Russian security services have been tasked with investigating so-called “gay propaganda” in a small Far Eastern village after a woman complained to lawmakers that two teenage boys dressing as female characters for a holiday play was a “perversion.”
Footage from the play, performed in the village of Kaptsegaitui in the Transbaikal region, shows the audience laughing as the two teenage boys take on the roles of Santa’s helper, the Snow Maiden, and Baba Yaga, an old woman character from Slavic folklore.
But the furious woman, in complaints to lawmakers, police, prosecutors, and the governor, said the whole thing was downright traumatic, according to Radio Free Europe.
ADVERTISEMENT
“The Snow Maiden was a boy of 15–16 years old. This boy spoke in a high-pitched voice, coyly breaking down like a girl. At the same time, the Snow Maiden carried Santa Claus in her arms and all evening this Santa lay on the Snow Maiden’s lap. It was very disgusting to watch and listen to this,” the woman allegedly wrote.
“We believe that our age-old Russian tradition with Santa Claus and the Snow Maiden has been desecrated, perverted, and insulted. Holding a festive event with such propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations is a mockery, blasphemy against veterans… who die and risk their lives defending the traditional values of our country’s population,” she complained.
The local outlet ZabNews reported that veterans of the war against Ukraine were also “outraged” by the “immoral” performance.
While local reports said villagers had all united to sign a “mass complaint” about the holiday play, some residents said they believe one woman is responsible for the whole uproar.
“No matter who I ask, no one has signed it. It turns out that she alone complained ‘for us.’ This, I think, is stranger than guys dressed up as the Snow Maiden,” one resident told Radio Free Europe.
Local police and prosecutors announced an investigation in response to the woman’s complaint, and the head of the venue that organized the show has resigned. She and her husband, the head of the village, are now facing calls from the public that they be punished—and under the country’s new law deeming anything LGBTQ-related “extremism,” they could face several years behind bars.
In an eyebrow-raising statement on Telegram, the regional deputy prime minister reassured residents that local authorities had “taken control” of the situation and that “all the necessary agencies and commissions” are working relentlessly to investigate the play.
