Russian military recruits are to be
checked for certain types of tattoo which authorities believe could
reveal signs of homosexuality under new technical guidelines issued from
the Kremlin.
Conscripts and
contract soldiers should be given a thorough physical examination
looking for tattoos in intimate places, the Defense Ministry's central
administration recommends.
The
guidelines, which are based on a military psychology textbook from
2005, specify that special attention should be paid to tattoos near the
face, sexual organs and buttocks, which could reveal possible sexual
deviations.
Tattoo checks: Recruits joining the Russian
military are to be examined for any intimate tattoos which could reveal
homosexuality under new guidelines issued by the Kremlin
Checkups: Recruits show doctors their tongues, during a medical examination in the Siberian city of Kemerovo
'If an influence by external factors is determined, for example, persuasion or direct coercion, this indicates the malleability of the young man, his disposition to submit to another's will.'
The guide also outlines a range of warning signs for potential mental instability which include early sexual experience and 'uncontrolled sexual behavior'.
Kremlin: Many within the Russian government are against the promotion of homosexuality and western values
The guide offers advice on various issues, from how to spot an 'opinion-shaper' and 'natural-born leader' within the ranks to what role religious and ethnic aspects will have inside the barracks.
However many officers have already rejected the guidelines claiming they would be impractical to implement.
One unnamed battalion chief assistant told Russia's Izvestia newspaper: 'I just physically can't so confidentially hold a discussion with each new recruit. The commanders do that anyway.
'What will they do, examine their genitals for any tattoos? And how will they ask about someone's first sexual experience? 'Hey, when did you have your first woman, rookie? Answer directly, no beating around the bush!'"
While the Russian military holds traditional views on sexuality, a UN report from 2007 stated homosexuality and male prostitution is common within the army.
The UN International Panel for Struggle against Sexual Exploitation found that some soldiers voluntarily offer their services while others are forced into prostitution.
The battalion chief assistant added: 'I had one gay contract soldier who joined just to find more partners for himself. For people like that, of course, there's no place in the army.'
The move is the latest in a series of proposed clampdowns on homosexuality including new legislation which aims to promote traditional values.
Under the terms of a bill that comes up for a first vote later this month, a public kiss between two men could be defined as illegal 'homosexual propaganda' and bring a fine of up to £10,000
The legislation being pushed by the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church would make it illegal to tell minors information that is defined as ‘propaganda of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality and transgenderism.’
It also includes a ban on holding public events that promote gay rights.
Controversial: Officers detain gay right
activists during a protest in December in Moscow. A bill banning
'homosexual propaganda' comes up for the first of three votes this month
Other laws that the Kremlin says are intended to protect young Russians have been adopted in recent months, including some that allow banning and blocking web content and print publications that are deemed ‘extremist’ or unfit for young audiences.
Denis Volkov, a sociologist with the Levada Center, an independent pollster, says the anti-gay bill fits the ‘general logic’ of a government intent on limiting various rights.
But in this case, the move has been met mostly with either indifference or open enthusiasm by average Russians.
Protest: Russian police officers detain a gay rights activist during an attempt to hold a gay pride parade in Moscow in May 2012
Levada polls conducted last year
show that almost two thirds of Russians find homosexuality ‘morally
unacceptable and worth condemning.’ About half are against gay rallies and same-sex marriage; almost a third think homosexuality is the result of ‘a sickness or a psychological trauma,’ the Levada surveys show.
Russia's widespread hostility to homosexuality is shared by the political and religious elite.
Lawmakers have accused homosexuals of decreasing Russia's already low birth rates and said they should be barred from government jobs, undergo forced medical treatment or be exiled.
Orthodox activists criticised U.S. company PepsiCo for using a ‘gay’ rainbow on cartons of its dairy products.
A man dressed in a bridal gown screams out of a police vehicle after he was detained
He was arrested by police, fined £10 and detained for 30 hours first in a frozen van and then in an unheated detention centre.
The Orthodox activists were also rounded up, but were released much earlier.
Those behind the bill say minors need to be protected from ‘homosexual propaganda’ because they are unable to evaluate the information critically.
The bill reads: ‘This propaganda goes through the mass media and public events that propagate homosexuality as normal behavior'.
Russian cities started adopting anti-gay laws in 2006. Only one person has been prosecuted so far under a law specifically targeted at homosexuals: Nikolai Alexeyev, a gay rights campaigner, was fined the equivalent of £100 after a one-man protest last summer in St. Petersburg.
In November, a St. Petersburg court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Trade Union of Russian Citizens, a small group of Orthodox conservatives and Putin loyalists, against pop star Madonna.
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