“Hi, Svetlana!”

Since the 1990s, Russian school boys have been taunting other boys on playgrounds with the phrase “Привет Светлана!” Hiiii, Svetlana! The inferred taunt is less about the two words than how those words are spoken, with a singsong feminine lilt: “Hiiiiiiiiiii, Svet-lanaaaaaa!” The intended message to the boy addressed as ‘Svetlana’ is that “you are gay and everybody knows it.” In Russia, official government policy says that homosexuals are mentally ill, dangerous, intent on “switching” young boys, and represent a threat to Russian traditional life. On Russian playgrounds, confrontations that begin with “Hiiiii Svetlana!!!” usually move quickly to physical violence. The stakes are that high. The provenance of this derogatory slang is attributed everywhere (and nowhere). One plausible source? A 90s-era Russian TV comedy series where “Hi, Svetlana!” was the catchphrase of a male character on the show…actually, a pile of gay tropes and cliches stacked 6 feet tall in the shape of a man. Lisping for dear life. Dressed in pastels. Pink scarf tied around neck. Demeanor of Truman Capote, flamboyance of Sean Hayes, fierce as Ariana’s brother Frankie Grande, yet purer than Tim Gunn…the audience likes camp characters. They won’t tolerate the reality of two men in love with each other. The show never mentioned the character’s sexuality or mentioned gays, but they loaded the character with every gay trope and tired cliche that let viewers