Orwellian: Architect of New Russian LGBTQ Crackdown Warns Of LGBTQ Threat in Ukraine; Manipulates Rainbow Earring Arrest. Pt. 3

Deputy Alexander Khinshtein Supports Ershova…or Does He?

[You may want to start with Part 1 or Part 2]

It was sort of weird that Alexander Khinshtein, an architect of and advocate for Russia's legislative crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights, swiftly engaged with the story of Anastasia Ershova, arrested for wearing rainbow earrings. It was really weird to see him taking her side…well, for a day.

One day later and with a little distance, the message and Khinshtein's early involvement seem more likely one of those 3D chess moves to make the most of this arrest in the launch of the new repressive laws increasingly broad and more serious for LGBTQ people. The ease and experience with which they executed are certainly a reminder of Russia's long and deep experience manipulating public conversations domestically and elsewhere.

There is now a 10 year history of repressive LGBTQ regulations that have become part of the wallpaper and Russia's new normal. There is an increasingly frustrated and cut off population starting to question Putin along with a body of news from the war raising questions; sanctions and an uneven economy that's harder to mask. It's becoming clear why historic Russian expertise at seeding mistrust and manipulating public conversations might be tilted toward LGBTQ issues right now.

Who is Alexander Khinshtein?

A former journalist and a powerful member of the legislature — “Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federal Assembly from the Samara” to be exact, Khinshtein brings access, experience and support to steering public narratives. He partnered with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to guide the Supreme Court declaration of the International LGBT Movement as “extremist” and the subsequent husbanding of the laws and regulations it spawned through to Putin signing them into law..

For years he has been an outspoken culture warrior focused on raising awareness and protecting Russian children big homosexual lifestyle threats including the 20 fan clubs for the film ‘Call Me By Your Name' on the Russian version of Facebook, to claiming South Park's chef is a pedophile, and raising the alarm over the dangers inherent in a polar bear character with two moms on Peppa Pig.

As a powerful insider and part of the Putin team, Khinshtein helped architect the sham election in eastern Ukraine Donbas areas which was used to justify the invasion.

Aegis, group of LGBTQ activists and medical professionals working to support their community through this dangerous period, keeps it simple, and refer to him as someone “who does not represent the interests of us [LGBT] as a part of society,” and corrects some of the lies and implications he's spinning. [See No. 4 at end.]

Flips the Script. Attacks Anastasia. Full Autocratic Playbook

This was. in response to his post [No. 3 below] that accused Aegis, the media and others of duping him with ‘fake news'. In his follow up to the brief defense of Ershova for attention he let's it rip, wrapping himself in stolen victimhood, manipulating the sympathy he helped spawn to himself and is all in using Anastasia's story to underscore the state's anti-LGBTQ positions

It's not entirely clear what Russia has planned with these new domestic crackdown laws. Protecting the children is old news, but the new threat is being integrated, ready shortly to provision citizens with models to scapegoat and oppress.

Another favorite distraction for governments under pressure…just create a diversionary “conspiracy” and “enemy from within” for the public to obsess on, and distract from military excursions and economies that are stuck.

LGBT “threat” Becomes Part of Ukraine Invasion, “Element of Hybrid Warfare”

Khinshtein's rhetoric tying the fight against LGBTQ+ rights to the conflict in Ukraine—framing LGBTQ+ identity as an element of hybrid warfare—reveals a sinister attempt to weave this crackdown into the fabric of nationalistic and traditionalist discourse. This approach not only demonizes LGBTQ+ individuals but also positions them as external threats to Russian society, thereby justifying increasingly draconian laws under the guise of national security and moral purity.

Since late last year, Khinshtein has been messaging that the fighting in Ukraine brings “new relevance” to the threat posed by the LGBTQ movement.

“The special military operation takes place not only on the battlefield but also in the minds and souls of people,” Khinshtein said in October. “”LGBT today is an element of hybrid warfare and in this hybrid warfare we must protect our values, our society and our children.”

While the Ukraine connection is far from obvious, hardly intuitive, and has only been minimally explained or exposed by Khinshtein, it's likely to be sufficient to stick at current levels under the circumstances: a stuck conflict and a worrisome economy along with sanctions of all sorts.

Russia's LGBTQ Crackdown Bottom line — So ambiguous. by design. Makes just about anyone subject to investigation.

Under Khinshtein's advocacy, the laws behind this new Russian LGBTQ crackdown are so ambiguous as to potentially apply to just about any person or activity with even a peripheral relationship to LGBTQ movements, organizations, or individuals. These initial arrests and the rhetoric around it all — the nationalism and calls for purity, now directly connecting the invasion of Ukraine with the newly scapegoated

Extra: The Earring Case Manipulation Chronology

The nuanced propaganda maneuver following Ershova's arrest, shifting from a seemingly empathetic stance to one of accusation and moral panic, underscores Khinshtein's role as a master of narrative control. By shifting the focus from empathy for an individual to the reinforcement of the state's anti-LGBTQ+ policies, he effectively utilizes the incident to advance the narrative of LGBTQ+ symbols as extremist threats, further entrenching the legal and social ostracization of the LGBTQ+ community in Russia.

The chronology of these messages is a bit complicated. There is, of course, no evidence of this being a Jedi propaganda op, from the openly available Telegram posts by those involved and citizen journalists, there is even less evidence to suggest he's a good guy, or anything like a mensch moved by injustice against a young woman assaulted in a cafe. This could even be considered part of the launch of these new harsh laws.

1. Khinshtein weirdly support Anastasia Ershova in days after earring arrest

1. Alexander Khinshtein, the politician most responsible for Russia's new national LGBTQ campaign weirdly weighed in on Feb 1 seemingly in support of Anastasia Ershova in days after she was accosted. His remarks made on his own Telegram channel with close to 100,000 subscribers.
   His support, he says, is based on images that include the “traditional seven-color rainbow. What does that have to do with LGBT people is unclear,” and he ends by asking the court to overturn.

2. Less than a day later …

Khinshtein takes it all back in a check-all-the-boxes media manipulation post that pulls out all the propaganda stops. It's a veritable BINGO-card of: dehumanizing descriptions; questionable bureaucratic proofs; arcane assertions, and while enveloping one of the most privileged and powerful men in fake victimhood.

He laments that he was duped by “fake news” — joins the others he claims were similarly taken in by media and extremist lies. He refers to Ershova's companion as “a sexless creature,” and his generally disrespectful message not only dehumanize them both, but also model the scapegoating, defending tradition, and public denouncing behavior that is likely an objective of the crackdown. With Khinshtein's involvement and Russia's history it's a potent endorsement by the powerful government and likely to be persuasive.

The plot of course hinges on the chain of custody and the number of colors in the rainbow. He reveals the barely registering fact that Ershova is reported to have a damning “six color rainbow avatar on Pinterest as some kind of smoking gun. He declares Ershova is an LGBT* activist. All that's left then is to assure his traditionalist followers of his pride “I'm glad that the traditional seven-color rainbow is not in danger.”

He blamed and undermined Aegis for being in cahoots with the media to push “fake news” and a grand frog switcheroo. Her frogs — the ones hard to make out in the video — he alleged were of the six color rainbows, he said, “which – yes indeed is a symbol of LGBT”* His at best marginal proof, presented as the smoking gun, is a Pinterest profile with a six-color rainbow avatar, discovered by the ‘civil activists' from the cafe.

That righteous anger; the regret that he “like many, I bought into this fake;” He was the biggest victim, along with many of his readers. But they should not fear. He promised an investigation to track down the people and the conspiring organizations who did this to all of them. Ending with the passion that drives him, he writes “I'm glad that the traditional seven-color rainbow is not in danger” … and the asterisk footnoting LGBT* “Recognized as an extremist organization.”

3. Aegis responds to Khinshtein's links accuses them of spreading fake news

Aegis is quick to reply and to make it clear they won't be bullied. Treading carefully, they introduce facts in their defense and share comments from Anastasia's team that contradict that story being spun.

New Russian LGBTQ Crackdown Multi-part

• 5-Days Jail for Rainbow Earrings? Fined for Posting Gay Flag? Kafkaesque. Russia Launches LGBTQ Crackdown. WTF Russia? Part 1
• Draconian: Sochi Olympics-Era “Gay Propaganda” Ban Expands to Forbid All Public LGBTQ Expression. New Russian Crackdown. Pt. 2
• Orwellian: Architect of New Russia LGBTQ Crackdown Warns Of LGBTQ Threat in Ukraine War; Manipulates Rainbow Earring Arrest in Pt. 3
• Dystopian: TK