Why are gays again to blame for all the troubles? History knows this scenario by heart

LGBT+ people rarely become the target of persecution by accident. History shows a rather unpleasant pattern: when society becomes scared, anxious, or just wants to find someone to blame, one of the first to be hit is some noticeable, but small group. Very often it is LGBT+ people.

The reason usually has nothing to do with sexual orientation or gender identity. Just convenient. Small group. Limited political influence. You can talk for a long time that it is she who is to blame for the crisis of the family, the fall in the birth rate, the decline of culture, or something else vague enough to be impossible to verify.

This happened in Nazi Germany. After the Nazis came to power, the persecution of homosexual men increased dramatically. They were declared a threat to the future of the nation. The logic was simple: if men do not create traditional families, then fewer children are born, which means that the people are threatened. As a result, thousands of people passed through prisons and concentration camps.

It is curious that neither then nor now does anyone really explain how the existence of two men in one apartment destroys a state with a multi-million population. But no one is usually interested in such details.

The mechanism is still working. When there are economic problems, political crises or social tensions, there is always someone who offers a simple explanation. Do not look for reasons. Do not correct mistakes. Do not engage in corruption, education or the economy. It's better to find a group of people who are different from the majority and declare them to be the source of problems.

In June 2026, Kyiv Pride was held in Kyiv again. Among the demands of the participants were the legal recognition of partnerships and protection from hate crimes. And even in a country that has been living in war conditions for several years, there were people who are sure that LGBT+ people remain one of the most important threats to the state.

If you think about it, this is a rather strange superpower. Missiles, the economy, corruption, demography, security – all this is complicated. But two guys holding hands for some reason again find themselves in the center of public discussion.

In Belarus, the situation is developing according to a familiar scenario. Under the slogans of protecting traditional LGBT+ values, people are increasingly presented not as citizens of the country, but as something alien. Not people with specific names, families and jobs, but an abstract threat. It's much more convenient this way. You usually have to talk to real people. Not with the image of the enemy.

Even Germany is no exception. Despite the high level of legal protection, attacks on pride events and cases of intimidation of organizers have been increasing in recent years. It turns out that the presence of laws does not cancel the human desire to look for the guilty.

There is one more detail that historians regularly note. Restricting the rights of LGBT+ people is rarely the final stop. This is usually the first station of the route.

When society agrees that the rights of one group can be restricted for the sake of security, morality, or tradition, the next candidates are quickly found. Journalists. Political opponents. Activists. Migrants. Religious minorities. The list depends only on the country and era.

Therefore, talking about LGBT+ rights has never been just about talking about LGBT+ people. This is a conversation about how easily society agrees to exchange the rights of a minority for the illusion of order.

History shows one unpleasant thing: internal enemies almost never end. If yesterday gays were declared a threat, tomorrow they will find someone else. Because the real purpose of such campaigns is not to solve problems. The real goal is to provide a simple explanation of a complex world.

And simple explanations, as a rule, turn out to be the most expensive.