The examination did not find signs of "propaganda of homosexuality" in the play prohibited by the Ministry of Culture

Experts in the field of child psychology and pedagogy did not find signs of “propaganda of homosexuality” and “contradictions by the traditional moral values ​​accepted in Russian culture” in the play of Olzhas Zhanaidarov “The Soul of the Pillows”. The text of the expert opinion is published by Polit.ru. The show of plays at the IX Moscow International Open Book Festival was prohibited by the Ministry of Culture.

The expert commission included specialists from the Institute for Education of the Higher School of Economics, the Psychological Institute of the Russian Academy of Education, the Federal Institute for the Development of Education, the Moscow City Psychological and Pedagogical University and the Moscow City Pedagogical University.

"The search for a partner for romantic or sexual relations does not appear in the text either in explicit or in hidden forms," ​​the conclusion says. Experts came to the conclusion that we are talking about friendship, and not about sexual relations.

Experts also believe that the concept of "traditional values" requires concretization. "The very formulation of the question is incorrect and can be regarded as an attempt to replace the concept of" traditional moral values ​​"(friendship, devotion, mutual assistance-universal values) with an ideological construct that reduces all the diversity and inconsistency of moral values ​​in the national cultures of our country to an arbitrarily limited set of ideological dogmas that ignore this diversity and inconsistency" - It is noted in conclusion.

On June 9, the Ministry of Culture banned the screening of two performances at the festival - “Soul of the Pillows” in the production of Boris Konstantinov and “Herbivorous” based on the play by Maxim Kurochkin in the production of Natalia Pakhomova. “According to the available information, the play“ The Soul of Pillows ”may be signs of propaganda of homosexuality among minors,” the letter said, which was sent to the organizer of the festival - the central house of the artist - deputy head of the department, Vladimir Aristarchus. - The play “Herbivores” contains an obscene abuse. The maintenance of both plays contradicts both plays adopted in Russian culture traditional moral values. "

The official demanded that the organizers of the festival exclude both productions from the program. Otherwise, he threatened that the Ministry of Culture would resign his consent to be an official cartridge of the event.

After that, the Memorial, the Sakhorov Center and a number of publishers announcedthe boycott of the Moscow Book Festival . A similar decision was made by the poet Lev Rubinstein and writer Arthur Solomonov. Colta.ru abandoned the status of the festival information. A number of planned events were moved to other sites.