The Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society (SPAS) says it has installed an underwater “defense system” known as the Singing Sailor in the waters off Stockholm.
The device is a flashing neon sign nicknamed “the gay sailor” – and it is a “subsurface sonar system”, which sends out the message: “This way if you are gay” in an attempt to deter apparently homophobic Russians.
Russia has come under fire since the Putin administration introduced homophobic laws in 2013 banning “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations”, in a climate of increasing intolerance towards its LGBT population.
The design of the device features a neon, flashing sign of a dancing sailor, naked but for a cap and small white briefs, surrounded by hearts.
“Welcome to Sweden: Gay since 1944” is written in English and Russian, in a reference to the year of decriminalization of homosexuality in the Scandinavian nation.
Den Homosexuella Sjömannen
