Swedes Use Gay Sailor to Scare Off Russian Submarines

As Russia continues to probe the sea and air defenses of various European states, a Swedish group has come up with a novel way to try and keep Russian forces out of Sweden's territorial waters.

The AFP reports that a group known as the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society has set up a special sonar device that says, "This way if you are gay," in Morse code. The message is a play on the radical differences in attitudes towards homosexuality that can be found in mainstream Swedish and Russian society.

In addition to the message, the group has lowered a pink neon sign with a gay sailor who thrusts his hips. Below the sailor it says, "Welcome to Sweden, Gay since 1944." Sweden legalized homosexuality in 1944.

Russia is a notoriously difficult place to be a homosexual.  The Moscow pride parade is virtually non-existent, and those brave enough to gather and express themselves are usually attacked as the police look on and do nothing. Many who participate in such demonstrations of gay pride will also be arrested, because Russia recently passed a law that made it illegal to spread "homosexual propaganda."

Vicious and violent rapes and attacks on gays by homophobes also go unpunished most of the time.

In addition to referencing each nation's differing attitudes towards homosexuality, the sign also acknowledges that Russian submarines have been patrolling in foreign waters more aggressively.

In Oct. of 2014, the Swedish Navy was put on high alert after images of what appeared to be a Russian sub just meters from the Swedish coast made their way into the media.

And recently, off the coast of England, fishing vessels are reported to have caught Russian submarines in their nets, causing them to almost capsize.