Gay communist propaganda

These homoerotic Chinese-Soviet propaganda posters look more like a gay couple’s vacation pics, or maybe an ad for interracial gay marriage. He explains that within the Communist party, men would frequently refer to each other as Tóngzhì, or “comrade” in Chinese, a word that today has been appropriated by the LGBTQ community to signal gay or lesbian. On appearance alone, it’s hard to deny the radical homoeroticism of many of these works.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation remains socially conservative on LGBTQ rights, voting in favor of the anti-gay propaganda law [50] and introduced legislation in to prohibit coming out as LGBT. [77][78].

In , Joseph Stalin received a letter from Harry Whyte asking: “can a homosexual be considered someone worthy of membership in the Communist Party?”. Join Chinese-born designer Zipeng Zhu and film historian Bader AlAwadhi as they guide us through the provocative, campy, and incredibly homoerotic imagery of Communist propaganda. Socialist regimes now held power across one-fifth of the globe, ruling a combined population of almost million people.

Maintaining a friendly and productive relationship between Moscow and Beijing was seen as crucial for the survival and advancement of socialism. Recognizing the need for unity at a time of growing opposition, Stalin and Mao signed a bilateral treaty called the Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance.

soviet chinese propaganda poster

Propaganda posters were an integral part of attesting to the world the close relationship between China and the Soviet Union and as seen from this photographic collection they walk hand-in-hand, kissing, clutching each other, all happy and gay, so to speak. The depictions range from sweet—two men offering each other flowers— to totally inappropriate such as men representing China and the Soviet Union kissing, holding hands, passionately embracing each other, etc.

Scholars think that there is little evidence that the artists intentionally portrayed homosexuality in these images. Most likely the artists were tunnel-visioned on convincing people within the Soviet Union and China that cooperation and closeness were essential to survival and strengthening global socialism.

According to Angelina Lippert of Poster House, the concept of fraternity, especially between countries fighting the pre-established system of capitalism, often drove these intimate portraits, adding that when Stalin came to power, the only acceptable style of art became Socialist Realism. Much of this public-facing design was meant to celebrate hearty, robust workers, rosy-cheeked and clearly enjoying themselves.

These images would have represented two countries coming together to share a love of Communism and raising their children to be communists. China and the Soviet Union were both rather homophobic societies. Communist leaders and intellectuals took many different positions on LGBT rights issues. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels said very little on the subject in their published works.

Marx in particular commented rarely on sexuality in general. The Bolsheviks, who came to power during the October Revolution of , had decriminalized male homosexuality already in Then, Joseph Stalin recriminalized male homosexuality in with the already mentioned punishment of up to five years in prison with hard labor. Finally, Russia decriminalized homosexuality in , after the fall of the Soviet Union in , in order to join the Council of Europe.

Not a Chinese-Soviet poster, interesting nevertheless. Any factual error or typo? Let us know. Contact About us Privacy Policy. Menu Rare Historical Photos. They really look like a happy gay family. Friends Forever. Two ladies representing the Soviet Union and China. The couple that welds together…. Holding hands was a common theme in these propaganda posters.

Updated on: May 22,