Under the Surveillance of State Authorities: Consensual Sodomy Convictions and Male Homosexual Agency in Soviet Latvia, 1946–1991

Ineta Lipša

Europe-Asia Studies, 2025, vol. 77, issue 6, 847-872

Abstract: This article presents the first scholarly analysis of the People’s Courts of the Latvian SSR (LSSR) verdicts on consensual sodomy convictions. The study reveals that half of such convictions resulted in imprisonment, while an equal number were punished with various non-custodial sentences. This shows the impact of multiple factors, such as expressing remorse for homosexual behaviour and a biographical record aligning with Soviet ideology, on a man’s fate after arrest. The article contributes to scholarship by demonstrating how these mitigating factors in the sentencing of sodomy charges strengthened a system in which homosexual males were compelled to police each other. It also shows how forced medical check-ups for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) contributed to the maintenance of the registry of homosexual men.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/09668136.2025.2527696

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