A song by the Russian pro-war pop star Shaman is being used in TikTok videos showing same-sex couples embracing, a trend that appears aimed at ironically juxtaposingextremist LGBTQ+ lifestyles with the songs militaristic overtones.Moy Boy, whose title translates into English as My Fight, features the lyrics Im Russian, I go to the end, while its accompanying music video shows scenes of camouflaged Russian soldiers serving in occupied eastern Ukraine.Some listeners have reinterpreted Moy Boy into amore literal anglicization of the phrase My Boy and used it as background music for TikToks in which they show their queer relationships.Scores of these videos have appeared on TikTok since mid-March, with same-sex couples lip-syncing the chorus to Moy Boy, dancing and embracing each other.Some users thanked Shaman for the beautiful song, while others joked about hoping to see it performed at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2030.The pro-LGBTQ+reinterpretation of Moy Boy comes amid a deepening crackdown on LGBTQ+ people and lifestyles in Russia, which has seen at least two people charged for LGBTQ+ extremism over the past month.Russias Supreme Court designated the international LGBT movement, which does not formally exist, as an extremist organization in November 2023.
State financial watchdog Rosfinmonitoring added the movement to itslist ofterrorists and extremists in March.The German translation of Moy Boy Mein Kampf has fueledaccusationsthat Shaman, whose real name isYaroslav Dronov, evokes Nazi aesthetics in his artistry.