MM, there is a very lively debate as to why Russia has chosen this particular scapegoat (LGBT) at this time. It seems like there are a few alternatives. The traditional scapegoat in Russia has been Jews; however, for all the negative stuff one can say about Putin, he is not an antisemite, and his rule, for what it's worth, hasn't been bad for the Jewish community of Russia. For years, migrants from former USSR republic fit the bill; one opinion as to why this particular hatred is being reigned back a bit (opinion I subscribe to as well) is that it begats too much violence as many of the migrants can certainly stand up for themselves; the correct scapegoat should be adequately obedient. There is, of course, the constant undercurrent of America-bashing, but that is just too far away; I mean sure, punishing the country's orphans through the law of a year ago build up a bit of the warm-and-fuzzy patriotism, but that just fades too darn quick. And then probably someone came up with the brilliant idea of using LGBT community of the scapegoat. Whoever came up with that was a real genius, if you ask me! Most people in Russia don't know may gays, so they're easy to demonize; as a community, they also tend to be not-too-aggressive, so they're relatively safe to beat up to let the youngsters get blow off the steam. The real irony, of course (sorry if this has already been discussed at length) is that Russian pop culture and pop music uses a lot of the traditionally gay attributes and no one seems to find any contradiction in that!
arty: although I am sad for the teams whose dreams got crushed.
