YouTube social experiment: 'gay couple' does Moscow

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Marissa Brent-Tookey

Marissa Brent-Tookey Feb 6, 2018

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>YouTube social experiment: 'gay couple' does Moscow</h1>
                <h2><p>The BBC's Trending blog comments today on a video by Russian YouTube pranksters ChebuRussiaTV that has drawn an unusual amount of international attention. That's probably because of its street-level observation of a hot button topic: homophobic abuse. Two male actors held hands while strolling through Moscow</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/marissa-brent-tookey-crosscut-com/">Marissa Brent-Tookey</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>The <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-33523354?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">BBC's Trending blog</a> comments today on a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgm3lb9JUU0&ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">video by Russian YouTube pranksters ChebuRussiaTV</a> that has drawn an unusual amount of international attention. That's probably because of its street-level observation of a hot button topic: homophobic abuse. Two male actors held hands while strolling through Moscow landmarks, and the crew's hidden camera caught passerbys' reactions, which included shoving as well as nasty remarks. The video is not the first of its kind, but it's unique for the level of aggression the actors experienced.</p>
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The BBC's Trending blog comments today on a video by Russian YouTube pranksters ChebuRussiaTV that has drawn an unusual amount of international attention. That's probably because of its street-level observation of a hot button topic: homophobic abuse. Two male actors held hands while strolling through Moscow landmarks, and the crew's hidden camera caught passerbys' reactions, which included shoving as well as nasty remarks. The video is not the first of its kind, but it's unique for the level of aggression the actors experienced.

By Marissa Brent-Tookey

Marissa Brent-Tookey is an editorial intern at Crosscut. She holds a B.A. in French from Seattle University and now studies film production at Shoreline Community College. In addition to crewing a doz