As many as 1,500 “ideological immigrants,” including 127 Americans, have applied for temporary residence in Russia in the last year.

Two years ago, Derek and DeAnna Huffman were desperate to leave Humble, a suburb of Houston. Their three daughters, they believed, were being brainwashed by public school and mainstream media to support LGBTQ rights. American culture in general no longer offered white people the same opportunities as other races, they said.

The couple yearned to live in a place that shared their “Christian values” and where they “weren’t going to be discriminated against” as white, politically-conservative Christians.

So in March, the Huffmans became the first family to move to a community planned for fellow English-speakers some 30 miles west of Moscow, a project they had been following online run by long-term American expat and former Kremlin-sponsored RT host Tim Kirby. The family is among a small but growing number of Americans who have moved to Russia because the United States, in their opinion, has become too “woke."

  • tal@lemmy.today
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    3 days ago

    https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/09/16/how-religious-is-your-state/

    Religious profile of Mississippi

    1st most religious state overall

    61% (1st) say religion is very important in their lives

    54% (1st) say they attend religious services at least monthly

    62% (1st) say they pray daily

    74% (1st) say they believe in God or a universal spirit with absolute certainty

    50% in Mississippi are highly religious, based on an overall scale of religiousness

    There was a much easier and better choice than Russia if they wanted to up their “more Christian environment” game.

      • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        Yeah, but the people in the article said the real reason explicitly: LGBT is illegal there.

        In the US we still have a lot of first amendment rights and we (all) still have the protection of Lawrence v Texas.

    • dubyakay@lemmy.ca
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      3 days ago

      Too many black people in Mississippi. Even if they are religious. Highest amount of African Americans percentage wise in the US.

      • timbuck2themoon@sh.itjust.works
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        2 days ago

        I feel like that’s because Chicago is all people hear of. The rest of Illinois is most definitely not that.

        Meanwhile Ohio has the 3CS (Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus) and smaller cities like Akron, Toledo, Dayton, Youngstown, Athens, etc.

      • Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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        2 days ago

        Illinois is funky because about a quarter of the state (by land area) is heavily influenced by Chicago but the rest of the state is just generic rural Midwest dotted with small railroad towns and farming communities