When the Republicans adopt Russia’s authoritarian playbook

The Republican Party has a clear vision for the future of the United States: one that’s white, Christian and fundamentally opposed to Western ideals of pluralism.

These goals certainly aren’t new. Since President Ronald Reagan tethered the Republican Party to the Christian right, the objectives have been obvious and the barriers to realizing them have slowly eroded. We’re currently standing at a precipice where the GOP, fully consumed by Trumpism and the even more extreme leadership of former President Donald Trump, is closer than ever to codifying this vision.

And ironically, while Republicans have sought to alarm voters with ludicrous fears of Democrats wanting to enact “communism,” the America they want is much closer to that of Vladimir Putin’s Russia. In fact, the actions conservatives are embracing and what’s happening in Russia are so similar that comparisons cannot be considered hyperbole.

In both the USSR and modern Russia, homophobia is rampant and LGBTQ people are brutally punished for their existence. A common slur for gay men in Russian is the same word as that for “pedophile,” and Putin has perpetuated the vile trope that gay people abuse children.

Sound familiar? The latest homophobic tactic taken by the American right threatens LGBTQ people, teachers and officials for merely talking about sexuality and gender identity and calls them “groomers.” The insinuation, just like Putin’s, is that gay people prey on children. These attacks don’t merely remain in the digital realm, as two gay fathers recently found when they were verbally assaulted when taking a trip on Amtrak with their two foster children and called “pedophiles” by their abuser.

At the same time we’re seeing Russians being encouraged to turn in their neighbors for talking about the war in Ukraine with any sort of facts, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas is encouraging Texans to report parents who seek gender-affirming care for their transgender children. It’s worth remembering that snitching on your neighbors was one of the tactics the Soviet regime used to discourage dissent and keep people living in fear.

Moving down the list, Florida Gov. Ron Desantis recently signed the “Don’t say gay” bill into law, which punishes teachers for discussing sexual orientation with students. Likewise, Putin imposed a draconian “gay propaganda” law in 2013 that punishes the presentation of “nontraditional” sexual orientations to minors. That law has led to an increase in violence against the LGBTQ community in Russia. And it has significantly eroded progress made for more equal rights, which is exactly the outcome the GOP is seeking in states across the nation.