Elton John should talk to Putin about gay rights. But will Russia listen?

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/14/elton-john-putin-gay-rights-russia

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Over the weekend, Sir Elton John expressed his interest in a meeting that any fly on the wall would be privileged to observe. Interviewed by the BBC, he said he would welcome a chance to talk to Vladimir Putin, to discuss what he called the Russian president’s “ridiculous” attitude to gay rights.

The scene might, just might, now be set for John to play Red Square – the president’s views would not deter him from performing in Russia, he added. Then he could take time on the side for a “free and frank” exchange, in the diplomatic parlance, with the Russian leader. John said, in essence, that he was prepared to be laughed out of court, but it was worth a go.

Related: Elton John to Vladimir Putin: meet me to discuss 'ridiculous' anti-gay prejudice

And there you have it. A small but diverting tale which has an element of absurdity, but for all that, contains possibilities. The general picture in the western public mind will be of John flying in to Moscow and convincing Putin of the error of his ways – best of all on live television – after which Putin declares a new age of liberalism across Russia. Or more likely carries on exactly as before, reinforcing the stereotype of the bigoted hatchet man.

In a way, it is the simplicity and the stereotypes, or the expectation of them, that make the story. And if some good comes of it, so much the better. But this is a classic case where it is worth looking a little distance behind the headlines, where things are less black and white than they might at first appear.

Take the focus on Putin and Russia. John was actually in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, when he made his comments about meeting Putin. He had been invited to provide the celebrity diversion at the Yalta European strategy forum, which was held this year, as last, for obvious reasons, in Kiev. The brainchild of the Ukrainian oligarch, arts patron and philanthropist Viktor Pinchuk, the annual forum is a gathering of Ukraine’s movers and shakers, business people and international region watchers.

Making an entrance – as he has always done so well – was John, to talk on the subject of “tolerance”. His audience hardly looked like your average rock concert-goers (though you never know), but John is a seasoned campaigner as well as an artist. He related his own hesitation about “coming out”, told business leaders that they were missing out on talent if they excluded gay people, and warned Ukrainians in general to “wake up”, as they risked falling behind the rest of Europe on gay rights.

The burden of his message, though, was much broader: that guaranteeing equal rights for LGBT citizens was part of tolerance of difference, an aspect of human rights generally, and an intrinsic part of being European. This was a salutary message for Ukraine, whose 2014 revolution was fought in the name of Europe, and which has seen some particularly vicious attacks on gay individuals and a gay march in recent months.

Indeed, intolerance, both of gay people and difference generally, tends only to grow as you move further east from Berlin. We may criticise bans on gay marches or heavy policing, but the bans and the police partly reflect the physical danger that openly gay people still face from some of their fellow citizens.

In both Ukraine and Russia, homosexual acts were decriminalised only relatively recently (in 1991 and 1993 respectively); in the Baltic states it was around the same time. But decriminalisation is only a part, albeit a key part, of progress towards acceptance.

Popular attitudes are much harder to change, and where discrimination is ingrained in the teaching of the dominant church – as it is with the Orthodox churches in Russia and Ukraine, and the Catholic church in Poland and elsewhere – attitudes are that much harder to shift. Pope Francis has initiated a tonal change at the very top, but it will take time to seep down into parishes, if it ever really does.

The Russian law often cited as evidence of institutionalised homophobia is little different from the UK’s section 28

If Russia is not unique in its failings on gay rights, nor is Putin quite the singular villain he is so often presented as. Before the Sochi Winter Olympics he insisted that he was not homophobic, that he knew gay people and had gay individuals in his administration. In much of Europe that might sound tame, but for a Russian leader to say that in public was quite a departure. Outside the biggest cities, the Russian public, like the Russian Orthodox church, is deeply conservative.

It is also worth noting that the Russian law regularly cited as evidence of institutionalised homophobia is little different from the UK’s notorious section 28, which banned the “promotion” of homosexuality in schools. When was section 28 repealed? In Scotland in 2000, and three years later elsewhere. We then traversed the path from section 28 to civil partnership and now gay marriage in just 12 years.

So, if – and why not be optimistic and say when – Sir Elton John meets Vladimir Putin, their discussion could be longer and more serious than the singer expects. And John might also learn that it is not primarily Putin’s mind he needs to change, but that of the wider public – as in Ukraine, and many other countries besides. So let him take his music to Red Square, bring his family along, and appeal to the fans directly. Putin would probably not come and sing along – despite his apparent love of crooning – but he might just sneak a look from behind a Kremlin curtain.