Sochi and Beyond: Russia’s Anti-Gay Legislation, Human Rights, and the Practice of History

Russia’s so-termed anti-gay propaganda law, passed in 2013 by the Russian parliament, raised an array of issues relating to the status and rights of LGBT people in Russia, the lack of specific protections in the Olympic Charter relating to sexual orientation, and expected negative impacts of this law on scholarship in history, the humanities and social sciences. The roundtable brought together the perspectives of Erica Fraser, historian of Russia and Eastern Europe; Michael Dawson, historian of sport and popular culture; Lyle Dick, past-president of the CHA and practitioner of LGBT history; and CHA President Dominique Marshall, a specialist on Canada’s transnational history.  The panel was chaired by Yves Frenette, Chair of Advocacy for the Canadian Historical Association.  It considered the historical background to Russia’s anti-gay law and its justifications in “traditional values,” the status of LGBT human rights in the context of the Olympic movement, the particular challenges confronting researchers of LGBT history in Russia in light of Canadian experience, and the position of the Canadian Historical Association on the Russian law in terms of its core mandate and practice of defending the human rights of historians.

[audio http://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/CHA-Sochi.mp3]