I was born in USSR, and I was put on unpaid work for half a year only because they had a suspicion that I can be homosexual. If they were able to prove it, I most likely would end with 2 years or maybe even in prison (or mental asylum), or forcibly transitioned to transwoman like it happened to few my older friends. Illegal radiostation "Voice of America" helped me a lot with anti-HIV safety and with understanding that it is normal to love men as a man, and that it does not mean that I am a woman like our society was telling. Most paedo cases were said to be "work of homosexual men", as you know both of slurs are used against us to this day ("peedor" and "pedik") are shortened version of "pederast". Those were dark times for homosexual people.

Meme tells it all: https://i.imgur.com/VlThASQ.png