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.
![](https://i0.wp.com/jobbiecrew.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/0sailorr.jpg?resize=696%2C432&ssl=1)
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