Originally Posted by
Adam1222
I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. I don't think anyone's point in this thread was that Russian people are homophobic. But if it makes you feel better about your support for the Russian state, go ahead.
Somewhat condescending of you...I'm not even supporting Russia, not in the slightest. If anything, I'd be supporting the opposition of the current government.
What I'm trying to say is that how a country is represented in the media doesn't reflect the reality necessarily, and people should be more aware of this before they choose to 'boycott' a country for whatever reason. Generally speaking, LGBT stuff aside, Russia is actually quite safe.
I also believe that people's attitudes can come down to knowing the culture of a place and how somewhere can easily be misconceived. For example, the lack of smiling known in Russia boils down to 1) being a sign of professionalism in businesses e.g. shops and 2) a sign of sincerity, as those who smiles seemingly randomly looks strange (A Russian proverb says 'He who smiles without reason is a fool'), which of course may look weird to Westerners, but no doubt Russians find it weird that Brits say 'sorry' in every other sentence, or how Americans use 'sir' or 'miss' to basically anyone they don't know.