Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

attitudes towards

LGBTQ rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Nota ...

have evolved radically in the 21st century. In the 19th and 20th century, communist parties and Marxist–Leninist states varied on LGBTQ rights; some Western and Eastern parties were among the first political parties to support LGBTQ rights, while others, especially the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, some of its

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

members, and the Communist East Asian nations harshly persecuted people of the LGBTQ community (especially

gay men Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual men, bisexual and homoromantic men may dually identify as ''gay'' and a number of gay men also identify as ''queer''. Historic terminology for gay men has included ''Sexual inversion (sexology), in ...

History

Marxism

Early history

Communist leaders and intellectuals took many different positions on LGBTQ-rights issues.

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. The ''

Encyclopedia of Homosexuality The ''Encyclopedia of Homosexuality'' (1990) was edited by Wayne R. Dynes, with the assistance of associate editors William Armstrong Percy III, William A. Percy, Warren Johansson, and Stephen Donaldson (activist), Stephen Donaldson. It was publis ...

'', volume two, is unequivocal on Marx and Engels view of homosexuality, stating: "There can be little doubt that, as far as they thought of the matter at all, Marx and Engels were personally

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

, as shown by an acerbic 1869 exchange of letter on

Jean Baptista von Schweitzer Jean Baptista von Schweitzer (12 July 1833 – 28 July 1875) was a German politician, dramatic poet and playwright. Life and political career Schweitzer was born at Frankfurt am Main, of an old aristocratic Catholic family. He studied law in B ...

, a German socialist rival. Schweitzer had been arrested in a park on a morals charge and not only did Marx and Engels refuse to join a committee defending him, they resorted to the cheapest form of bathroom humor in their private comments about the affair." While Marx praised Schweitzer's strength and energy, both Marx and Engels considered him to be overly ambitious. One of the first important politicians to speak out in favour of gay rights in public debates was the German Marxist and co-founder of the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

August Bebel Ferdinand August Bebel (; 22 February 1840 – 13 August 1913) was a German socialist activist and politician. He was one of the principal founders of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Bebel, a woodworker by trade, co-founded the Sa ...

. Although Bebel personally considered same sex relationships to be "against nature", he was among the signatories of

Magnus Hirschfeld Magnus Hirschfeld (14 May 1868 – 14 May 1935) was a German physician, Sexology, sexologist and LGBTQ advocate, whose German citizenship was later revoked by the Nazi government.David A. Gerstner, ''Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer ...

's petition from the

Scientific-Humanitarian Committee The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee (, WhK) was founded by Magnus Hirschfeld in Berlin in May 1897, to campaign for social recognition of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and against their legal persecution. It was the first L ...

to overturn

Paragraph 175 Paragraph 175, known formally a§175 StGBand also referred to as Section 175 in English language, English, was a provision of the Strafgesetzbuch, German Criminal Code from 15 May 1871 to 10 March 1994. It Criminalization of homosexuality, mad ...

from the German penal code. The bill brought before the Reichstag in 1898 was supported only by a minority from the Social Democratic Party of Germany led by Bebel. Among other signatories was the Marxist theoretician

Karl Kautsky Karl Johann Kautsky (; ; 16 October 1854 – 17 October 1938) was a Czech-Austrian Marxism, Marxist theorist. A leading theorist of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Second International, Kautsky advocated orthodox Marxism, a ...

. In 1895, Marxist theorist

Eduard Bernstein Eduard Bernstein (; 6 January 1850 – 18 December 1932) was a German Marxist theorist and politician. A prominent member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), he has been both condemned and praised as a "Revisionism (Marxism), revisi ...

of the Social Democratic Party of Germany wrote a defense of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

(who had been on trial for homosexual behavior) in ''

Die Neue Zeit ''Die Neue Zeit'' ("The New Times") was a German socialist theoretical journal of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) that was published from 1883 to 1923. Its headquarters was in Stuttgart, Germany. History and profile Founded by lead ...

'', a materialist critique of social attitudes concerning the subject of sexuality. Among other arguments he made, he stated that the characterization of homosexuality as "unnatural" was inappropriate, preferring "not the norm" instead. During the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

, the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor party ...

joined with the Social Democrats in support of efforts to legalize private homosexual relations between consenting adults. The situation for LGBTQ rights in the early Russian communist government was somewhat mixed. The Communist Party of

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

abolished all pre-1917 laws, including those related to sexuality. In 1917, the Soviet government also decriminalised homosexuality, and the subsequent Soviet criminal code in the 1920s left out the criminalization of non-commercial same-sex sexuality between consenting adults in private. ''The Sexual Revolution in Russia'', a 1923 four-page pamphlet written by , noted that Soviet law post-1917 regarded

gay sexual practices Sexual activities involving men who have sex with men (MSM), regardless of their sexual orientation, can include anal sex, non-penetrative sex, and oral sex. Evidence shows that sex between men is significantly underreported in surveys. Beha ...

to be part of normal

human sexual behaviour Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) t ...

, and did not criminalize them as all matters of sex were a private matter. However, outside the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

and

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

, homosexuality remained a criminal offense in certain Soviet republics in the 1920s (particularly the

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

-dominated Soviet Republics in Central Asia) and Soviet policy was often inconsistent in terms of pursuing homosexual rights and wider legal/social equality for homosexual people. Official Soviet policy on homosexuality in the 1920s also fluctuated: between legal and social tolerance of homosexuals and homosexuality to state attempts to classify homosexuality as a mental disorder. In 1933, Article 121 was added to the criminal code of the Soviet Union, which made male homosexuality a crime punishable by up to five years in prison with

hard labor ''Hard Labor'' is the eleventh album by American rock band Three Dog Night, released in 1974. For this album, the band replaced long-time producer Richard Podolor with Jimmy Ienner, who was known for his production work with the Raspberries ...

. The precise reason for Article 121 is in some dispute among historians. The few official government statements made about the law tended to confuse homosexuality with

pedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pube ...

and were tied up with a belief that homosexuality was practiced only among

fascists Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social h ...

or the aristocracy. The law remained intact until after the dissolution of the Soviet Union; it was repealed in 1993 by the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

LGBTQ people and communist party membership

Gay men were sometimes denied membership or expelled from communist parties across the globe during the 20th century, as most communist parties followed the social precedents set by the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. However, this was not always the case in the

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

. Notable LGBT+ members of communist parties include: *

Karl-Günther Heimsoth Karl-Günther Heimsoth, also known as Karl-Guenter Heimsoth (4 December 1899, Charlottenburg – July 1934, Berlin), was a German physician, polygraph, and politician. Heimsoth was a member of the Nazi Party and later the Communist Party of German ...

(German politician) – member of both the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

and later the

(KPD). Continued feeding information to KPD's secret service after the Nazis seized power. Purged during the

Night of the Long Knives The Night of the Long Knives (, ), also called the Röhm purge or Operation Hummingbird (), was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor Adolf Hitler, urged on by Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler, ord ...

. * Harry Whyte (British Marxist and open critic of the criminalization of homosexuality in the Soviet Union in 1934, infamously dismissed as "an idiot and a degenerate" by

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

in response to his letter arguing for the repeal of the law in question) – member of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

. *

Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by Culture of Mexico, the country' ...

(Mexican painter and political and social activist) – member of the

Mexican Communist Party The Mexican Communist Party (, PCM) was a communist party in Mexico. It was founded in 1917 as the Socialist Workers' Party (, PSO) by Manabendra Nath Roy, a left-wing Indian revolutionary. The PSO changed its name to the ''Mexican Communist ...

. *

Harry Hay Henry Hay Jr. (April 7, 1912 – October 24, 2002) was an American gay rights activist, communist, and union organizer, labor advocate. He cofounded the Mattachine Society, the first sustained gay rights group in the United States, as well as th ...

(

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Not ...

activist, labor advocate,

Native American civil rights Native American civil rights are the civil rights of Native Americans in the United States. Native Americans are citizens of their respective Native nations as well as of the United States, and those nations are characterized under United Sta ...

campaigner,

Mattachine Society The Mattachine Society (), founded in 1950, was an early national gay rights organization in the United States, preceded by several covert and open organizations, such as Chicago's Society for Human Rights. Communist and labor activist Harry Ha ...

founder, co-founder of LA

Gay Liberation Front Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was the name of several gay liberation groups, the first of which was formed in New York City in 1969, immediately after the Stonewall riots. Similar organizations also formed in the UK, Australia and Canada. The GLF p ...

and supporter of the

North American Man/Boy Love Association The North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA, stylized as NAMbLA) is a pedophilia and pederasty advocacy organization in the United States. It works to abolish age-of-consent laws criminalizing adult sexual involvement with minors and ...

a pederasty advocacy group) – member of the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

. *

Leslie Feinberg Leslie Feinberg (September 1, 1949 – November 15, 2014) was an American butch lesbian, transgender activist, communist, and author. Feinberg authored '' Stone Butch Blues'' in 1993.

(Transgender and lesbian rights activist, self described "

anti-racist Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and delibera ...

white, working-class,

secular Jewish Jewish secularism (Hebrew: יהדות חילונית) refers to secularism in a Jewish context, denoting the definition of Jewish identity with little or no attention given to its religious aspects. The concept of Jewish secularism first arose ...

, transgender, lesbian, female, revolutionary communist.") – Member of

Workers World Party The Workers World Party (WWP) is a Marxist–Leninist communist party in the United States founded in 1959 by a group led by Sam Marcy. WWP members are sometimes called Marcyites. Marcy and his followers split from the Socialist Workers Part ...

Mark Ashton Mark Christian Ashton ( – ) was a British gay rights activist and co-founder of the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) support group. He was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain and general secretary of the Young Communis ...

(founder of

Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) was an alliance of lesbians and gay men who supported the National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain), National Union of Mineworkers during the year-long UK miners' strike (1984–1985), strike of 1 ...

and

advocate) – member of the

. *

Georgy Chicherin Georgy Vasilyevich Chicherin (or Tchitcherin; ; 24 November 1872 – 7 July 1936) was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and a Soviet politician who served as the first People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs in the Soviet government from March 1918 ...

- First

People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics () was founded on 6 July 1923. It had three names during its existence: People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (1923–1946), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1946–1991) ...

of the USSR and member of the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

Association of communism with homosexuality by anti-communists

The phrase "''Sexual bolschevism''" originated in Weimar Germany in the 1920s by Pastor Ludwig Hoppe of Berlin as a more general term of approbation at licentiousness. When

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

came into being after the failures of the Weimar government, the Nazis used the term "sexual Bolshevism" to refer to perceived sexual degeneracy, in particular

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

Association of fascism with homosexuality by communists

In the early 1920s, Western communist party leaders propagated the view that the increase in homosexuality and the open discussion of homosexuality were caused by capitalism "in its death throes". In their view, homosexuality would vanish. After Hitler's seizure of power (the '), Marxist intellectuals correlated fascism with homosexuality.

Events leading to the association of communism with homosexuality

The advance of doctors,

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

s and social workers into the arena of human

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

during the Weimar era (as well as the

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

movement) threw up a variety of

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

, especially amongst more

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

aspects of society, regarding communism and homosexuality. Any form of

sexual revolution The sexual revolution, also known as the sexual liberation, was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western world from the late 1950s to the early 1 ...

was derided as promiscuity and leading to a rise in sexually transmitted infections. The response of those who opposed "sexual Bolshevism" was to promote

eugenics Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...

and

family values Family values, sometimes referred to as familial values, are traditional or cultural values that pertain to the family's structure, function, roles, beliefs, attitudes, and ideals. Additionally, the concept of family values may be understood ...

. There are specific events which glbtq.com ("an encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer culture") claims to have contributed to the linkage of communism with homosexuality in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as well:

For example, in 1948,
Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer and intelligence agent. After early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), he defected from the Soviet u ...
, an editor and writer at ''
Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...
'' and a former Communist Party member and courier in a Soviet spy ring infiltrating the American government, accused
Alger Hiss Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was an American government official who was accused of espionage in 1948 for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. The statute of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjur ...
, head of the
Carnegie Endowment The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a nonpartisan international affairs think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C., with operations in Europe, South Asia, East Asia, and the Middle East, as well as the United States. Founde ...
, of perjury and, implicitly, of Soviet espionage. The vast media coverage of the scandal hinted that Chambers had a crush on Hiss, establishing a link between Communism and homosexuality. Chambers was only too eager to strengthen this link, declaring to the FBI that his homosexual activities had stopped once he had left the Communist Party. In addition, the 1951 flight to the Soviet Union of gay British spies
Guy Burgess Guy Francis de Moncy Burgess (16 April 1911 – 30 August 1963) was a British diplomat and Soviet double agent, and a member of the Cambridge Five spy ring that operated from the mid-1930s to the early years of the Cold War era. His defection ...
and Donald Maclean also helped fuel the association of homosexuality and treason in the public imagination.

Cold War

During the height of the

McCarthy era McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage in the United S ...

(in the late 1940s and early 1950s), American senator

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican United States Senate, U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death at age ...

viewed homosexuality and communism as threatening the "American way of life"; in both cases, "association with sickness and disease provided means of legitimating isolation from impressionable young people." Homosexuality was directly linked to security concerns, and more government employees were dismissed because of their sexual orientation than because they were left-winged or communist politically. George Chauncey noted that, "The specter of the invisible homosexual, like that of the invisible communist, haunted Cold War America," and homosexuality (and homosexuals) were constantly referred to not only as a disease, but also as an invasion, like the perceived danger of communism. McCarthy often used accusations of homosexuality as a smear tactic in his anti-communist crusade, often combining the

Second Red Scare McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage in the United S ...

with the lavender scare. On one occasion, he went so far as to announce to reporters, "If you want to be against McCarthy, boys, you've got to be either a Communist or a cocksucker." Some historians have argued that, in linking communism and homosexuality and psychological imbalance, McCarthy was employing guilt-by-association if evidence for communist activity was lacking. Senator Kenneth Wherry similarly attempted to invoke a connection between homosexuality and

anti-nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...

. He said in an interview with

Max Lerner Max Lerner (December 20, 1902 – June 5, 1992) was a Russia-born American journalist and educator known for his syndicated column. Background Maxwell Alan Lerner was born on December 20, 1902, in Minsk, then in the Russian Empire, the son of B ...

that "You can't hardly separate homosexuals from subversives." Later in that same interview he drew the line between patriotic Americans and gay men: "But look Lerner, we're both Americans, aren't we? I say, let's get these fellows loseted gay men in government positionsout of the government." Connections between gay rights groups and radical leftists were not merely a figment of the imaginations of

demagogues A demagogue (; ; ), or rabble-rouser, is a political leader in a democracy who gains popularity by arousing the common people against elites, especially through oratory that whips up the passions of crowds, appealing to emotion by scapegoati ...

. The

, one of the earliest gay rights groups in the United States, was founded by

, a former member of the Communist Party USA, who was kicked out of the gay rights group he'd founded for his ties to the party. Famous ex-communist former Soviet agent

Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer and intelligence agent. After early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), he defected from the Soviet u ...

notably spent his time in the left-wing underground pursuing both homosexual and heterosexual affairs, but he kept his liaisons quiet since his communist associates despised homosexuality. Chambers later monogamously married the

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

painter

Esther Shemitz Esther Shemitz (June 25, 1900August 16, 1986), also known as "Esther Chambers" and "Mrs. Whittaker Chambers," was a pacifist American painter and illustrator who, as wife of ex-Soviet spy Whittaker Chambers, provided testimony that "helped substan ...

, working as a journalist and editor.

Modern day

Since the mid-1970s, most communist parties in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

have begun to adopt homosexual rights as part of their platform. Some communist parties such as the

Communist Party of Greece The Communist Party of Greece (, ΚΚΕ; ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a Marxist–Leninist political party in Greece. It was founded in 1918 as the Socialist Workers' Party of Greece (SEKE) and adopted its current name in Novem ...

and the

Communist Party of the Russian Federation The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF; ) is a communist political party in Russia that officially adheres to Marxist–Leninist philosophy. It is the second-largest political party in Russia after United Russia. The youth o ...

have rejected this move and continue to promote homophobic policies. The

voted against the ''Civil Partnerships Bill'' proposed by

Syriza The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance (), best known by the syllabic abbreviation SYRIZA ( ; ; a pun on the Greek adverb , meaning "from the roots" or "radically"), is a Centre-left politics, centre-left to Left-wing politi ...

, responding that "with the formation of a socialist-communist society, a new type of partnership will undoubtedly be formed—a relatively stable heterosexual relationship and reproduction". Furthermore, The Communist Party of the Russian Federation and its Leader

Gennady Zyuganov Gennady Andreyevich Zyuganov (; born 26 June 1944) is a Russian politician who has been the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and served as Member of the State Duma since 1993. He is also the Chair of the Union ...

supported the

Russian gay propaganda law For the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating a Denial of Traditional Family Values, commonly known as the Russian anti-LGBT law or as the Russian anti-gay law, is a law of Russia. It was Unanimity, unanimously passed by the ...

LGBTQ rights by communist parties

Austria

The

Communist Party of Austria The Communist Party of Austria (, KPÖ) is a communist party in Austria. Established in 1918 as the Communist Party of Republic of German-Austria, German-Austria (KPDÖ), it is one of the world's oldest Communist party, communist parties. The KP� ...

(KPÖ) supports protections for LGBTQ+ people against discrimination, more rights for those in a registered partnership, greater public funds to tackle domestic violence towards LGBTQ+ people, better healthcare and healthcare access for LGBTQ+ people, placing protection categories for sexual orientation and gender identity in Austria's constitution, "unbureaucratic and free access" for a person changing their civil status and name, and non-discriminatory education and public administration systems.

Canada

The

Communist Party of Canada The Communist Party of Canada is a federal political party in Canada. Founded in 1921 under conditions of illegality, it is the second oldest active political party in Canada, after the Liberal Party of Canada. Although it does not currentl ...

has called to strengthen hate crime legislation against homophobia and transphobia, explicit protection of LGBTQ people from discrimination, the continued prohibition of

conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, romantic orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. Methods that have ...

, protection of intersex children from non-consensual surgery, and equality in

blood donation A 'blood donation'' occurs when a person voluntarily has blood drawn and used for transfusions and/or made into biopharmaceutical medications by a process called fractionation (separation of whole blood components). A donation may be of wh ...

. It has claimed that while the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

and

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

talk in favor of LGBTQ rights, they have done little to improve the life of the LGBTQ community.

Eswatini

In June 2022, International Secretary of the

Communist Party of Swaziland The Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) is a Swazi communist party founded on 9 April 2011. It was banned by the Swazi king, Mswati III, shortly after its foundation, and operates clandestinely. The party is headquartered in Kamhlushwa, South A ...

, Pius Vilakati, spoke out in favor of LGBTQ rights and the end of "colonial laws" used to repress LGBTQ people. In April 2023, the party protested in favor of LGBTQ rights.

France

Initially, the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

vilified homosexuality as "the rubbish of capitalism" in the 1970s, but it has since changed its stance to be in favor of LGBTQ rights. By the 1980s, it supported lowering the age of consent for same-sex relationships, and opposed attempts to re-penalize homosexuality. In 1998, the PCF voted in favour of the

civil solidarity pact In France, a civil solidarity pact (), commonly known as a ''PACS'' (), is a contractual form of civil union between two adults for organising their joint life. It brings rights and responsibilities, but less so than marriage. The PACS was voted ...

(PACS), civil unions, including for homosexual couples. The PCF supports both

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

and

same-sex adoption Same-sex adoption is the adoption of children or adults by same-sex couples. It may take the form of a joint adoption by the couple, or of the adoption by one partner of the other's biological child or adult ( stepchild adoption). Joint adopt ...

. On 12 February 2013, PCF deputies voted in favour of same-sex marriage and adoption rights in the National Assembly, though PCF deputy Patrice Carvalho voted against.

Greece

India

In India, the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

(CPI(M)) and the

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

have supported LGBTQ rights. The

Students' Federation of India The Students' Federation of India (SFI) is a left-wing student organization in India that upholds ideology of independence, democracy, and socialism. History The origin of Indian students movement in its organised form can be traced to th ...

Democratic Youth Federation of India Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) is a youth organisation in India. It was founded in its inaugural conference held from 1–3 November 1980 at Shaheed Kartar Singh Saraba village in Ludhiana, Punjab. DYFI was formed as an independent ...

, and

All India Democratic Women's Association All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) is a women's organisation committed to achieving democracy, equality and Women's rights, women's emancipation. It has an organisational presence in 23 states in India, with a current membership o ...

have actively supported LGBTQ rights. CPI(M) had called for amending Article 377 in 2009 and 2014, and supported an anti-discrimination bill covering LGBTQ in 2019, becoming one of the first major political party in India to do so. In 2024, the CPI(M) came out in favor of same-sex

civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...

s, as well as comprehensive anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people,

reservation __NOTOC__ Reservation may refer to: Places Types of places: * Indian reservation, in the United States * Military base, often called reservations * Nature reserve Government and law * Reservation (law), a caveat to a treaty * Reservation in India, ...

in educational institutions and employment, and measures against bullying, harassment, and violence against LGBTQ and

gender non-conforming Gender nonconformity or gender variance is gender expression by an individual whose behavior, mannerisms, and/or appearance does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A person can be gender-nonconforming regardless of their gender identi ...

students, staff, and teachers in educational spaces.

Ireland

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, the Trotskyist

People Before Profit People Before Profit (, PBP) is a Trotskyist political party formed in October 2005. The party is active in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. History As Socialist Environmental Alliance People Before Profit was established in 200 ...

party is in favor of LGBTQ+ equality, stating that they are in favor of equality in

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

and

, as well as laws against homophobic and transphobic

hate crime Hate crime (also known as bias crime) in criminal law involves a standard offence (such as an assault, murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their physical appearance or perceived ...

s, anti-bullying initiatives in school to protect LGBTQ+ students, LGBTQ+ awareness training at workplaces, and free gender care through an "Irish

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

" which would include

psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...

counselling Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. This is a list of c ...

speech and language therapy Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...

hormone therapy Hormone therapy or hormonal therapy is the use of hormones in medical treatment. Treatment with hormone antagonists may also be referred to as hormonal therapy or antihormone therapy. The most general classes of hormone therapy are hormonal therap ...

hair removal Hair removal is the deliberate removal of body hair or head hair. This process is also known as epilation or depilation. Hair is a common feature of the human body, exhibiting considerable variation in thickness and length across different po ...

, and

gender reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associated ...

. It also supports extension of the

Gender Recognition Act The Gender Recognition Act 2004 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allows adults in the United Kingdom who have gender dysphoria to change their legal sex. It came into effect on 4 April 2005. Background The act was dra ...

to those aged 16–18, and the addition of a

third gender Third gender or third sex is an identity recognizing individuals categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither a man nor a woman. Many gender systems around the world include three or more genders, deriving the concept either from ...

option in official forms.

Japan

The

Japanese Communist Party The is a communist party in Japan. Founded in 1922, it is the oldest political party in the country. It has 250,000 members as of January 2024, making it one of the largest non-governing communist parties in the world. The party is chaired ...

(JCP) supports LGBTQ rights in Japan. This includes the party supporting the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Japan and backing anti-discrimination laws in regards to LGBTQ people.

Nepal

In January 2007, Nepalese minister

Hisila Yami Hisila Yami () (born 25 June 1959), also known by her nom de guerre Parvati, is a Nepalese politician and architect. She is a deputy chairman of Nepal Socialist Party and a former president of the All Nepal Women's Association (Revolutionary). ...

, a member of the

Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) (), abbreviated CPN (Maoist Centre) or CPN (MC), is the third largest List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal and a member party of Socialist Front (Nepal), Samajbadi Morcha. I ...

, stated that the party adopted a platform to not "encourage homosexual behavior but not punish homosexuals either". Despite this, Maoists in Nepal have been accused of discriminatory attacks against members of the

LGBTQ community The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individu ...

. One such instance is the abduction and detention of two women accused of being

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

s. The women had previously been abducted earlier in 2006 by Maoists, who ordered them to join as Maoist soldiers to get a "straight life".

Dev Gurung Dev Gurung (; born 8 October 1958) is a Nepalese politician, belonging to the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). Gurung became Minister of Law and Justice on 22 August 2008. And on 20 August 2022 he became General Secretary of Communist party o ...

, another Maoist minister in Nepal, has also said that "under Soviet rule and when China was still very much a communist state, there were no homosexuals in the Soviet Union or China...Homosexuality is a production of capitalism. Under socialism this kind of problem doesn’t exist." Furthermore, the party has run a campaign against "social pollutants", including attacks against homosexuals. Amrita Thapa has openly stated that homosexuals are "polluting" society. Other strands of communists, like

Sunil Babu Pant Sunil Babu Pant (; born 28 June 1971) is a Nepali human rights activist, monk, and former politician who served as a member of the Nepalese Constituent Assembly between 2008 and 2013. Pant's campaigning for LGBT rights led to the Supreme Court ...

of the

Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) The Communist Party of Nepal (), abbreviated CPN, was a communist party in Nepal from 1949 to 1962. It was founded on 15 September 1949 to struggle against the autocratic Rana regime, feudalism, and imperialism. The founding general secretary ...

, are openly out LGBTQ politicians, who have led LGBTQ activism in the country. Pant's campaigning for LGBTQ rights led to the

Supreme Court of Nepal The Supreme Court of Nepal () is the highest court in Nepal. It is designated as the court of record by the Constitution of Nepal. It has appellate jurisdiction over decisions of the seven High Courts (including eleven Benches of the High Cour ...

giving legal recognition to Nepal's third gender in addition to decriminalising homosexuality and permitting same-sex marriage.

Norway

The Red Party supports the continuation of

same-sex marriage in Norway Same-sex marriage has been legal in Norway since 1 January 2009 when a gender-neutral marriage law came into force after being passed by the Storting in June 2008. Norway was the first Scandinavian country, the fourth in Europe, and the sixth in ...

as well as

. It also supports laws against discrimination towards LGBTQ people, the prohibition of

, the strengthening of treatment for transgender people, and the addition of a

category in official documents. Furthermore, it supports counseling services for questions about

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...

, the production of literature and films that represent queer people, and insight about LGBTQ people in education. It also supports the acceptance of queer refugees from countries where LGBTQ activity remains punishable.

Russia

The

remains socially conservative on LGBTQ rights, voting in favor of the anti-gay propaganda law and introduced legislation in 2016 to prohibit coming out as LGBT.

South Africa

The

Economic Freedom Fighters The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African communist and black nationalist political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema, and his allies, on 26 July 20 ...

protested against Uganda's

Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023 The Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023 is an act of the Parliament of Uganda that restricts freedom of speech on LGBT topics and introduces harsher penalties for certain types of homosexual acts. On 21 March 2023, the bill was read a third time, an ...

, warning that President

Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and Officer (armed forces), military officer who is the ninth and current president of Uganda since 1986. As of 2025, he is the third-List of current state lead ...

would use it against political opponents. However, in July 2023, the party would invite Patrick Lumumba, a Kenyan professor, who spoke out in favor of Uganda's anti-LGBTQ laws to the party's 10-year anniversary celebrations, sparking outrage from members of the LGBTQ community.

The Philippines

The

New People's Army The New People's Army (; abbreviated NPA or BHB) is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). It acts as the CPP's principal organization, aiming to consolidate political power from what it sees as the present "bourgeo ...

, a communist

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric warfare, asymmetric nature: small irregular forces ...

within the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, has also made several statements supporting equal rights of same-sex couples and gay individuals, performing the first same-sex marriage in the country and officially endorsing such legislation if they were to come to power. They also went further to express their support for same-sex relationships, and gays and lesbians were allowed to serve in their forces before those of the Philippines.

Turkey

The Communist Party of Turkey has come out in favor of LGBTQ rights, promising LGBTQ people "equal citizenship is in socialism!". Ekin Sönmez, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Turkey, in an interview with Liberation News, the newspaper of the

Party for Socialism and Liberation The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) is a communist party, communist political party in the United States, political party in the United States. PSL formed in 2004, when its members split from the Workers World Party. PSL describes it ...

, criticized the ruling AKP party for describing LGBTQ people as "perverted", and that it must be opposed. The communist-led municipality of

Tunceli Tunceli (, , ) is a municipality (belde) in Tunceli District and capital of Tunceli Province, Turkey. The city has a Zaza majority. It had a population of 35,161 in 2021. Name During Ottoman times, the settlement was called ''Kalan'' or ''Ma ...

in 2021 decided to grant one extra day of leave to LGBTQ people on Pride Week. In 2023, the party made a statement denouncing the Turkish government's targeting and violence against LGBTQ people, stating that "this discrimination manifests itself as mobbing in the workplace, threats in the neighborhood, and brutal force in the hands of law enforcement". The Workers' Party of Turkey made a similar statement, claiming that the AKP wants to turn Turkey into a

police state A police state describes a state whose government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties. There is typically little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the exec ...

. In 2023, the Workers' Party also nominated three trans women for parliamentary seats: activists Esmeray Özadikti, Talya Aydin, and Niler Albayrak.

United Kingdom

The

(CPGB) viewed the working-class as male and heterosexually masculine. The accounts of gay party members show that homosexuality was widely seen as incompatible with a working-class identity during this era, despite

(founder of

) being General Secretary of the

Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name ''YCL of ountry' originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of YCLs includ ...

(the

youth wing A youth wing is a subsidiary, autonomous, or independently allied front of a larger organization (usually a political party but occasionally another type of organization) that is formed in order to rally support for that organization from members ...

of the CPGB) "without compromising the politics of their sexuality". An unofficial successor of the CPGB, the

Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist–Leninist) The Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist–Leninist), abbreviated CPGB-ML, is an anti-revisionist Marxist–Leninist communist party in the United Kingdom, active in England, Scotland, and Wales. The CPGB-ML was founded by Harpal ...

(CPGB-ML), has claimed that "

LGBT ideology Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric comprises themes, catchphrases, and slogans that have been used in order to demean lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric is widely considered a form of hate speech, which is ille ...

" is a "reactionary and anti-working class distraction", and stated that any member of the party which promotes it is liable to expulsion. It has claimed that

is not a class issue, despite stating that

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

and

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

were class issues, that the Western

imperialist Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power ( diplomatic power and cultural imperialism). Imperialism fo ...

bourgeosie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted with ...

use LGBTQ rights to oppress the

Third World The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...

, and that supporters of "LGBT ideology" want "more than equal rights". Furthermore, it has called

gender fluidity Gender fluidity (commonly referred to as genderfluid) is a non-fixed gender identity that shifts over time or depending on the situation. These fluctuations can occur at the level of gender identity or gender expression. A genderfluid person may ...

a "reactionary nightmare", and claimed that the terms "

sex Sex is the biological trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. During sexual reproduction, a male and a female gamete fuse to form a zygote, which develops into an offspring that inheri ...

" and "

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

" are synonyms. On the party's

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account, it has claimed the LGBTQ rights movement has become a "mainstay of monopoly capitalist assault on the working class" and almost a "NATO front".

United States

The

Revolutionary Communist Party USA The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA (also known as RCP, The Revcoms, or Revcom) is a communist party in the United States led by Bob Avakian. Founded in 1975, the RCP has its origins in the New Communist movement of the 1960s-70s. The party ...

's previous policy that "struggle will be waged to eliminate omosexualityand reform homosexuals" was ended in 2001. The RCP has since then strongly supported LGBTQ rights. Meanwhile, the American Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in the US released a memo stating that gay oppression had less "social weight" than black and women's struggles, and prohibited members from being involved in gay political organizations. They also believed that too close an association with gay liberation would give the SWP an "exotic image" and alienate it from the masses. Several non-governing communist parties have made statements supporting LGBTQ rights, such as the

, which supports extending marriage to same-sex couples and passing laws against discrimination based on one's sexual orientation. The

League for the Revolutionary Party The Revolutionary Socialist League (RSL) was a Trotskyist group in the United States established in 1973 and disbanded in 1989. History The RSL originated in the Revolutionary Tendency within the International Socialists (U.S.) (IS) led by Sy ...

, a communist party based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, issued a statement shortly after the passage of California's

Proposition 8 Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage. It passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned by the ...

condemning the amendment, reaffirming their support for same-sex marriage and expressing their views on how gay liberation is essential to the communist philosophy.

Elsewhere

Other communist parties present in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and other European countries have also officially endorsed LGBTQ rights, including the right to same-sex marriage, and some even have extensive LGBTQ platforms in their parties, such as the

German Communist Party The German Communist Party (, ) is a communist party in Germany. The DKP supports far-left positions and was an observer member of the European Left before leaving in February 2016. History The DKP considered itself a reconstitution of the C ...

's "DKP

Queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

". The chairman of the

Communist Party of Finland The Communist Party of Finland (, SKP; ) was a communist political party in Finland. The SKP was a section of Comintern and illegal in Finland until 1944. The SKP was banned by the state from its founding and did not participate in any elec ...

is openly homosexual and the party also participates in the LGBTQ working group of the

European Left Party The Party of the European Left (PEL), or European Left (EL), is a European political party that operates as an association of democratic socialist and communist political parties in the European Union and other European countries. It was formed ...

LGBTQ rights by communist states

LGBTQ rights by current communist states

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

is the only country ruled by a Marxist–Leninist government that legalized

s and

Cuba

Before the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

had laws that criminalized homosexual men. Even so, male homosexuality was an important part of the prostitution industry for tourists and the US military, but associated with gambling and criminal activity. After the Revolution, the position regarding homosexuality continued to be primarily negative, and some LGBTQ people chose to emigrate, since homosexuality was associated with

US imperialism U.S. imperialism or American imperialism is the expansion of political, economic, cultural, media, and military influence beyond the boundaries of the United States. Depending on the commentator, it may include imperialism through outright mi ...

and perceived as "

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...

". However, the law that criminalized homosexuality was repealed in 1979. Since the late 1990s, public antipathy towards LGBTQ people eased, having implemented several educational campaigns on LGBTQ issues, including the National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX), organization of pride parades every May to coincide with the

International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia The International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) is list of minor secular observances#May, observed on 17 May and aims to coordinate international events that raising awareness, raise awareness of LGBTQ rights violati ...

and marking the LGBTQ History Month. The

Communist Party of Cuba The Communist Party of Cuba (, PCC) is the sole ruling party of Cuba. It was founded on 3 October 1965 as the successor to the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution, which was in turn made up of the 26th of July Movement and Popu ...

included the defense of LGBTQ rights in its regulations in 2013 and legalized

and altruistic

surrogacy Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby a woman gets pregnant and gives birth on behalf of another person or couple who will become the child's legal parents after birth. People pursue surrogacy for a variety of reasons such as infertility, danger ...

, among other things, through amendments to the

Cuban Constitution Even before attaining its independence from Spain, Cuba had several constitutions either proposed or adopted by insurgents as governing documents for territory they controlled during their war against Spain. Cuba has had several constitutions sin ...

following the

2022 Cuban Family Code referendum A referendum was held on 25 September 2022 in Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays ...

Laos

North Korea

People's Republic of China

Vietnam

LGBTQ rights in former communist states

Afghanistan

Albania

The

People's Socialist Republic of Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania, () was the Marxist-Leninist state that existed in Albania from 10 January 1946 to the 29 April 1991. Originally founded as the People's Republic of Albania from 1946 to 1976, it was governed by the P ...

penalized same-sex sexual intercourse with long prison terms, bullying and ostracism. Article 137 of the Crimes against Societal Moral of the Penal Code stated that: "

Pederasty Pederasty or paederasty () is a sexual relationship between an adult man and an adolescent boy. It was a socially acknowledged practice in Ancient Greece and Rome and elsewhere in the world, such as Pre-Meiji Japan. In most countries today, ...

is punishable for up to ten years of freedom privation". The word "pederasty" was used as a code word for sex between two consenting adults or sex between an adult and a child of any gender.

Angola

Benin

Same-sex sexual intercourse was always legal in the

People's Republic of Benin The People's Republic of Benin (; sometimes translated literally as the Benin Popular Republic or Popular Republic of Benin) was a socialist state located in the Gulf of Guinea on the African continent, which became present-day Benin in 1990 ...

. The People's Republic of Benin adopted a 1947 amendment to the Penal Code of 1877 under the

Republic of Dahomey The Republic of Dahomey (; ), simply known as Dahomey (), was established on 4 December 1958, as a self-governing colony within the French Community. Prior to attaining autonomy, it had been French Dahomey, part of the French Union. On 1 Augu ...

that fixed a general age limit of 13 for sex with a child of either gender, but penalized any act that is indecent or against nature if committed with a person of the same sex under 21: "Without prejudice to more severe penalties prescribed by the paragraphs that precede or by Articles 332 and 333 of this Code, shall be punished with imprisonment from six months to three years and a fine of 200 to 50,000 francs anyone who commits an indecent act or

n act N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

against nature with a minor ... of the same sex under 21 years old."

Bulgaria

The

People's Republic of Bulgaria The People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB; , NRB; ) was the official name of Bulgaria when it was a socialist republic from 1946 to 1990, ruled by the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP; ) together with its coalition partner, the Bulgarian Agraria ...

retained the penal code of the

Kingdom of Bulgaria The Tsardom of Bulgaria (), also known as the Third Bulgarian Tsardom (), usually known in English as the Kingdom of Bulgaria, or simply Bulgaria, was a constitutional monarchy in Southeastern Europe, which was established on , when the Bulgaria ...

, that criminalized male same-sex sexual intercourse over 16 years of age with at least six months of imprisonment. The Penal Code of 13 March 1951 increased the

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

to up to three years in

jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...

. The revised Penal Code of 1 May 1968 legalized male same-sex intercourse.

Byelorussia (Byelorussian SSR)

Cambodia

Congo

Same-sex sexual intercourse was always legal in the

People's Republic of the Congo The People's Republic of the Congo () was a Marxist–Leninist socialist state that existed in the Republic of the Congo from 1969 to 1992. The People's Republic of the Congo was founded in December 1969 as the first Marxist-Leninist state ...

Czechoslovakia

In 1962, the

Czechoslovak Socialist Republic The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, (Czech language, Czech and Slovak language, Slovak: ''Československá socialistická republika'', ČSSR) known from 1948 to 1960 as the Czechoslovak Republic (''Československá republika)'', Fourth Czecho ...

decriminalized same-sex sexual intercourse after scientific research from

Kurt Freund Kurt Freund (17 January 1914 – 23 October 1996) was a Czech-Canadian physician and sexologist best known for developing the penile plethysmograph (a measurement of sexual arousal in males), research studies in pedophilia, and for the " court ...

led to the conclusion that homosexual orientation cannot be changed.

East Germany

In the

Soviet occupation zone of Germany The Soviet occupation zone in Germany ( or , ; ) was an area of Germany that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a communist area, established as a result of the Potsdam Agreement on 2 August 1945. On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republ ...

, the development of law was not uniform. The government of

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

moderated Paragraphs 175 and 175a in a manner similar to that contemplated in the draft criminal code of 1925, while in the other states (') the 1935 version of the statute remained in effect without changes. Although in 1946 the ''Committee for Law Examination'' of

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

specifically advised not to include § 175 StGB in a new criminal code, this recommendation had no consequences. The Provincial High Court in Halle (', or ') decided for

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

in 1948 that Paragraphs 175 and 175a were to be seen as injustice perpetrated by the Nazis, because a progressive juridical development had been broken off and even been reversed. Homosexual acts were to be tried only according to the laws of the

. In 1950, one year after being reconstituted as the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

(GDR), the Berlin Appeal Court (') decided for all of East Germany to reinstate the validity of the old, pre-1935 form of Paragraph 175. However, in contrast to the earlier action of the , the new Paragraph 175a remained unchanged, because it was said to protect society against "socially harmful homosexual acts of qualified character". From 1953 to 1957, following

Uprising of 1953 in East Germany The East German uprising of 1953 ( ) was an uprising that occurred over the course of two days in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 16 to 17 June 1953. It began with strike action by construction workers in East Berlin on 16 June ...

, the GDR government instituted a program of "moral reform" to build a solid foundation for the new

socialist republic A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country is a sovereign state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. This article is about states that refer to themselves as socialist states, and not specifically ab ...

, in which masculinity and the traditional family were championed while homosexuality, seen to contravene "healthy mores of the working people", continued to be prosecuted under Paragraph 175. Same-sex sexual intercourse was "alternatively viewed as a remnant of bourgeois decadence, a sign of moral weakness, and a threat to the social and political health of the nation." In 1954, the same court decided that Paragraph 175a in contrast to Paragraph 175 did not presuppose acts tantamount to sexual intercourse. Lewdness (') was defined as any act that is performed to arouse sexual excitement and "violates the moral sentiment of our workers". A revision of the criminal code in 1957 made it possible to put aside prosecution of an illegal action that represented no danger to

socialist society The Socialist Society was founded in 1981 by a group of British socialists, including Raymond Williams and Ralph Miliband, who founded it as an organisation devoted to socialist education and research, linking the left of the British Labour Part ...

because of lack of consequence. This removed Paragraph 175 from the effective body of the law, because at the same time the

Court of Appeal (') decided that all punishments deriving from the old form of Paragraph 175 should be suspended due to the insignificance of the acts to which it had been applied. On this basis, homosexual acts between consenting adults ceased to be punished, beginning in the late 1950s. In 1968, homosexuality was officially decriminalised in East Germany. Gay social clubs and groups were allowed to organize themselves freely, so long as they made tenuous links with Protestant Churches. This was because the official position of the ruling

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Mar ...

was to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, but to otherwise ignore that LGBTQ relationships existed. On 1 July 1968, the GDR adopted its own code of criminal law. In it § 151 StGB-DDR provided for a sentence up to three years' imprisonment or probation for an adult (18 and over) who engaged in sexual acts with a youth (under 18) of the same sex. This law applied not only to men who have sex with boys but equally to women who have sex with girls. According to historian Heidi Minning, attempts by lesbians and gay men in East Germany to establish a visible community were "thwarted at every turn by the G.D.R. government and

SED party The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Ma ...

." She writes:

Police force was used on numerous occasions to break up or prevent public gay and lesbian events. Centralized censorship prevented the presentation of homosexuality in print and electronic media, as well as the import of such materials.

In the late 1980s, the East German government opened a state-owned gay disco in Berlin. In 1987, the age of consent was equalized for same-sex intercourse in East Germany. On 11 August 1987 the

Supreme Court of East Germany The Supreme Court of the German Democratic Republic () was the highest judicial organ of the GDR. It was set up in 1949 and was housed on Scharnhorststraße 6 in Berlin. The building now houses the district court in Berlin, Germany 2 Instance and ...

struck down a conviction under Paragraph 151 on the basis that "homosexuality, just like heterosexuality, represents a variant of sexual behavior. Homosexual people do therefore not stand outside socialist society, and the civil rights are warranted to them exactly as to all other citizens." One year later, the (the parliament of the GDR), in its fifth revision of the criminal code, brought the written law in line with what the court had ruled, striking Paragraph 151 without replacement. The act passed into law 30 May 1989. This removed all specific reference to homosexuality from East German

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

. In 1989, the German film titled ''

Coming Out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

'' directed by

Heiner Carow Heinrich "Heiner" Carow (19 September 1929 – 1 February 1997) was a German film director and screenwriter. Early life and education Heinrich Carow was born on 19 September 1929 in Rostock, Mecklenburg, Germany. He became known as "Heiner". ...

was exhibited on the night that the Berlin wall came down, and tells a story of an East German man coming to accept his own homosexuality, with much of it shot in the local gay bars. This was the only East German LGBTQ rights film.

Ethiopia

The

Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally " civilianized" the administration a ...

and

People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia The People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE; ) was a socialist state that existed in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea from 1987 to 1991. The PDRE was established in February 1987 as a Marxism-Leninism, Marxist-Leninist one-party state upo ...

adopted the previous Penal Code of 1957 of the

Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire, historically known as Abyssinia or simply Ethiopia, was a sovereign state that encompassed the present-day territories of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It existed from the establishment of the Solomonic dynasty by Yekuno Amlak a ...

, which criminalizes anyone who "performs with another person of the same sex an act corresponding to the sexual act, or any other indecent act, is punishable with simple imprisonment."

Grenada

Hungary

The

Hungarian People's Republic The Hungarian People's Republic (HPR) was a landlocked country in Central Europe from its formation on 20 August 1949 until the establishment of the current Hungary, Republic of Hungary on 23 October 1989. It was a professed Communist_state# ...

adopted the penal code of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

which punished male same-sex sexual intercourse with prison up to one year. In 1961, male same-sex sexual intercourse above the age of 20 was decriminalized. In 1978, a new penal code lowered the age of consent to the age of 18 years old.

Mongolia

In 1961, same-sex sexual intercourse was criminalized in the

Mongolian People's Republic The Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) was a socialist state that existed from 1924 to 1992, located in the historical region of Outer Mongolia. Its independence was officially recognized by the Nationalist government of Republic of China (1912� ...

Mozambique

Poland

Same-sex sexual intercourse was always legal during the existence of the

Republic of Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

. Nevertheless,

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault ( , ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French History of ideas, historian of ideas and Philosophy, philosopher who was also an author, Literary criticism, literary critic, Activism, political activist, and teacher. Fo ...

recounted that after his arrival in Poland in 1959 as the director of the French Cultural Center, the Polish secret police "trapped him by using a young

ale Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...

translator" and then "demanded his departure" from Poland, an example of a

honey trapping Honey trapping is a practice involving the use of romantic or sexual relationships for interpersonal, political (including state espionage), or monetary purpose. The ''honey pot'' or ''trap'' involves making contact with an individual who has i ...

. In the 1980s, the government used homosexuality to blackmail homosexuals, and the police harassed gay men and lesbians. Many homosexual men were arrested in 1985 in

Operation Hyacinth Operation Hyacinth () was a secret mass operation in Polish People’s Republic carried out by the Citizens' Militia in the years 1985-87. Its purpose was to create national database of all Polish homosexuals and people who were in touch with th ...

. The 2020 novel ''

Swimming in the Dark ''Swimming in the Dark'' is a 2020 novel by Polish writer Tomasz Jędrowski. This novel was subject to a "hotly contested" six-way publishing auction, from which Bloomsbury gained rights. After being first published in English by Bloomsbury in ...

'' by Tomasz Jedrowski presents a fictionalized depiction of LGBTQ life in the Polish People's Republic.

Romania

The

Romanian People's Republic The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was known as the Romanian People's Repu ...

and the

Socialist Republic of Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was ...

adopted the Romanian Penal Code of 1937 from the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

, which banned public "acts of sexual inversion committed between men or between women, if provoking public scandal". In 1948, this "public" homosexuality was considered by the courts to include all situations whatever public or private if "provoking scandal", thus homosexuality became ''de facto'' illegal. In the new Penal Code of the

, the old Article 431 was toughened with penalties up to a minimum of two years and a maximum of five years. In 1957 the "public scandal" provision was repealed and any consenting sexual intercourse between persons of the same sex is criminalized. After

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

's rise to power, in 1968, the basic code was again revised, introducing

Article 200 Article 200 (''Articolul 200'' in Romanian) was a section of the Penal Code of Romania that criminalised homosexual relationships. It was introduced in 1968, under the communist regime, during the rule Nicolae Ceaușescu, and remained in force unti ...

and moving the infraction from the public domain into the private: Article 200 was useful to the Ceaușescu regime in that, since 1970, it could strengthen social control. These restrictions under the Penal Code were strictly unique to Romania among European countries. The restrictions only included relationships and those who considered themselves homosexual were not punished but were instead considered as mentally ill.

Somalia

Under Article 409 of the Somali Penal Code introduced in 1973, sexual intercourse with a person of the same sex is punishable by imprisonment from three months to three years in the

Somali Democratic Republic The Somali Democratic Republic (; , ; ) was a socialist state in Somalia that existed from 1969 to 1991. Established in October 1969, the Somali Democratic Republic emerged following a 1969 Somali coup d'état, coup d'état led by Major General ...

. An "act of lust" other than sexual intercourse is punishable by a prison term of two months to two years. Under Article 410 of the Somali Penal Code, an additional security measure may accompany sentences for homosexual acts, usually coming in the form of police surveillance to prevent "re-offending". Threats have been made that indicate that Somalia tolerates executions of homosexuals.

South Yemen

Soviet Union

In November 1917, after the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, the

Tsarist Tsarist autocracy (), also called Tsarism, was an autocracy, a form of absolute monarchy in the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire. In it, the Tsar possessed in principle authority and ...

criminal code was abrogated by the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

, thus legalizing same-sex sexual intercourse between consenting adults in the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

and the later

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

(SSR). The Bolsheviks took an official position at this time that homosexuality was not of harm and was more a scientific concern than a legal concern. However this policy was not uniform across all the Soviet Republics which emerged after 1922. The

Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia ...

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a Republics of the Soviet Union, republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 19 ...

, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and Ukrainian SSR were all created with no laws criminalising same-sex sexual intercourse. In 1923, sexual intercourse between men became a criminal offense in the

Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, also referred to as the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan SSR, Azerbaijani SSR, AzSSR, Soviet Azerbaijan or simply Azerbaijan, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent re ...

, punishable by up to five years in prison for consenting adults, or up to eight years if it involved force or threat. In 1926,

Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (, ), also known as Soviet Uzbekistan, the Uzbek SSR, UzSSR, or simply Uzbekistan and rarely Uzbekia, was a Republics of the Soviet Union, union republic of the Soviet Union. It was governed by the Communist ...

criminalized male same-sex intercourse. In 1927,

Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Turkmenistan, the Turkmen SSR, TuSSR, Turkmenistan, or Turkmenia, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union located in Central Asia existed as a republic from 1925 to 199 ...

criminalized male same-sex intercourse. Male same-sex intercourse was also illegal in

Bukharan People's Soviet Republic The Bukharan People's Soviet Republic was a Soviet state that governed the former Emirate of Bukhara during the years immediately following the Russian Revolution. In 1924, its name was changed to the Bukharan Socialist Soviet Republic (Bukhara ...

Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by the Red Army) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Cotermin ...

Nakhichevan ASSR The Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Nakhichevan ASSR was an autonomous republic within the Azerbaijan SSR, itself a republic within the Soviet Union. It was formed on 16 March 1921 and became a part of the Aze ...

, and

Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia The Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia (SSR Abkhazia), სსრ აფხაზეთი; ' , ССР Абхазия; ' was a short-lived republic within the Caucasus region of the Soviet Union that covered the territory of Abkhazia, and ex ...

. The Soviet Union sent delegates to the German

Institute for Sexual Science An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

, as well as to some international conferences on human sexuality including the

World League for Sexual Reform The World League for Sexual Reform was a League for coordinating policy reforms related to greater openness around sex. The initial groundwork for the organisation, including a congress in Berlin which was later counted as the organisation's first ...

, who expressed support for the legalization of adult, private, and consensual homosexual relations. According to the

, which was affiliated with the institute, the Ministry of Health (Soviet Union), Ministry of Health delegation was positively receptive to a film concerning the topic and considered it unworthy of scandal.. Revised edition published 1995, . Soviet social policy in the 1920s regarding homosexuality and homosexual rights was mixed. On the one hand homosexuality was legal in the Russian and Ukrainian Soviet Republics and certain political and civil rights in the Soviet Union were extended to homosexuals. On the other hand, there was increasing pressure from both within and outside the Soviet government to recriminalise homosexuality and to reinstate bans on homosexual intercourse. In the late 1920s Soviet medical research increasingly came to classify homosexuality as a mental disease or as a remnant of bourgeois society. Relative Soviet tolerance for homosexuality and homosexual rights ended in the late 1920s – as Soviet society came increasingly under Stalinist control. In the 1930s, along with increased repression of political dissidents and non-Russian nationalities under Stalin, LGBTQ themes faced official government censorship, and a uniformly harsher policy across the entire Soviet Union. Homosexuality was officially labelled a disease. The official stance could be summarized in the article of the ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' of 1930 written by medical expert Sereisky:

Soviet legislation does not recognize so-called crimes against morality. Our laws proceed from the principle of protection of society and therefore countenance punishment only in those instances when juveniles and minors are the objects of homosexual interest ... while recognizing the incorrectness of homosexual development ... our society combines prophylactic and other therapeutic measures with all the necessary conditions for making the conflicts that afflict homosexuals as painless as possible and for resolving their typical estrangement from society within the collective :—Sereisky, ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'', 1930, p. 593

In 1934, the Soviet government recriminalised homosexuality in the Soviet Union. Mass arrests occurred in several cities in Russia, including Moscow, and many artists were arrested. On 7 March 1934, Article 121 was added to the criminal code, throughout the entire

, that expressly prohibited only male same-sex sexual intercourse with up to five years of hard labor in prison. There were no criminal statutes regarding same-sex female sexual intercourse. During the Soviet period, Western observers believed that between 800 and 1,000 men were imprisoned each year under Article 121. Some historians have noted that it was during this time that Soviet propaganda began to depict homosexuality as a sign of fascism, and that Article 121 may have a simple political tool to use against dissidents, irrespective of their true

, and to solidify Russian opposition to Nazi Germany, who had broken its treaty with Russia.#Dub89, Duberman 1989, p.362. More recently, a third possible reason for the anti-gay law has emerged from declassified Soviet documents and transcripts. Beyond expressed fears of a vast "counterrevolutionary" or fascist homosexual conspiracy, there were several high-profile arrests of Russian men accused of being pederasts. In 1933, 130 men "were accused of being 'pederasts' – adult males who have sex with boys. Since no records of men having sex with boys at that time are available, it is possible this term was used broadly and crudely to label homosexuality." Whatever the precise reason, homosexuality remained a serious criminal offense until it was repealed in 1993. The Soviet government itself said very little publicly about the change in the law, and few people seemed to be aware that it existed. In 1934, the British Communist Harry Whyte wrote a long letter to Stalin condemning the law, and its prejudicial motivations. He laid out a Marxist position against the oppression of homosexuals, as a social minority, and compared homophobia to racism, xenophobia and sexism. While the letter was not formally replied to, Soviet cultural writer Maxim Gorky authored an article, published in both ''Pravda'' and ''Izvestia'' titled "Proletarian Humanism", that seemed to reject Whyte's arguments point by point. He rejected the notion that homosexuals were a social minority, and argued that the Soviet Union, governed by "manly proletariat", is obliged to persecute homosexuals to protect the youth from their corrupting effect. It is often said that he equated homosexuality with fascism, stating that "exterminate all homosexuals and fascism will vanish". He was actually quoting a popular saying, Gorky in fact said: "There is already a sarcastic saying: Destroy homosexuality and fascism will disappear." In 1936, Justice Commissar Nikolai Krylenko publicly stated that the anti-gay criminal law was aimed at the decadent and effete old ruling classes. During Nikita Khrushchev's regime, the Khrushchev government believed that absent a criminal law against same-sex sexual intercourse, the sex between men that occurred in the prison environment would spread into the general population as they released many Stalin-era prisoners. Whereas the Stalin government conflated homosexuality and pedophilia, homosexuality with pedophilia, the Khrushchev government conflated homosexuality with the Situational sexual behavior, situational, Prison rape, sometimes forced, sex acts between male prisoners. In 1958, the Interior Ministry sent a secret memo to law enforcement ordering them to step up enforcement of the anti-gay criminal law. Yet, during the late 1950s – early 1960s, Aline Mosby, a foreign reporter in Russia at the time, attributed to the more liberal attitude of the Khrushchev government the fact that she saw some gay couples in public and that it was not uncommon to see men waiting outside of certain theaters looking for dates with male performers. A 1964 Soviet sex manual instructed: "With all the tricks at their disposal, homosexuals seek out and win the confidence of youngsters. Then they proceed to act. Do not under any circumstances allow them to touch you. Such people should be immediately reported to the administrative organs so that they can be removed from society." Imprisonment for male same-sex sexual intercourse and government censorship of homosexuality and LGBTQ rights did not begin to slowly relax until the early 1970s. Venedikt Yerofeyev was permitted to include a brief interior monologue about homosexuality in ''Moscow to the End of the Line'' (1973). Perhaps the first public endorsement of LGBTQ rights since Stalin was a brief statement, critical of Article 121 and calling for its repeal, made in the ''Textbook of Soviet Criminal Law'' (1973). These references were characterized as being brief statements in a novel or textbook and were made by heterosexuals. Victor Sosnora was allowed to write about witnessing an elderly gay actor being brutally murdered in a Leningrad bar in ''The Flying Dutchman'' (1979), but the book was only allowed to be published in East Germany. When the author was gay and, in particular, if they were seen as supporting gay rights, the censors tended to be much harsher. Russian gay author Yevgeny Kharitonov (poet), Yevgeny Kharitonov illegally circulated some gay fiction before he died of heart failure in 1981. Author Gennady Trifonov served four years of hard labor for circulating his gay poems and, upon his release, was allowed to write and publish only if he avoided depicting or making reference to homosexuality. In 1984, a group of Russian gay men met and attempted to organize an official gay rights organization, only to be quickly shut down by the KGB. It was not until later in the ''Glasnost'' period that public discussion was permitted about re-legalizing private, consensual adult same-sex sexual intercourse. A poll conducted in 1989 reported that homosexuals were the most hated group in Russian society and that 30 percent of those polled felt that homosexuals should be liquidated. In a 1991 public opinion poll conducted in Chelyabinsk, Russia, Chelyabinsk 30 percent of the respondents aged 16 to 30 years old felt that homosexuals should be "isolated from society", 5 percent felt they should be "liquidated", 60 percent had a "negative" attitude toward gay people and 5 percent labeled their sexual orientation "unfortunate". In 1989–1990 a Moscow gay rights organization led by Yevgeniya Debryanskaya was permitted to exist, with Roman Kalinin given permission to publish a gay newspaper, ''Tema''. The precise number of persons prosecuted under Article 121 is unknown, with the first official information was released only in 1988, but it is believed to be about 1000 prosecuted a year. According to official data, the number of men convicted under Article 121 had been steadily decreasing during the Glasnost period. In 1987, 831 men were sentenced under Article 121; in 1989, 539; in 1990, 497; and in 1991, 462.

Ukraine (Ukrainian SSR)

Yugoslavia

During World War II, Yugoslav Partisans whose homosexuality was revealed were subject to regular expulsion from their detachments, and in one known case a death sentence. Repression of LGBTQ people in Yugoslavia continued after World War II; LGBTQ people were labeled by communists as "enemies of the system" and "a product of insatiable capitalism" and were also prohibited from joining the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. When the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed, it adopted the Yugoslav Criminal Code of 1929, a previous law of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which forbade "lewdness against the order of nature" (anal intercourse) between people. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia later restricted the offense in 1959 to only apply to male same-sex anal intercourse, but with the maximum sentence reduced from two years to one year imprisonment. Around five hundred male homosexuals have been imprisoned between 1951 and 1977, about half of which served probation, and some others served shorter sentences. For comparison, many Western European countries (such as West Germany and the United Kingdom) convicted several tens of thousands homosexuals during the same period. In the 1970s, following the

in much of Western Europe, the legal and social sphere of Yugoslavia started to liberalize towards LGBTQ rights. In 1973, the Croatian Medical Chamber removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. In 1974, Yugoslavia adopted a 1974 Yugoslav Constitution, new federal constitution which resulted in the abolition of the federal penal code, allowing each socialist republic to create their own. Socialist Republic of Slovenia, SR Slovenia was the first republic to hold discussions in favor of decriminalizing homosexuality. The League of Communists of Yugoslavia held debates on the topic at least three times until 1976, when it requested decriminalization in all republics. In 1977, the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Socialist Republic of Croatia, Socialist Republic of Montenegro and Socialist Republic of Slovenia enacted their own individual penal codes and decriminalized male same-sex anal intercourse. Male same-sex anal intercourse remained illegal in the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Socialist Republic of Macedonia and the Socialist Republic of Serbia, excluding the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (so including Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo). In 1985, Toni Marošević became the first openly gay media person, and briefly hosted a radio show on Omladinski radio (Zagreb), Omladinski radio that dealt with marginal socio-political issues, before it was removed at request of right-wing newspapers ''Večernji list'' and ''Večernje novosti''. He later revealed that he had been asked on several occasions by the League of Communists of Croatia to form an LGBTQ faction of the party. The first lesbian association (Lila initiative) in Croatia was formed in 1989, but ceased to exist a year later. In 1990, Vojvodina#History, Vojvodina was reincorporated into the legal system of Serbia, and male same-sex anal intercourse once again become a criminal offense, until 1994.

Notable LGBTQ communists

LGBTQ communists

LGBTQ former communists

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * Heidi Minning. Who is the 'I' in "I love you"?: The negotiation of gay and lesbian identities in former East Berlin, Germany. ''Anthropology of East Europe Review'', Volume 18, Number 2, Autumn 2000 * * {{LGBT rights footer Communism, LGBT rights LGBTQ rights Marxism–Leninism Socialism and LGBTQ topics

History

Marxism

Early history

LGBTQ people and communist party membership

Association of communism with homosexuality by anti-communists

Association of fascism with homosexuality by communists

Events leading to the association of communism with homosexuality

Cold War

Modern day

LGBTQ rights by communist parties

Austria

Canada

Eswatini

France

Greece

India

Ireland

Japan

Nepal

Norway

Russia

South Africa

The Philippines

Turkey

United Kingdom

United States

Elsewhere

LGBTQ rights by communist states

LGBTQ rights by current communist states

Cuba

Laos

North Korea

People's Republic of China

Vietnam

LGBTQ rights in former communist states

Afghanistan

Albania

Angola

Benin

Bulgaria

Byelorussia (Byelorussian SSR)

Cambodia

Congo

Czechoslovakia

East Germany

Ethiopia

Grenada

Hungary

Mongolia

Mozambique

Poland

Romania

Somalia

South Yemen

Soviet Union

Ukraine (Ukrainian SSR)

Yugoslavia

Notable LGBTQ communists

LGBTQ communists

LGBTQ former communists

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography