Putin as gay clown

Putin has overseen oppressive laws curbing LGBTQ rights in Russia. The image is now on Russia’s list of prohibited extremist materials, which is over 4, items long. A viral meme appears to have hurt poor Russian Vladimir Putin's very sensitive feelings. Last week, the Russian justice ministry added an image of Putin as a gay clown to its.

The Russian government made it illegal this week to distribute or share any images similar to that meme of Vladimir Putin wearing heavy makeup, deeming it “extremist” material. Russia has banned a picture depicting Vladimir Putin as a potentially gay clown. Russian news outlets are having trouble reporting exactly which image of the Internet's many.

It is now illegal in Russia to distribute any images that depict Vladimir Putin wearing makeup and implying he is gay. The Justice Ministry in Moscow has included one of them. Cooper-Cunningham, D. Security Dialogue, 53 4. ISSN While not all memes are political interventions, Gay Clown Putin is an iconic meme that is part of the international response to Russian state-directed political homophobia that emerged after the gay propaganda law was passed in How it has circulated and the attention it has received make it apt for exploring memes as visual political interventions that challenge national security discourses.

Russia has banned a picture

Here, I provide three readings of Gay Clown Putin that suggest different possibilities for how the meme might work politically. Bringing memes to the study of international security, I show how the collection of images making up the Gay Clown Putin meme provides space for understanding the visual politics of security. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Security Dialogue.

Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Security, sexuality, and the Gay Clown Putin meme : queer theory and international responses to Russian political homophobia. Independent Research Fund Denmark. Download Accepted Version. Published: August Published online : 10 April Symplectic Sheffield.