IMAO Interns Could Sort This Out in About a Tenth of a Second

A Russian reality TV show called ‘I’m Not Gay’ makes 8 contestants guess which is gay — and it’s hosted by a right-wing politician
Business Insider | May 6, 2022 | Michelle Mark

A Russian reality TV show titled “I’m Not Gay,” hosted by one of the country’s most notorious anti-gay politicians, is drawing scrutiny and abhorrence from western media outlets amid the country’s increasingly authoritarian crackdown on LGBTQ rights.

“I’m Not Gay” pits eight contestants against one another in a series of games centered around masculine stereotypes and homophobic humor, to determine which one of them is gay. The contestant who correctly identifies their gay peer wins two million rubles, or $29,000 USD, and the gay contestant wins the money if he makes it through the games undetected.

Sounds like Nathan Lane in The Birdcage trying to act like John Wayne.

The show appears to be popular among Russian audiences, and could easily be dismissed as lowbrow entertainment. For instance, one of the challenges involves receiving lap dances from both female and male strippers, while the rest of the contestants watch.

My thought exactly. That should separate the wheat from the chaz.

Another challenge involves contestants reaching through what appears to be a glory hole,

Wait – – – isn’t that typically a totally gay thing to do?

and groping scantily clad men and women.

But one expert told Insider the show is more than just trash TV — it provides a fascinating study of Russia’s attitudes towards both homosexuality and masculinity, and serves a dual purpose as both a cultural weapon against Russia’s western adversaries, and a distraction from the nation’s economic hardships and its invasion of Ukraine.

The first two episodes, which were shared on YouTube before being taken down for “violating YouTube’s policy on harassment and bullying,” racked up over 1 million views and 500,000 views, respectively.

Deleting it, YouTube, was so gay.

Dan Healey, a professor of modern Russian history at the University of Oxford’s St Antony’s College, said homophobia in Russia is often used as a political device — and “I’m Not Gay” fits neatly into the Kremlin’s narrative of Russia’s cultural superiority.

Questions I’d ask contestants: “Ginger or Mary Ann?” There are only three acceptable answers, and none of them are “Neither.”