The Shadows of Repression: Homosexuality, Identity, and the Lasting Legacy of the Soviet GULag

This paper investigates the systemic repression of homosexuality in the Soviet Union, particularly under Stalinist purges and within the GULag system, drawing critical parallels to the practices of Escuela Caribe, a Christian reform school infamous for its ideological "reeducation" of LGBTQIA+ youth. The study explores how these two seemingly disparate institutions—one rooted in Soviet communism and the other in American evangelical Christianity—employed strikingly similar mechanisms to enforce conformity and obliterate individuality under the guise of moral and ideological purity.Through personal narratives, such as Sasha Petrov’s journey from aspiring actor to GULag prisoner and David Wernsman’s forced exile to Escuela Caribe, the research illuminates the shared tactics of repression: forced labor, isolation, psychological manipulation, and brutal physical violence. The Soviet GULag sought to “reforge” deviance into state-approved conformity, just as Escuela Caribe inflicted physical and emotional abuse to “correct” identities that defied evangelical norms. Both systems exploited their victims’ vulnerabilities, weaponizing identity to maintain ideological control.By juxtaposing Stalinist hyper-masculinity with the evangelical obsession with heteronormativity, the paper underscores how repression transcends ideological divides. It reveals the chilling universality of state and institutional efforts to suppress LGBTQIA+ identities, from the Soviet criminalization under Article 121 to the violent practices of Christian “culture shock therapy.” The legacy of these systems persists today, reminding us of the devastating consequences of ideological conformity and the urgent need to challenge repression in all its forms. This work ultimately argues that understanding historical parallels is essential to resisting the resurgence of such oppressive systems globally.