Some of his Best Friends…

Not The Onion, but the BBC:  Winter Olympics: Putin ‘friendly’ with gay people

"I myself know some people who are gay," he said. "We’re on friendly terms. I’m not prejudiced in any way."

Perhaps in the Russian the irony of this type of denial in this type of context is lost.

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Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a retired Professor of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. Tillman says:

    Eh. Mahmoud still takes the cake with “there are no gay people in Iran.”

  2. Andy says:

    “Friendly” in Russian means that Putin hunts gay people shirtless on horseback.

  3. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @Andy: Is he wearing pants? “Cause he is one gay mfer.

  4. Brett says:

    It’s not just Russia – this is a favorite line of people who think similarly to Putin about LGBT people. It was repeatedly used by Rick Santorum and Sarah Palin.

  5. Franklin says:

    Sure he’s friends with them, just like Santorum and Palin. They all just pray everyday for their “friends” to get “better”. Hate the sin, love the sinner, derp.

  6. @Brett: Quite true. And perhaps I am being too oblique–the comment reminded me of a common response in the 70s and 80s by people who were accused of being racist, and then would reply something along the lines of “many of my best friends are black,”

    And I see that I left an “n” off of my original comment.