Instagram project Izvtnye Tetki is reclaimg Rsia’s gay history all s glory
Contents:
CELEBRATG THE GAY RSIAN CELEBRI HISTORY BOOKS TRIED TO ERASE
* gay russian grand dukes *
It’s difficult to learn about LGBTQ history a untry where the muny still stggl wh homophobia at all levels of society. Most of the current rearch on the topic is still rried out by foreign scholars, and most of the the historil Rsian texts on homosexualy, even when wrten by proment scholars and wrers, are disregard. Historian Dan Healey, whose 2001 book Homosexual Dire Revolutnary Rsia was translated to Rsian 2008, argu that spe several prohibive laws sexualy was nsirably ls regulated pre-revolutnary Rsia than elsewhere Europe at that time.
Several rearchers claim that historil acunts show that before the 18th century, Rsian society held rather lenient views toward homosexualy, and that homophobia was at least part “imported” om Europe by Peter the Great — along wh European tradns food, archecture and fashn. Some argue that was Peter’s father, Tsar Alexis, who first started persecutg gay people, but the first law that ma homosexualy illegal (ially only for men the army and navy) was signed by Peter 1716. For civilians homosexualy was ma illegal 1835 — aga for men only.
In a 1913 say on the relatnship between relign and sexualy entled Moonlight People, the proment wrer and philosopher Vasily Rozanov argu that homosexualy has been a historil part of not jt Rsian but Orthodox life, and pots out that several works of relig medieval Rsian lerature, like the Liv of Boris and Gleb, nta strong hts that certa characters (ually sats and martyrs) were gay. Rearchers have noted that the gay men of the untry’s polil ele of the time sometim ed their posn to help advance their lovers’ reers — somethg that ually end up as the subject of satire. In the 19th century the most well-studied members of the ci’ LGBTQ muni were the nobily — cludg members of the royal fay — but their liv are still shroud wh mystery today, sce hont, unprejudiced discsns of homosexualy (and sexualy general) rema relatively taboo Rsia.
GAY DATG ATHENS
One of the most proment exampl was Grand De Konstant, grandson of emperor Nicholas I and uncle of Nicholas II, whose homosexualy was revealed 1994, nearly 80 years after his ath 1915, when his ndid diari were published.
Another source of rmatn for rearchers are the anonymo nunciatns ma to the police — some of which tail the everyday liv and entertament of the gay muny greater tail than n be found history books. In 1906, the first Rsian work of fictn explorg a homosexual relatnship, Wgs by Mikhail Kuzm, was published Vy magaze. Kuzm’s diari are now one of the most valuable sourc for mappg out the geography of historil gay St Petersburg.
There are very few rerds of lbian muni or discsns of gay women.