The Amorphous and Complex Global ‘Pink Line’
Mark Gevisser's excellent study of the global weaponization of homo- and transphobia,
The Pink Line, provides a superb survey of the promise – and peril – of queer identity.
The Pink Line: Journeys Across the World's Queer Frontiers
Mark Gevisser
July 2020
When Vladimir Putin demonized LGBTQ people as part of his 2012 presidential re-election campaign and subsequently imposed regressive laws forbidding the positive portrayal of homosexuality in Russia (the infamous “Law for the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating for a Denial of Traditional Family Values”, or ‘gay propaganda law’), some commentators began referring to a ‘pink curtain’. It was a somewhat ironic nod to the ‘iron curtain’ label applied to the totalitarian Soviet Union during the Cold War of the 20th century. Other eastern European right-wing politicians followed Putin’s lead in scapegoating and demonizing queer people as part of their bids for power lent further validity to the label. On the flip side, some commentators began referring to the ‘rainbow curtain’ encompassing the more liberal and tolerant Western European countries.