Both in Russia and Hungary, the violent suppression of LGBTQ+ citizens seems to be a reactionary, conservative party to present themselves as defenders traditional Christian societies under attack from progressive ideas imported from allegedly decadent West.Lavrov presented the bizarre claim in an opinion essay published Monday as an example of the aggressive LGBT propaganda Russia has banned since 2013. Leaders of the European Union have criticized Hungary for adopting a similar law, which prohibits the portrayal LGBTQ+ characters in advertising and textbooks. It also bans television shows that are likely to be seen or heard by children.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was the top diplomat in Russia. This week, Russian journalists were baffled by his claim that several Western countries teach children that Jesus Christ is bisexual.Lavrov, a veteran diplomat and a candidate in the upcoming parliamentary elections, was recently handpicked by President Vladimir Putin to become an electoral politician. Lavrov expressed his dismay at the recent protests against Hungary's anti-LGBTQ+ law, especially during matches in Budapest and involving the Hungarian soccer team. Friday's tournament will resume with a match between Spain and Switzerland in St. Petersburg.His mother asked him if he was taught that in school. He replied, Yes.Russian journalists thought Lavrov was referring to a TikTok video in which an Australian mother, who prides herself in teaching her children to accept all people, regardless of their gender, recorded her 4-year old son saying Jesus is bisexual and nonbinary.Maria Zakharova (chief spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry) was clearly offended by the suggestion that her boss had based the claim about Western education from Russian journalists on information gathered through the thoughts of a child. In an indignant Facebook post, Maria Zakharova denied that TikTok was the source.His mother, TikTok influencer, studied acting at art school and films her reactions theatrically. The boy concludes that Jesus must be bisexual since he loves everyone and is nonbinary because Jesus wears a dress and is a man.In an email to The Intercept, a spokesperson from the Educational Institute of Scotland, a teachers union, stated that students in Scotland are not taught Jesus was bisexual. If he believes otherwise, the Minister is misinformed.A member-only, opt in online Pride event was held by the union. It featured a variety of performances by LGBT artists. One of these was Jo Clifford.Clifford stated in an email that the Russian foreign ministry's account of her performance was inaccurate.Clifford stated that the event was only open to union members. My play is not taught at British schools. It also does not claim that Jesus was bisexual. It does not have any comment on the historical Jesus. It envisions Jesus returning to the earth in the present (according to traditional Christian beliefs) while imagining him as a member of an oppressed group (again, according to traditional Christian beliefs).Clifford said that her play encourages the audience to picture Jesus as a transwoman returning to earth. She gives a sermon, tells parables that are based on the Gospel, and then blesses the audience with bread and wine.Clifford stated that the play challenges traditional Christian beliefs in both the West and Russian Orthodox churches, which are fiercely homo- and transphobic. He also wrote that conservative Christian groups objected to it since its first performance in 2009. A small minority of protestors opposed my performance for the Scottish teachers.If the Christian Today article Zakharova mentioned was Lavrovs source of information, he didn't bother to carefully read it. This report concerns a performance of a play at a Zoom event for adults teachers that was not attended. It does not claim that Jesus was bisexual.The exile Russian news website Meduza points out that Lavrovs claims are closer to what the Australian boy, aged 4, told his mother than any article cited by his spokesperson. Even if the boys' fanciful accounts of what they were taught in school could be proven to be true, it is far from proof that schools in many Western countries teach children that Jesus was bisexual, as Lavrov claimed.Meduza claims that Dmitry Kolezev, a Russian journalist, believes that Lavrov's original claim about Western schools was based on TikTok videos. However, the ministry was embarrassed by being caught basing its reasoning on the thoughts of a child, and scrambled for an alternative. In a retrospective search for evidence that supports Lavrovs claim, all they could find was the report on the Scottish play.Kolezev noted that such a pathetic attempt at spin would be normal. But for the fact, Kolezev said, the Russian government's cynical lie regarding the supposed depravity in childhood education in the West is being used by the Russian government to justify the suppression of LGBTQ+ Russians, and create hatred against them.
