Cadets almost expelled for dancing

MOSCOW — An underwear dance video filmed in a college dormitory nearly got some Russian cadet pilots expelled and sparked a discussion among Russia’s political elite.

The mock homoerotic striptease recorded by cadets at the Ulyanovsk Civil Aviation Institute went viral earlier this week. Some Russian politicians called on the public training school to expel the students. The Federal Agency for Air Transportation decried the video as an “immoral incident” and an “insult to civil aviation professionals.”

The students’ all- male rendition of the official video for Benny Benassi’s Satisfaction showed a dozen freshmen wearing boxer shorts, boots, chest straps and cadet caps, thrusting their hips to the beat as they walked around the dorm, mopped the floor and ironed their shirts. The college video looks lighthearted, but the outcry highlights Russian unease with gay visibility.

Russia adopted a federal law in 2013 prohibiting the dissemination to minors of “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations.” The law has been condemned as an outright ban on public discussions of LGBT issues, but authorities defend it as being in the interest of children.

Earlier this week, Ulyanovsk Gov. Sergei Morozov ordered an investigation of whether the cadets who reportedly filmed the video in the dorm violated the institute’s charter. But Morozov disagreed that the students deserved to be expelled.

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the eccentric leader of the LDPR party, rushed to the freshmen’s defence Thursday, saying he thinks they were undressed because the dorm was too hot.

“The central heating was working well,” he said.