Regulating Male Homosexuality in the Ukrainian SSR in the Early 1960s: A Case Study

• In Event: Queer Ukraine: Culture, Literature, Legislation

Abstract

This presentation will discuss a criminal case from the Ukrainian SSR involving Aleksei Petrenko, a fugitive KGB officer who deserted the service in 1963 and went hiding in different cities of the republic. There, he met men and had sex with them and eventually tried to frame them all in order to curry favour with his KGB superiors. Petrenko ended up being arrested. This criminal case tells us a great deal about the KGB’s interest in homosexual activity as well as reveals that homosexual activity was surprisingly widespread throughout the Ukrainian SSR in the early 1960s.

Author

• Rustam Alexander, Independent Scholar