debate. It is still unknown whether Tchaikovsky, according to musicologist and biographer David Brown, "felt tainted within himself, defiled by something from which he finally realized he could never escape" or whether, according to Alexander Poznansky, he experienced "no unbearable guilt" over his sexual nature and "eventually came to see his sexual peculiarities as an insurmountable and even natural part of his personality ... without experiencing any serious psychological damage". Relevant portions of his brother Modest's autobiography, where he tells of the composer's sexual orientation, have been published, as have letters previously suppressed by Soviet censors in which Tchaikovsky openly writes of it. Such censorship has persisted in the current Russian government, resulting in many officials, including the current culture minister Vladimir Medinsky, to outright deny his homosexuality.Iosif Kotek (left) and Tchaikovsky (right), 1877Tchaikovsky lived as a bachelor for most of his life. In 1868 he met Belgian soprano Désirée Artôt. They became infatuated with each other and were engaged to be married but due to Artôt's refusal to give up the stage or settle in Russia, the relationship ended. Tchaikovsky later claimed she was the only woman he ever loved. In 1877, at the age of 37, he wed a former student, Antonina Miliukova. The marriage was a disaster. Mismatched psychologically and sexually, the couple lived together for only two and a half months before Tchaikovsky left, overwrought emotionally and suffering from an acute writer's block. Tchaikovsky's family remained supportive of him during this crisis and throughout his life. He was also aided by Nadezhda von Meck, the widow of a railway magnate, who had begun contact with him not long before the marriage. As well as an important friend and emotional support, she became his patroness for the next 13 years, which allowed him to focus exclusively on composition. Tchaikovsky's marital debacle may have forced him to face the full truth about his sexuality; he never blamed Antonina for the failure of their marriage."Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Vladimir Davydov. Vladimir Davydov (1871 – 1906) was the second son of Lev and Alexandra Davydov, and nephew of Tchaikovsky, who called him "Bob". Although Tchaikovsky was infatuated with him, and although both were homosexual, there is no evidence that their relationship ever became sexual in nature. Iosif Iosifovich KotekIosif Iosifovich Kotek (left on the photo) Iosif Iosifovich Kotek, also seen as Josef or Yosif (Russian: Иосиф Иосифович Котек, Iosif Iosifovič Kotek; 6 November [O.S. 25 October] 1855 – 4 January 1885), was a Russian violinist and composer remembered for his association with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. He assisted Tchaikovsky with technical issues in the writing of the solo part in his Violin Concerto in D. He was also probably his lover at some point, although he was not exclusively homosexual. BiographyIosif Kotek was born in Kamenets-Podolsk, Ukraine, in 1855. He studied violin under Jan Hřímalý at the Moscow Conservatory, where he was also a composition student of Tchaikovsky. From the outset, their attraction was mutual. He held Tchaikovsky's music in the highest regard, and he was the composer's favourite pupil.
Tchaikovsky was infatuated with his student—he called him "Kotik", Russian for tomcat—and it has been conjectured by some (and asserted unambiguously by others) that they became lovers. They certainly became physically very affectionate, as demonstrated in Tchaikovsky's 1876 letter to his brother Modest about Kotek: "When he caresses me with his hand, when he lies with his head inclined on my breast, and I run my hand through his hair and secretly kiss it ... passion rages within me with such unimaginable strength ... Yet I am far from the desire for a physical bond. I feel that if this happened, I would cool towards him. It would be unpleasant for me if this marvellous youth debased himself to copulation with an ageing and fat-bellied man."
Kotek graduated in 1876. At that time, a wealthy widow and patron named Nadezhda von Meck asked the conservatory to provide a violinist to join her household to play chamber music and other pieces. She had eleven children, and also had a large staff including personal physicians and various musicians. Nikolai Rubinstein recommended Kotek. Von Meck had already heard some of Tchaikovsky’s music, and liked it, and it was at Kotek’s suggestion that she contacted Tchaikovsky with a commission for some new violin pieces. Kotek also made her aware of Tchaikovsky's impecunious financial circumstances. Thus started what would become one of the most remarkable artistic liaisons in musical history, a period of 14 years during which she supported him financially to become a full-time composer with no need to teach to earn a living—but they were never to meet in person. For a period, Kotek played the role of an intermediary between Nadezhda and Tchaikovsky.In early 1877, Tchaikovsky wrote his Valse-Scherzo in C for Kotek, who may have orchestrated some or all of it. He dedicated it to Kotek on publication in 1878. Although he was exclusively homosexual, Tchaikovsky married Antonina Miliukova on 18 July 1877. Alexander Poznansky states that Tchaikovsky and Kotek were in an intimate relationship at the time, and his letters to his family prior to the wedding indeed display a great sense of concern about Kotek’s welfare, compared with almost total indifference to the woman he was about to marry. The sole witnesses at the wedding were his brother Anatoly and Iosif Kotek. Tchaikovsky also deposited with his publisher P. Jurgenson an amount of money he had received from his patroness, to be made available to Kotek should he need it. The Tchaikovsky–Miliukova marriage was doomed from the start, and they soon separated; Tchaikovsky also made a half-hearted suicide attempt. Iosif Kotek was involved in an elaborate subterfuge to keep the details of these developments from Tchaikovsky’s wider circle, including his parents. This assistance only deepened the mutual attachment the composer and the violinist had for each other.Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and his wife Antonina MiliukovaHowever, Kotek was not exclusively homosexual, perhaps not even primarily so. He was engaged in a series of amorous episodes with women in Nadezhda von Meck's large household, which caused her to become markedly cold towards him. He asked her for some financial assistance, but she refused. Tchaikovsky instead came to his aid, despite having been accused by Kotek of having revealed to her the true nature of their relationship. He had also contracted syphilis. After his dismissal by Nadezhda von Meck, Kotek went to Berlin to study with Joseph Joachim.
In 1878, still recovering from the breakdown of his disastrous marriage and his subsequent suicide attempt, Tchaikovsky went to stay at Nadezhda von Meck's estate at Clarens, Switzerland, along with Modest and Kolya Konradi. They arrived there on 9 March, after which Kotek was summoned from Berlin. He arrived on 14 March carrying a swag of new music for violin, including Édouard Lalo's Symphonie espagnole, which he and Tchaikovsky played through to great delight. This gave Tchaikovsky the idea of writing a violin concerto, and he immediately set aside his current work on his Piano Sonata in G major and started on the concerto on 17 March. Kotek gave Tchaikovsky the benefit of his technical advice, and they would play through each new section as it was composed. The composer wrote: "How lovingly [Kotek] busies himself with my concerto! It goes without saying that I would have been able to do nothing without him. He plays it marvelously!" The whole process was finished on 28 March. On 3 April they gave the work a complete run-through, but neither of the Tchaikovsky brothers nor Kotek were satisfied with the Andante middle movement. It was quickly discarded (and later published separately as the Méditation in his Souvenir d'un lieu cher, Op. 42), with a new slow movement being composed in a single day, 5 April. The orchestration was finished by 11 April.
Tchaikovsky wanted to dedicate the concerto to Kotek, but felt constrained by the gossip this would undoubtedly cause about the true nature of his feelings for the younger man. (He was always at pains to conceal his homosexuality from the general public.)
At the end of 1878, Kotek and Tchaikovsky renewed their friendship in Paris, but Tchaikovsky was deeply irritated by Kotek’s "unbelievable womanizing", and even said he found his company "more unpleasant than pleasant". In November 1879 he saw Kotek again in Berlin, but still found him more tiresome than attractive.Back to Ballet Russes in Paris (early 20th century)Serge Diaghilev took the Russian ballet dancer Ida Lvovna Rubinstein (5 October 1885 St. Petersburg, Russia - 20 September 1960, Vence, France) with the Ballets Russes and she danced the title role of Cléopâtre in the Paris season of 1909. Bisexual, Rubinstein began (in 1911) a three-year affair with the painter Romaine Brooks, who created a striking portrait and used her as a nude model for Venus. Russian ballet dancer Ida Lvovna Rubinstein (5 October 1885 St. Petersburg, Russia - 20 September 1960, Vence, France)Russian ballet dancer Ida Lvovna RubinsteinRussian ballet dancer Ida Lvovna RubinsteinRomaine BrooksRomaine Brooks (born Beatrice Romaine Goddard; May 1, 1874 – December 7, 1970), was an American painter who worked mostly in Paris and Capri. She specialized in portraiture and used a subdued tonal palette keyed to the color gray. Brooks ignored contemporary artistic trends such as Cubism and Fauvism, drawing on her own original aesthetic inspired by the works of Charles Conder, Walter Sickert, and James McNeill Whistler. Her subjects ranged from anonymous models to titled aristocrats. She is best known for her images of women in androgynous or masculine dress, including her self-portrait of 1923, which is her most widely reproduced work.
Brooks had an unhappy childhood after her alcoholic father abandoned the family; her mother was emotionally abusive and her brother mentally ill. By her own account, her childhood cast a shadow over her whole life. She spent several years in Italy and France as a poor art student, then inherited a fortune upon her mother's death in 1902. Wealth gave her the freedom to choose her own subjects. She often painted people close to her, such as the Italian writer and politician Gabriele D'Annunzio, the Russian dancer Ida Rubinstein, and her partner of more than 50 years, the writer Natalie Barney.
Although she lived until 1970, it is mistakenly thought that she painted very little after 1925 despite evidence to the contrary. She made a series of drawings during the 1930s, using an "unpremeditated" techniques predating automatic drawing. She spent time in New York City in the mid 1930s and completed portraits of Carl Van Vechten and Muriel Draper. Many of her works are unaccounted for but photographic reproductions attest to her on-going art making thought to have culminated in her 1961 portrait of Duke Uberto Strozzi.New York Times:" Proof of Stravinsky’s gay behavior would also lead scholars to re-evaluate the role of the gay audience for the Ballets Russes and the reasons for Stravinsky’s intense antipathy to Nijinsky, the choreographer of “The Rite of Spring” and Diaghilev’s longtime lover. It would encourage new interpretations of the “Rite,” whose plot of male elders watching a girl dance herself to death has generally been understood as entirely heterosexual." Painting of Ida Rubinstein by Romaine BrooksPainting of Gabriele D'Annunzio by Romaine BrooksPainting of Ida Rubinstein by Romaine BrooksPainting of Ida Rubinstein: La France Croisée (The Cross of France, 1914)www.huffpost.com/entry/american-women-19th-century-artists_n_7292264?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADJBYvTnODZiw4eq9GSoFhFPAZNx1-Hr0Ng_Dxqbgr4PQWZG_umWkUFT-T3sOTPq4pQUcBOf_JaNCzgomjtZ2-AsG64gVnM8Rplvb6tVm5037UiDJ8QvXhp50lTvJiyrT0tBwyy2QGhDERbhfffE3RRFQ07SgR46kbXnb62saKP7To put things into perspective read the whole article: www.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/arts/music/doubts-greet-claims-about-stravinskys-sexuality.htmlWashington Post on Sergei Diaghilev importance to Ballet in the early 20th century:" Today, Sergey Diaghilev is thought of primarily as the man who founded and directed the most glamorous dance troupe in history, the Ballets Russes (1909-29). But he did more: he saved ballet from certain death. By the time his company made its début, in Paris, in 1909, European classical dance, one of the glories of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century stage, had become a decadent, frivolous business—a pantie parade. With few exceptions, no one seriously interested in the arts would show his face at the ballet. When Diaghilev came, that changed.:" To put things into perspective read the whole article: www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/09/20/the-showmanLGBT history in RussiaThe history of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT) in Russia and its historical antecedents (the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire) has largely been influenced by the political leanings of its rulers. Medieval Catholic-Protestant Europe had the largest influence on Russian attitude towards homosexuality. Russian LGBT history was influenced by the ambivalent attitude of the Russian Orthodox religiosity regarding sexuality.
In contrast to old Europe, ancient Russia had an open attitude towards homosexuality. Homosexuality has been documented in Russia for centuries. The earliest documented bans on homosexuality date to the early-mid 17th century. Grigory Kotoshikhin recorded during the reign of Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich, who began the process of the Europeanization and modernization of Russia,[1] that male homosexuals were put to death and also states that female homosexuals are also put to death by burning.[2] Government attempts at preventing homosexual practices began in the 18th century, with Tsar Peter the Great banning homosexual relations in the armed forces in 1716 as a part of his attempt to modernise the country. In 1832, further laws were enacted criminalising certain sexual acts between two males, but an LGBT subculture developed in Russia during that century, with many significant Russians being openly homosexual or bisexual.[citation needed]
In 1917, the Russian Revolution saw the overthrow of the Tsarist government and the subsequent foundation of the Russian SFSR, the world's first socialist state, followed by the founding of the Soviet Union after the end of the civil war in 1922. The Bolsheviks rewrote the constitution and "produced two Criminal Codes - in 1922 and 1926 - and an article prohibiting gay sex was left off both." The new Communist Party government eradicated the old laws regarding sexual relations, effectively legalising homosexual and transgender activity within Russia, although it remained illegal in other former territories of the Russian Empire. Under Vladimir Lenin's leadership, openly homosexual people were allowed to serve in government. Yet gay people were still persecuted and sacked from their jobs for being 'homosexuals'.
In 1933, the Soviet government under the leadership of Joseph Stalin recriminalised homosexual activity with punishments of up to five years' hard labour[citation needed]. A 1934 article in the new Criminal Code outlawed 'homosexuality'. Following Stalin's death, there was a liberalisation of attitudes toward sexual issues in the Soviet Union, but homosexual acts remained illegal. Nonetheless, homosexual culture became increasingly visible, particularly following the brashly liberal glasnost policy of Mikhail Gorbachev's government in the late 1980s.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the foundation of the Russian Federation in 1991, the Council of Europe pressured the new administration to legalize homosexuality, leading President Boris Yeltsin to do so in 1993. However, there are several restrictions on activities related to homosexuality. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_history_in_RussiaComment Pieter: In the Netherlands and other parts of the world I experienced the stuggle, intelligence, creativity and intellect of many Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgender people. Due to the fact that they were and are a minority amongst a straight majority and the fact that the reality, culture and dominant atmosphere, environment around them and the dominant presence of the straight (hetrosexual) world around them is the situation they have to live with, adapt to and integrate into during their childhood and teenage years. This sense of pressure and idea of being different makes them realise things, think about things and develop a tool for destinction to recognise other people who are different and belong to their minority and thus sexual orientation. This fact gives young Gays and Lesbians some intelligence, Gaydar, tools, mechanisms, a culture and sign language to survive. They are aware of things straight kids never ever have to think about. Straight kids are the norm, are like how you had supposed to be in the forties, fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties, and sometimes even in the nineties and the 21th century. In conservative, Orthodox christian, intolerant states for instance or in working class blue color workers environments with a macho hetrosexual culture.
Generations of kids, teenagers, and adult males and females lived 'in the closet' and lived and live double lives. Families, children and wives at home, the image of a decent straight colleague, a straight family father in the church community, a macho straight guy in the base ball sport team. A macho straight guy with his old palls in the local pub or night club with girl strippers. But the other side is his secret side of 'Gay cruising area's' (with a lot of risk of being caught by violent Gay bashers), Gay bars, Gay clubs and clandestine meetings with other Gay men in Motels and Hotels. A difficult and sad life, because these men can't come out of the closet in their families, in their chuch communities and at their office (work/job). They love their families, are fond of their wives, love their children, but don't really love their wives in a sexual and love sense. They see their wives as buddies, best friends, but not as partners. And therefor they play the role of husband, play the sexual part, play the loving and caring husbands (and often they are, because they care for their families) and in the same time have sex with men elsewhere in bars, sauna's, swimming pools, discotheques, parks, forests/woods, motels, hotels and the homes of Gay men who aren't in the closet. They go to Gay dating sites and can easily find men to meet for sex, having a drink, going to the movies (Gay cinema), the sauna or drive somewhere to a quiet place. This is a situation created by a society which rejects bi-sexuality, homosexuality, Lesbianism and transgender identities. Tolerance grew over the last decades, but often only exists in larger cities on the West-Coast (New York) and East-Coast (Los Angeles) and maybe Chicago?
In Europe in the North-West European part there seems to be tolerance and acceptance of Gays and Lesbians, but intimidation (verbal and non-verbal), agression and violence against Gays, Lesbians, Bi-sexuals and transgenders takes place here also. Both native Europeans and migrants threaten, curse at, intimidate, harass, attack, beat Gays and Lesbians, vandalise property, homes and cars of Gays and Lesbians or transgenders and sometimes bully them to such an extend that they leave their neighbourhood, go into hiding or start living an anonymous and closet life elsewhere. Acting straight, dressing like straight people, behaving like straight people, moving like straight people and talking (communucating) like straight people. Even going to straight bars, restaurants and clubs to be not recognised as LGBT people. They know that outside gay bars, Lesbian bars, Gay clubs, gay saunas, LGBT community centers Gay bashers can be on the look out and even fear that infiltrators could be entering their clubs to observe them. Yes, there is some paranoia amongs the LGBT people. Not being recognisable, not being different, not being a targer is the aim of many LGBT people. They believe that their community, their LGBT politicians, the police, their families, friends and neighbours can't protect them. Mind you many LGBT people are okay, self confident and are not afraid. But others with negative experiences are afraid. They see the world as a hostile place for LGBT people. There were incidents with anti-Gay violence in Arnhem, Amsterdam and other places in the Netherlands. During the Gay Pride LGBT feel safe in Amsterdam, because during that day they are the majority, but when the Pride is gone they are a minority again and Gay hostile homophobic thugs, criminals, hooligans, hustlers, Muslim migrant youth (Moroccans) and certain Gay hostile Amsterdam workers or middle class people will target them again in their neighbourhood, their work (obnoxious homophobic colleagues) or in the city center when they go out. Amsterdam is not a safe place for gays and Gays and Lesbians move outside Amsterdam to more quiet small towns.
nltimes.nl/2018/11/16/gay-bashing-suspect-gets-55-years-amsterdam-damrak-attack
(5 Apr 2017) Hundreds of people walked hand-in-hand through Amsterdam on Wednesday, to show solidarity with two gay men who were badly beaten over the weekend in the eastern city of Arnhem.
Wednesday evening's peaceful march was part of a national outpouring of anger at the incident in which the married men in Arnhem were beaten by a group of youths, in a confrontation that the victims told police started because they were holding hands.
Prosecutors say that five suspects, all in their teens, will be charged Thursday with causing serious bodily harm.
Marion van Hees, 68, who was among the marchers, campaigned for gay rights in the '60s and says, "I thought we had finished, that we had achieved it. But that's clearly not the case. And I think that's very sad."
Despite my own straight identity and interest in women, due to my professional background in culture, fine art, politics and press/media I have encountered many Gay and Lesbian people in my life. A few of them are my friends, colleagues, acquaintances, family (I have one Dutch cousin who is Gay), and professional connections (LGBT councillors of the city council, LGBT Horeca entrepreneurs, LGBT graphical designers, LGBT architects, LGBT 3D designers, LGBT Fashion designers, LGBT theatre actors and actresses, LGBT professional dancers, LGBT families with children -children with 2 fathers or children with 2 mothers-, LGBT web designers, LGBT shop owners, LGBT police officers, LGBT army people, LGBT sport professionals, LGBT teachers, LGBT painters, LGBT sculpturers, LGBT film makers, LGBT radio people, LGBT AV technicians and specialists, LGBT TV producers, LGBT liberals, LGBT Social Democrats, LGBT Christian Democrats, LGBT conservatives, LGBT far right Rightwing Populists, LGBT socialists and Marxists, LGBT libertarians, LGBT workers, LGBT bankers, businessmen and civil servants. You have very macho looking and straight behaving or looking fellows amongs them and very feminine Queer like faggots amongst them. Within the Gay community you have subgroups, discrimination, self loathing, self hatred, racism -white Gays vs Black Gays and vice versa -Black Power Gays-, I know masculine Gays who hate feminine gays, Queers, faggots (ferries), transgenders and Lesbians. Masculine Gays have difficulties with liberalism, progressive views, to much equality, feminism and masculine Butch [Dyke] Lesbians. My best friend who is Gay criticized fellow Gays. He says we have to embrace diversity and reject the self loathing, internalised self hatred and accept all kinds of Gays, Lesbians, Bi-sexuals, Transgenders, Queers, A-sexuals, straight people and other directions -with the exception of active pedophilia, because that is unaccaptable due to ethical, legal, moral and health reasons for children, whom we have to protect-. My friend and other Gay men are critical about older Gay men who are obsessed with young boys. They reject it like we reject Jeffrey Epstein and draw a clear line. Straight people, Gays, Lesbians, bi-sexuals and transgenders together make the cultural world, the art world and the creative and entertainment industry. I wonder what would be left if we would erase the contributions of Gays, Lesbians, bi-sexuals and transgenders from the art history of Russia. If we removed all of their art works, music, poetry, literature, ballet, theatre, cinema, architecture and graphic design from the Russian musea, streets, cities and towns. What would we have left? I do believe that in the world of the intelligence communities there were and are a lot of Gay people.
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