Activists Send Message To Russian Subs: "Welcome To Sweden. Gay Since 1944."

Via The Local Sweden:

A Swedish peace society has come up with a new way of fighting off Russian submarines in the Stockholm archipelago: a subsurface sonar system called 'The Singing Sailor', which sends out Morse code and features the message "Welcome to Sweden. Gay since 1944". In a video published on their website on Monday, they demonstrate their new 'Singing Sailor Underwater Defence System', which they lowered into the sea east of Stockholm on April 27th. Any submarines lurking in the capital's waters will come across an animated neon sign of a dancing sailor in boxer shorts along with the message "Sweden – gay since 1944" (referring to when Sweden legalized homosexuality). The sign also sends out the Morse code: "This way if you are gay". The tongue-in-cheek move is designed to scare off military vessels from Russia, which does not share Sweden's tolerant attitude to homosexuality.

From the group's spokesman: "If there is a submarine down there beneath the Baltic waves and the crew should happen to see or hear the Singing Sailor they are welcome to join us in the Stockholm Pride Parade on August 1st." Word of the Singing Sailor has been picked up by the Russian state news agency Sputnik, which launched six months ago.

(Tipped by JMG reader Paolo)