I can't remember the last time TNO was mentioned on this thread so here's an interesting thread from the subreddit, what do you think is the most LGBT friendly state in Russia? -
https://www.reddit.com/r/TNOmod/comments/1j8vnu8/most_lgbt_friendly_state_in_russia/
It's kind of an interesting question. We have to keep in mind that when, in 1992, homosexuality was decriminalised in the Russian Federation, it was done so because of pressure from the Council of Europe - no side in the Russian quarrels at the time (from the the Supreme Soviet to Yeltsin, from LDPR to FNS) really cared about LGBT rights with the sole exception of the social liberal factions like YaBL (Later Yabloko) who never had a good shot at power in the Russian Federation. Let's keep in mind that no impetus for decriminalising homosexuality came from the left (from those who would fall under "LibSoc" in TNO like Ryzhkov to bona-fide neo-stalinists like Anpilov) and the decriminalisation was passed with the support of Yeltsin in order to further European integration. This means that decriminalising homosexuality was an unpopular proposition 30 years after TNO's start date OTL.
Homosexuality, while ostensibly legalised for a little bit during the earliest parts of the USSR, was quickly relegalised as the criminal codes were reviewed and homosexuality was swiftly relegalised. To my recollection, there was no serious attempt to legalise homosexuality during the USSR and the issue was not on the table when reformists like Gorbachev were behind the wheel aside from allowing them to propagate their beliefs in accordance with perestroika.
What does this tells about TNO? It tells us that the TNO warlord with the best conditions for LGBT people would have to be...
- Liberal democratic and socially liberal, conforming with the historical reality that social liberals like Yavlinsky were the only real supporters of legalising homosexuality in Russia.
- Willing to take the somewhat unpopular decision to protect LGBT minorities and legalise their lifestyles. Considering that the majority of the population would see homosexuals as deviants who have a disease and a significant chunk would believe they would have to be "liquidated."
- Aligned with the OFN, as it would be the only international faction to be willing to touch the issue with Russia and that would like to see homosexuality legal. This is conditional on the USA taking a liberal turn with presidents like LBJ, Hart, McGovern and so on.
This leads us to look towards the democratic unifiers of Russia. We can immediately disqualify Yeltsin (historically unenthusiastic about legalising homosexuality even in 1992), Pokryshkin (aligned with the CPS), Decembrist Tomsk, Shuskin, Petlin (far too socially conservative), LibDem Komi (likely unwilling to stick its neck out for LGBT minorities.) Of course, these would be a gradient: I would rather be a gay in LibDem Komi Russia than in Pokryshkin's Russia and I would rather be a gay under Pokryshkin than under any anti-democratic unifier.
This really leaves just one or two unifiers that would be willing to legalise homosexuality:
Humanist Tomsk and Modernist Tomsk. Tomsk is democratic and socially liberal, and Tomsk's closed salon system easily provides the mechanisms for forcing through the legalisation of homosexuality despite popular opposition. Of the two Tomsk paths, modernists would likely be more gay-friendly as they are actively elitist against the populace, seeking to make college graduates the only people able to vote. Tomsk is also pro-OFN to the best of my recollection.
Now, based on what the mod tells us, the most pro-gay unifiers are Alexander Men, SBA and Bukharina. These are hilariously wrong picks that are more likely to be related to socialist developers reading their own views into Cold War-era Soviet figures and, to an extent, the people of Russia - there is no reason to think that the mob rule of Alexander Men's Russia wouldn't lead to an ecumenical unspoken agreement that the LGBT minorities should be repressed. The SBA's decentralised structure would also make it hard to enact the top-down change needed to really improve the situation for the LGBT minorities in 1972. Bukharina might, but there is no reason to think so.
Finally, this is simply related to the legalisation of homosexuality - something that was OTL illegal in a chunk of Europe even in the 1960s (although, the USSR aside, it was getting decriminalised around this time). This is to say nothing of civil unions, same-sex marriage, equal adoption rights, transgender rights and a whole slew of other issues that would likely remain unadressed until the 1980s or 1990s
at the earliest under any unifier.
