'Better to be a Dictator than Gay': Homophobic Discourses in Belarusian Politics

Abstract

This essay analyses the political discourses employed by both the Belarusian authorities and the opposition with regard to homophobia and the LGBT community. It explores the anti-LGBT rhetoric and political homophobia that has been identified in the literature on Russian and Ukrainian politics as a baseline for examining neighbouring Belarus. It identifies which homophobic discourses are present in Belarus and how political homophobia is wielded by different actors on the domestic political scene.