Translatg Rsia’s first gay celebry a challenge, rearcher says | The Universy of Kansas

Contents:

• MAXIM RSIA'S LIST OF 'GAYS WE RPECT' PRAIS LGBT STARS WHO 'REMA REAL MEN'
• KARèN SHAYAN WANTS TO INSPIRE LGBTQ RSIANS TO COME OUT—WH SOME CELEBRY HELPBRAVEON HIS POPULAR YOUTUBE TALK SHOW, KARèN SHAYAN TERVIEWS CELEBRI LIKE CYNTHIA NIXON AND BILLY PORTER. HE HOP THEIR EXPERIENC HELP SPIRE LGBTQ RSIANS TO E OUT.ANNA NEMTSOVAUPDATED MAY 23, 2020 10:02PM EDT / PUBLISHED MAY 23, 2020 5:12AM EDT ANNA NEMTSOVA/THE DAILY BEASTMOSCOW—THERE ARE MANY BRAVE EE-THKERS RSIA BUT ONLY ONE STRAIGHT TALK WH GAY PEOPLE, A THOUGHTFUL YOUTUBE TALK SHOW BY KARèN SHAYAN, A MOSW-BASED EDOR AND WRER. TO ENURAGE RSIAN CELEBRI TO E OUT, SHAYAN PUBLISH TERVIEWS WH THE WORLD’S LEADG LGBTQ ARTISTS, PHILOSOPHERS, ACTORS, WRERS, AND SCIENTISTS, A SERI OF STRAIGHTFORWARD NVERSATNS. HE IS A BROAD-CHTED MAN WH BIG, TELLIGENT EY AND A SCERE SE. IT IS EASY TO OPEN UP TO SHAYAN—HIS TERVIEWE REVEAL THEIR MOST TRMATIZG, CHALLENGG STORI OF CLASH WH HOMOPHOB, AND SHARE PERSONAL WAYS OF VELOPG STRONG VOIC THEIR PROFSNAL FIELDS. SHAYAN, WHO IS 39, HAS NEVER KEPT HIS HOMOSEXUALY A SECRET, WHICH IS UNUAL FOR A PUBLIC PERSON RSIA. HIS CIRCLE OF IENDS, LLEAGU, AND MOSW TELLECTUALS EMBRACE HIS TALENTS AND IENDSHIP. BUT BACK HIS SIBERIAN HOMETOWN OF IRKUTSK, SHAYAN EXPERIENCED HUIATN—AND FEAR IS NO STRANGER TO HIM.  “RSIAN GAY PEOPLE, GAY CELEBRI, ARE VISIBLE. NOBODY KNOWS HOW THEY LIVE, WHAT THEY CREATE, WHAT THEY ACHIEVE AS PROFSNALS, AND HOW SUCCSFUL THEY ARE ” IN SPE OF THE HORRIFIC PERSECUTNS AND VLENT ATTACKS ON LGBTQ PEOPLE RSIA, SHAYAN IS A STRONG BELIEVER THAT THERE IS HOPE TO LIBERATE PEOPLE OM FEAR THROUGH TN. “IGNORANCE AND DIFFERENCE ARE THE KEY REASONS BEHD THE WORST HOMOPHOBIA,” HE TOLD THE DAILY BEAST ON A RECENT AFTERNOON. “RSIAN GAY PEOPLE, GAY CELEBRI, ARE VISIBLE. NOBODY KNOWS HOW THEY LIVE, WHAT THEY CREATE, WHAT THEY ACHIEVE AS PROFSNALS, AND HOW SUCCSFUL THEY ARE THEIR OWN UNTRY.”SHAYAN SAYS THAT FEAR OF LOSG PRTIGE, MONEY OR ACCS TO A BIG DIENCE WERE THE REASON NO MASTREAM CELEBRI ADVOTED FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE ANTI-GAY PURG CHECHNYA FOR STANCE, WHEN A NUMBER OF PEOPLE WERE MURRED AND TAED, AND MANY TORTURED. ANNA NEMTSOVA/THE DAILY BEAST “TO RSIAN CELEBRI G OUT MEANS A POLIL MSAGE, A MAND FOR HAVG CERTA RIGHTS,” SHAYAN TOLD THE DAILY BEAST. “BUT A PUBLIC G-OUT WOULD MEAN AN IMMEDIATE HUGE LOSS OF ACCS TO THE NCERT HALLS.”TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND HELP TO OPEN MDS, SHAYAN TRAVELED TO THE UNED STAT TO SPEAK TO FIGUR CLUDG STARS LIKE CYNTHIA NIXON AND BILLY PORTER, THOR GARRARD CONLEY, PRODUCER BCE COHEN AND GION LCHFIELD, EDOR--CHIEF OF MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW.MORE THAN ONE LN PEOPLE HAVE VIEWED HIS BLOG ON YOUTUBE LS THAN THREE MONTHS. “THE IA OF THE PROJECT IS TO ATTRACT THE ATTENTN OF A BROAR DIENCE AND EXPOSE ALL THE EXISTG MYTHS AROUND LGBTQ PEOPLE,” SHAYAN TOLD THE DAILY BEAST ON A RECENT AFTERNOON.“SCE AS SOON AS PEOPLE HEAR THE WORD ‘GAY’ THE RSIAN MEDIA AGENDA, ALWAYS OM TWO POL—EHER OM HOMOPHOB AND STATE PROPAGANDA LLG TO BRG THE SOVIET CRIMAL LAW BACK TO THE LEGISLATN OR OM LGBT ACTIVISTS, WHO E THE WORD THE NTEXT OF THEIR FIGHT, VLATED RIGHTS OR CLASH WH POLICE. THE ARE TWO RADIL NTEXTS, WHILE REALY, SEVERAL LN RSIAN LGBTQ PEOPLE ARE MUTED, THEY ARE NOT REPRENTED THE PUBLIC SPACE.”SOME HAVE CRICIZED HIM FOR ONLY TERVIEWG SUCCSFUL LGBTQ PEOPLE, BUT SHAYAN SAID HE WAS NOT TRYG TO “REHABILATE” THE IMAGE OF LGBTQ PEOPLE FOCG ON FAMO PEOPLE. “THAT WOULD BE A VERY SOVIET APPROACH.”SHAYAN IS SGLE, AND A GAY PARENT OF TWO BOYS, AGED 9 AND ONE-AND-A-HALF, NCEIVED WH LBIAN MOTHERS. HIS OLR SON LIV WH HIS MOTHER KYIV. BEFORE COVID-19 SHUT DOWN THE UNTRY, HE TRAVELED TO SEE HIM ONCE A MONTH, AND ALSO BROUGHT HIM TO MOSW FOR SCHOOL BREAKS. WHEN HE STARTED HIS BLOG EARLIER THIS YEAR THE MOTHER OF HIS OLR SON ASKED SHAYAN IF WAS SAFE FOR THEIR SON TO E TO MOSW. SHE WAS NOT NCERNED ABOUT VLENCE OF HOMOPHOB SO MUCH AS STATE AGENCI TAKG THEIR SON AWAY. “EVERYBODY IS SRED OF THE RSIAN JUVENILE JTICE SYSTEM,” SAID SHAYAN. “THEY E THE BIGGT FEAR FOR THE ENTIRE RSIAN LGBTQ MUNY. NONE OF THOSE WH CHILDREN N DARE TO BE POLILLY ACTIVE, THEY ARE MOST VULNERABLE,” HE TOLD THE DAILY BEAST.LAST YEAR, RSIA’S INVTIGATIVE COMMTEE STARTED A LAWSU NCERNG TWO GAY MEN, ANDREY EROVFEYEV AND ANDREY VAGANOV, AND THEIR TWO ADOPTED CHILDREN. THE FAY HAD TO PE PERSECUTN BY FLEEG TO THE UNED STAT. “BUT SPE OF THE PRSURE, THOANDS OF GAY PEOPLE NTUE TO RAISE CHILDREN RSIA,” SAID SHAYAN. “I RECEIVE THANK YOU NOT OM LBIAN AND GAY UPL, WHO HAVE LTLE CHILDREN.”  A SON OF SCIENTISTS AND A BCHEMIST BY TN, SHAYAN HAS ALWAYS BEEN TERTED THE IA OF TN AS A KEY TO EEDOM. MISRMATN AND THE DISTORTN OF HISTORY RSIAN PROPAGANDA ANNOY HIM. “UNFORTUNATELY, RSIANS DO NOT KNOW THEIR OWN HISTORY:  HOMOPHOBIA IS ONLY 300 YEARS OLD. BEFORE PETER THE GREAT BEGAN TO EXECUTE HOMOSEXUALS THE ARMY, PYG GERMAN PUNISHMENT L, GAY PEOPLE ENJOYED RIGHTS RSIA,” SHAYAN SAID.BEFORE THE COVID-19 SHUTDOWN, MOSW’S LGBTQ POPULATN ENJOYED BARS, CLUBS AND DATG WEBS, NOT MUCH DIFFERENT OM WHAT LGBTQ PEOPLE HAVE THE WT, EXCEPT THAT HERE THE CULTURE EXISTS UNRGROUND. THEN TERNATNAL FLIGHTS WERE NCELLED, AND LGBTQ PEOPLE WERE WORRIED ABOUT BEG ABLE TO PE THE UNTRY IF A NEW MPAIGN OF PERSECUTN BEGAN.IN THE MIDST OF THE RONAVIS PANMIC, LEVADA CENTER, AN PENNT POLLG AGENCY, PUBLISHED NEW HORRIFYG POLLS: 18 PERCENT OF RSIANS WANTED TO SEE LGBT PEOPLE “LIQUIDATED.” SHAYAN ADMTED THAT FOR A FEW SENDS HE FELT “ANIMAL FEAR” UPON SEEG THE FIGUR. SHAYAN TERVIEWED LEVADA’S SOCLOGISTS ABOUT THEIR STUDY. IT TURNED OUT THAT SCE 1989 THE SOCLOGIL CENTER HAS BEEN ASKG THE SAME QUTNS ABOUT PEDOPHIL, MURRERS, AND DG ADDICTS (AS IF GROUPG LGBTQ PEOPLE ALONGSI THE GROUPS MAKE ANY KD OF SENSE). BY “LIQUIDATG,” THE SOCLOGISTS TOLD SHAYAN, SOME PEOPLE ALSO MEANT SOCIAL ISOLATN. “IF WE APPLY THE UAL STATISTICS, THERE MIGHT BE UP TO 10 LN LBIANS, GAY, TRANSGENR, QUEER OR BISEXUAL PEOPLE OUR UNTRY” RSIA’S FAMO LGBTQ PEOPLE KNOW EACH OTHER OR OF EACH OTHER, BUT PREFER TO NEVER SPEAK PUBLICLY ABOUT THE HORRIFYG S OF HOMOPHOBIA. RSIA DO NOT KNOW EXACTLY HOW MANY LGBT PEOPLE HAS, SHAYAN SAID, “BUT IF WE APPLY THE UAL STATISTICS, THERE MIGHT BE UP TO 10 LN LBIANS, GAY, TRANSGENR, QUEER OR BISEXUAL PEOPLE OUR UNTRY.” THE FAMO ANTI-LGBTQ “PROPAGANDA” LAW OF 2013 BANS THE “PROMOTN OF NONTRADNAL SEXUAL RELATNS TO MORS”; GAY PEOPLE ARE FORBIDN TO MARRY, BARRED OM ADOPTG CHILDREN OR G SURROGACY. THGS ARE GROWG WORSE, ACRDG TO SOVA CENTER, A GROUP MONORG HATE CRIM RSIA. THE NUMBER OF ATTACKS ON LGBTQ PEOPLE CREASED LAST YEAR.    “OH, MAYBE THIS IS SOMETHG I REALLY SHOULD NSIR”SHAYAN HAS BEEN PUBLISHG ARTICL RSIA’S BT MAGAZ AND EDG THOUGHTFUL POLIL BOOKS, CLUDG THE BTSELLER ALL THE KREML’S MEN. ANNA SHPAKOVA, A PHOTO CURATOR AND EDOR WHO WORKED WH SHAYAN ON SEVERAL PROJECTS MOSW, SAYS SHE UNRSTANDS WHY PEOPLE OPEN UP TO HIM. “KARèN CREAT A SECURE ENVIRONMENT FOR YOU, HE ACTUALLY DO RE WHOUT PRETENSE. I FELT FORTABLE AND SAFE WHEN HE WAS AROUND, WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE WORKG ENVIRONMENT,” SHPAKOVA TOLD THE DAILY BEAST. IN HIS TERVIEWS, SHAYAN MAK THE POT THAT G OUT WAS NEVER EASY EVEN FOR THE MOST OUTGOG AMERIN STARS. CYNTHIA NIXON SPOKE ABOUT HER TRANSGENR SON, EXPLAED WHAT GENR ISSU MEANT TO HER, AND HOW SHE HAD TO NSULT A PSYCHOLOGIST TO UNRSTAND HERSELF BETTER. NIXON IS VERY POPULAR RSIA; LNS SAW HER SEX THE CY, WHICH WAS BROADST ON A MUCH MORE TOLERANT MEDIA TWO S AGO.MOST RSIAN LGBTQ PEOPLE WHO OPPOSE THE IA OF G OUT TELL SHAYAN: “WHY SHOULD I E OUT OF MY FORT ZONE?” COHEN MAK THE POT AN TERVIEW FOR SHAYAN’S BLOG, THAT G OUT, ON A PERSONAL AND LLECTIVE SLE IS POLILLY POWERFUL—A PRCIPLE MOST FAMOLY VOICED BY LGBTQ RIGHTS IN HARVEY MILK. “TEN PERCENT OF RSIANS ARE LGBTQ, WHETHER THEY LIKE OR NOT; SO WHEN 1 PERCENT IS OUT, THE 9 PERCENT SAY, ‘WHAT DO MATTER? THIS IS SUCH A SMALL GROUP ANYWAY, HOW AM I HURTG ANYTHG?’ AND THEN THE MORE PEOPLE E OUT, THE MORE OF A VOICE THERE IS AND THE MORE CHANGE YOU N GET DONE, THE MORE OTHER PEOPLE, WHO AREN’T OUT YET, START TO THK, ‘OH, MAYBE THIS IS SOMETHG I REALLY SHOULD NSIR.’” DURG THE COVID-19 SHUTDOWN I TERVIEWED SHAYAN A URTYARD OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD. HE GRABBED ANY AVAILABLE BAR TO DO PULL UPS OR VERY IMPRSIVE LEG LIFTS. ATHLETIC SHAYAN, A MARATHON NNER, SUCCSFULLY BEAT THE RONAVIS AFTER HE WAS FECTED UPON HIS RETURN OM NEW YORK FEBARY. WHEN THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK H MOSW HARD, MORE THAN 150,000 PEOPLE BEME SICK WH THE VIS. SHAYAN BEME A BLOOD DONOR. “IRONILLY, RSIAN GAY PEOPLE ARE NOT BANNED OM DONATG BLOOD, UNLIKE SOME UNTRI, LIKE AMERI,” HE SAID. THIS IS AT LEAST ONE RIGHT LGBTQ RSIANS ARE NOT PRIVED OF, AND SHAYAN WAS ONE OF THE FIRST MOSW RINTS TO PUT TO E THE PANMIC. IT DO NOT SURPRISE HIS IENDS, WHO ALWAYS THOUGHT OF HIM AS OF A SUPERMAN.  ANNA NEMTSOVA
• PUT’S PRI? SIX FAMO GAY SONS OF RSIA
• TOP RSIAN TENNIS PLAYER DARIA KASATKA OUT AS GAY
• 'WE'RE NOT HIDG': GAY AND LBIAN RSIANS SAY A CULTURAL SHIFT IS UNRWAY
• TRANSLATG RSIA’S FIRST GAY CELEBRY A CHALLENGE, REARCHER SAYS

MAXIM RSIA'S LIST OF 'GAYS WE RPECT' PRAIS LGBT STARS WHO 'REMA REAL MEN'

NewsMaxim Rsia's list of 'gays we rpect' prais LGBT stars who 'rema real men'The Rsian versn of Maxim released a ntroversial list of gay celebri who n be "fiven" for their sexual Rsia's list of gay men who n be "fiven" is beg taken as a backhand pliment, at btNeil Patrick Harris, Freddie Mercury and Sir Ian McKellen are among the select group of male celebri Maxim Rsia chose to clu their recent list of 'Gays We Rpect.

' (Screenshot/)Rsian Lord of the Rgs fans who e Maxim magaze as a moral and ethil pass should be pleased to note that is now A-OK, by the publitn's standards, to rpect actor Ian McKellen as a "real man" and fellow human award-wng Brish thpian, known to lns as Gandalf the wizard or X-Men's Mago, tops Maxim Rsia's recently-released list of men the magaze has "fiven" for beg homosexual. There are gays who have earned our rpect and the right to rema real men our ey.

"Includg McKellen, a total of ten very famo men ma the cut:Brish edian Stephen FryIrish playwright and novelist Osr WilQueen ontman Freddie MercuryFrench actor Jean MaraisFamed mathematician Alan TurgFight Club thor Chuck Palahni​Judas Prit rocker Rob HalfordMonty Python's Graham ChapmanAmerin actor and TV host Neil Patrick Harris"We weren't sure about cludg Neil Patrick Harris the list — after all, he clared himself a 'happy gay' 2006, " reads a blurb unr Harris's the actor's How I Met Your Mother character, Barney Stson, as the reason for Harris's cln, the magaze wr that "'s impossible not to rpect someone who elevated the hunt for girls to a te art, who systematized all the tricks and techniqu and created the 'Bro Co.

KARèN SHAYAN WANTS TO INSPIRE LGBTQ RSIANS TO COME OUT—WH SOME CELEBRY HELPBRAVEON HIS POPULAR YOUTUBE TALK SHOW, KARèN SHAYAN TERVIEWS CELEBRI LIKE CYNTHIA NIXON AND BILLY PORTER. HE HOP THEIR EXPERIENC HELP SPIRE LGBTQ RSIANS TO E OUT.ANNA NEMTSOVAUPDATED MAY 23, 2020 10:02PM EDT / PUBLISHED MAY 23, 2020 5:12AM EDT ANNA NEMTSOVA/THE DAILY BEASTMOSCOW—THERE ARE MANY BRAVE EE-THKERS RSIA BUT ONLY ONE STRAIGHT TALK WH GAY PEOPLE, A THOUGHTFUL YOUTUBE TALK SHOW BY KARèN SHAYAN, A MOSW-BASED EDOR AND WRER. TO ENURAGE RSIAN CELEBRI TO E OUT, SHAYAN PUBLISH TERVIEWS WH THE WORLD’S LEADG LGBTQ ARTISTS, PHILOSOPHERS, ACTORS, WRERS, AND SCIENTISTS, A SERI OF STRAIGHTFORWARD NVERSATNS. HE IS A BROAD-CHTED MAN WH BIG, TELLIGENT EY AND A SCERE SE. IT IS EASY TO OPEN UP TO SHAYAN—HIS TERVIEWE REVEAL THEIR MOST TRMATIZG, CHALLENGG STORI OF CLASH WH HOMOPHOB, AND SHARE PERSONAL WAYS OF VELOPG STRONG VOIC THEIR PROFSNAL FIELDS. SHAYAN, WHO IS 39, HAS NEVER KEPT HIS HOMOSEXUALY A SECRET, WHICH IS UNUAL FOR A PUBLIC PERSON RSIA. HIS CIRCLE OF IENDS, LLEAGU, AND MOSW TELLECTUALS EMBRACE HIS TALENTS AND IENDSHIP. BUT BACK HIS SIBERIAN HOMETOWN OF IRKUTSK, SHAYAN EXPERIENCED HUIATN—AND FEAR IS NO STRANGER TO HIM.  “RSIAN GAY PEOPLE, GAY CELEBRI, ARE VISIBLE. NOBODY KNOWS HOW THEY LIVE, WHAT THEY CREATE, WHAT THEY ACHIEVE AS PROFSNALS, AND HOW SUCCSFUL THEY ARE ” IN SPE OF THE HORRIFIC PERSECUTNS AND VLENT ATTACKS ON LGBTQ PEOPLE RSIA, SHAYAN IS A STRONG BELIEVER THAT THERE IS HOPE TO LIBERATE PEOPLE OM FEAR THROUGH TN. “IGNORANCE AND DIFFERENCE ARE THE KEY REASONS BEHD THE WORST HOMOPHOBIA,” HE TOLD THE DAILY BEAST ON A RECENT AFTERNOON. “RSIAN GAY PEOPLE, GAY CELEBRI, ARE VISIBLE. NOBODY KNOWS HOW THEY LIVE, WHAT THEY CREATE, WHAT THEY ACHIEVE AS PROFSNALS, AND HOW SUCCSFUL THEY ARE THEIR OWN UNTRY.”SHAYAN SAYS THAT FEAR OF LOSG PRTIGE, MONEY OR ACCS TO A BIG DIENCE WERE THE REASON NO MASTREAM CELEBRI ADVOTED FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE ANTI-GAY PURG CHECHNYA FOR STANCE, WHEN A NUMBER OF PEOPLE WERE MURRED AND TAED, AND MANY TORTURED. ANNA NEMTSOVA/THE DAILY BEAST “TO RSIAN CELEBRI G OUT MEANS A POLIL MSAGE, A MAND FOR HAVG CERTA RIGHTS,” SHAYAN TOLD THE DAILY BEAST. “BUT A PUBLIC G-OUT WOULD MEAN AN IMMEDIATE HUGE LOSS OF ACCS TO THE NCERT HALLS.”TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND HELP TO OPEN MDS, SHAYAN TRAVELED TO THE UNED STAT TO SPEAK TO FIGUR CLUDG STARS LIKE CYNTHIA NIXON AND BILLY PORTER, THOR GARRARD CONLEY, PRODUCER BCE COHEN AND GION LCHFIELD, EDOR--CHIEF OF MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW.MORE THAN ONE LN PEOPLE HAVE VIEWED HIS BLOG ON YOUTUBE LS THAN THREE MONTHS. “THE IA OF THE PROJECT IS TO ATTRACT THE ATTENTN OF A BROAR DIENCE AND EXPOSE ALL THE EXISTG MYTHS AROUND LGBTQ PEOPLE,” SHAYAN TOLD THE DAILY BEAST ON A RECENT AFTERNOON.“SCE AS SOON AS PEOPLE HEAR THE WORD ‘GAY’ THE RSIAN MEDIA AGENDA, ALWAYS OM TWO POL—EHER OM HOMOPHOB AND STATE PROPAGANDA LLG TO BRG THE SOVIET CRIMAL LAW BACK TO THE LEGISLATN OR OM LGBT ACTIVISTS, WHO E THE WORD THE NTEXT OF THEIR FIGHT, VLATED RIGHTS OR CLASH WH POLICE. THE ARE TWO RADIL NTEXTS, WHILE REALY, SEVERAL LN RSIAN LGBTQ PEOPLE ARE MUTED, THEY ARE NOT REPRENTED THE PUBLIC SPACE.”SOME HAVE CRICIZED HIM FOR ONLY TERVIEWG SUCCSFUL LGBTQ PEOPLE, BUT SHAYAN SAID HE WAS NOT TRYG TO “REHABILATE” THE IMAGE OF LGBTQ PEOPLE FOCG ON FAMO PEOPLE. “THAT WOULD BE A VERY SOVIET APPROACH.”SHAYAN IS SGLE, AND A GAY PARENT OF TWO BOYS, AGED 9 AND ONE-AND-A-HALF, NCEIVED WH LBIAN MOTHERS. HIS OLR SON LIV WH HIS MOTHER KYIV. BEFORE COVID-19 SHUT DOWN THE UNTRY, HE TRAVELED TO SEE HIM ONCE A MONTH, AND ALSO BROUGHT HIM TO MOSW FOR SCHOOL BREAKS. WHEN HE STARTED HIS BLOG EARLIER THIS YEAR THE MOTHER OF HIS OLR SON ASKED SHAYAN IF WAS SAFE FOR THEIR SON TO E TO MOSW. SHE WAS NOT NCERNED ABOUT VLENCE OF HOMOPHOB SO MUCH AS STATE AGENCI TAKG THEIR SON AWAY. “EVERYBODY IS SRED OF THE RSIAN JUVENILE JTICE SYSTEM,” SAID SHAYAN. “THEY E THE BIGGT FEAR FOR THE ENTIRE RSIAN LGBTQ MUNY. NONE OF THOSE WH CHILDREN N DARE TO BE POLILLY ACTIVE, THEY ARE MOST VULNERABLE,” HE TOLD THE DAILY BEAST.LAST YEAR, RSIA’S INVTIGATIVE COMMTEE STARTED A LAWSU NCERNG TWO GAY MEN, ANDREY EROVFEYEV AND ANDREY VAGANOV, AND THEIR TWO ADOPTED CHILDREN. THE FAY HAD TO PE PERSECUTN BY FLEEG TO THE UNED STAT. “BUT SPE OF THE PRSURE, THOANDS OF GAY PEOPLE NTUE TO RAISE CHILDREN RSIA,” SAID SHAYAN. “I RECEIVE THANK YOU NOT OM LBIAN AND GAY UPL, WHO HAVE LTLE CHILDREN.”  A SON OF SCIENTISTS AND A BCHEMIST BY TN, SHAYAN HAS ALWAYS BEEN TERTED THE IA OF TN AS A KEY TO EEDOM. MISRMATN AND THE DISTORTN OF HISTORY RSIAN PROPAGANDA ANNOY HIM. “UNFORTUNATELY, RSIANS DO NOT KNOW THEIR OWN HISTORY:  HOMOPHOBIA IS ONLY 300 YEARS OLD. BEFORE PETER THE GREAT BEGAN TO EXECUTE HOMOSEXUALS THE ARMY, PYG GERMAN PUNISHMENT L, GAY PEOPLE ENJOYED RIGHTS RSIA,” SHAYAN SAID.BEFORE THE COVID-19 SHUTDOWN, MOSW’S LGBTQ POPULATN ENJOYED BARS, CLUBS AND DATG WEBS, NOT MUCH DIFFERENT OM WHAT LGBTQ PEOPLE HAVE THE WT, EXCEPT THAT HERE THE CULTURE EXISTS UNRGROUND. THEN TERNATNAL FLIGHTS WERE NCELLED, AND LGBTQ PEOPLE WERE WORRIED ABOUT BEG ABLE TO PE THE UNTRY IF A NEW MPAIGN OF PERSECUTN BEGAN.IN THE MIDST OF THE RONAVIS PANMIC, LEVADA CENTER, AN PENNT POLLG AGENCY, PUBLISHED NEW HORRIFYG POLLS: 18 PERCENT OF RSIANS WANTED TO SEE LGBT PEOPLE “LIQUIDATED.” SHAYAN ADMTED THAT FOR A FEW SENDS HE FELT “ANIMAL FEAR” UPON SEEG THE FIGUR. SHAYAN TERVIEWED LEVADA’S SOCLOGISTS ABOUT THEIR STUDY. IT TURNED OUT THAT SCE 1989 THE SOCLOGIL CENTER HAS BEEN ASKG THE SAME QUTNS ABOUT PEDOPHIL, MURRERS, AND DG ADDICTS (AS IF GROUPG LGBTQ PEOPLE ALONGSI THE GROUPS MAKE ANY KD OF SENSE). BY “LIQUIDATG,” THE SOCLOGISTS TOLD SHAYAN, SOME PEOPLE ALSO MEANT SOCIAL ISOLATN. “IF WE APPLY THE UAL STATISTICS, THERE MIGHT BE UP TO 10 LN LBIANS, GAY, TRANSGENR, QUEER OR BISEXUAL PEOPLE OUR UNTRY” RSIA’S FAMO LGBTQ PEOPLE KNOW EACH OTHER OR OF EACH OTHER, BUT PREFER TO NEVER SPEAK PUBLICLY ABOUT THE HORRIFYG S OF HOMOPHOBIA. RSIA DO NOT KNOW EXACTLY HOW MANY LGBT PEOPLE HAS, SHAYAN SAID, “BUT IF WE APPLY THE UAL STATISTICS, THERE MIGHT BE UP TO 10 LN LBIANS, GAY, TRANSGENR, QUEER OR BISEXUAL PEOPLE OUR UNTRY.” THE FAMO ANTI-LGBTQ “PROPAGANDA” LAW OF 2013 BANS THE “PROMOTN OF NONTRADNAL SEXUAL RELATNS TO MORS”; GAY PEOPLE ARE FORBIDN TO MARRY, BARRED OM ADOPTG CHILDREN OR G SURROGACY. THGS ARE GROWG WORSE, ACRDG TO SOVA CENTER, A GROUP MONORG HATE CRIM RSIA. THE NUMBER OF ATTACKS ON LGBTQ PEOPLE CREASED LAST YEAR.    “OH, MAYBE THIS IS SOMETHG I REALLY SHOULD NSIR”SHAYAN HAS BEEN PUBLISHG ARTICL RSIA’S BT MAGAZ AND EDG THOUGHTFUL POLIL BOOKS, CLUDG THE BTSELLER ALL THE KREML’S MEN. ANNA SHPAKOVA, A PHOTO CURATOR AND EDOR WHO WORKED WH SHAYAN ON SEVERAL PROJECTS MOSW, SAYS SHE UNRSTANDS WHY PEOPLE OPEN UP TO HIM. “KARèN CREAT A SECURE ENVIRONMENT FOR YOU, HE ACTUALLY DO RE WHOUT PRETENSE. I FELT FORTABLE AND SAFE WHEN HE WAS AROUND, WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE WORKG ENVIRONMENT,” SHPAKOVA TOLD THE DAILY BEAST. IN HIS TERVIEWS, SHAYAN MAK THE POT THAT G OUT WAS NEVER EASY EVEN FOR THE MOST OUTGOG AMERIN STARS. CYNTHIA NIXON SPOKE ABOUT HER TRANSGENR SON, EXPLAED WHAT GENR ISSU MEANT TO HER, AND HOW SHE HAD TO NSULT A PSYCHOLOGIST TO UNRSTAND HERSELF BETTER. NIXON IS VERY POPULAR RSIA; LNS SAW HER SEX THE CY, WHICH WAS BROADST ON A MUCH MORE TOLERANT MEDIA TWO S AGO.MOST RSIAN LGBTQ PEOPLE WHO OPPOSE THE IA OF G OUT TELL SHAYAN: “WHY SHOULD I E OUT OF MY FORT ZONE?” COHEN MAK THE POT AN TERVIEW FOR SHAYAN’S BLOG, THAT G OUT, ON A PERSONAL AND LLECTIVE SLE IS POLILLY POWERFUL—A PRCIPLE MOST FAMOLY VOICED BY LGBTQ RIGHTS IN HARVEY MILK. “TEN PERCENT OF RSIANS ARE LGBTQ, WHETHER THEY LIKE OR NOT; SO WHEN 1 PERCENT IS OUT, THE 9 PERCENT SAY, ‘WHAT DO MATTER? THIS IS SUCH A SMALL GROUP ANYWAY, HOW AM I HURTG ANYTHG?’ AND THEN THE MORE PEOPLE E OUT, THE MORE OF A VOICE THERE IS AND THE MORE CHANGE YOU N GET DONE, THE MORE OTHER PEOPLE, WHO AREN’T OUT YET, START TO THK, ‘OH, MAYBE THIS IS SOMETHG I REALLY SHOULD NSIR.’” DURG THE COVID-19 SHUTDOWN I TERVIEWED SHAYAN A URTYARD OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD. HE GRABBED ANY AVAILABLE BAR TO DO PULL UPS OR VERY IMPRSIVE LEG LIFTS. ATHLETIC SHAYAN, A MARATHON NNER, SUCCSFULLY BEAT THE RONAVIS AFTER HE WAS FECTED UPON HIS RETURN OM NEW YORK FEBARY. WHEN THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK H MOSW HARD, MORE THAN 150,000 PEOPLE BEME SICK WH THE VIS. SHAYAN BEME A BLOOD DONOR. “IRONILLY, RSIAN GAY PEOPLE ARE NOT BANNED OM DONATG BLOOD, UNLIKE SOME UNTRI, LIKE AMERI,” HE SAID. THIS IS AT LEAST ONE RIGHT LGBTQ RSIANS ARE NOT PRIVED OF, AND SHAYAN WAS ONE OF THE FIRST MOSW RINTS TO PUT TO E THE PANMIC. IT DO NOT SURPRISE HIS IENDS, WHO ALWAYS THOUGHT OF HIM AS OF A SUPERMAN.  ANNA NEMTSOVA

"Halford was siarly held up as proof that "if you're ol enough, don't matter what your orientatn is, " while Fry was emed "the livg embodiment of the ia that one n be openly gay and a sensible person at the same time. "His creativy brought so much joy, that we are willg to five him anythg"Rsia and gay rightsHomosexualy was legalized Rsia more than two s ago, but is timated that jt 1% of the untry's LGBT populatn liv openly due to the discrimatn and sometim vlence gay people passg of an "anti-gay" propaganda law ahead of 2014's Sochi Olympics brought the issue to a head on the world stage, spurrg ternatnal protts and triggerg even more asslts on gay men and women wh Rsia (asslts that don't unt as hate crim unr Rsian law.

Wh the untry's LGBT muny facg so much hostily, Maxim Rsia's list of "Gays We Approve" stck many onle as a parody? An olive branch offered to gay Rsians?

PUT’S PRI? SIX FAMO GAY SONS OF RSIA

Rsian Maxim published a list of 'fiven' gay celebri <a href="></a> &gt; Fivens for what?

&mdash;@LisaCVeInspired by Maxim Rsia's list of gay people they five, I have started a list of all the heteros I five. MOSCOW—There are many brave ee-thkers Rsia but only one Straight Talk wh Gay People, a thoughtful YouTube talk show by Karèn Shayan, a Mosw-based edor and wrer.

TOP RSIAN TENNIS PLAYER DARIA KASATKA OUT AS GAY

It is easy to open up to Shayan—his terviewe reveal their most trmatizg, challengg stori of clash wh homophob, and share personal ways of velopg strong voic their profsnal fields.

Shayan, who is 39, has never kept his homosexualy a secret, which is unual for a public person Rsia. “Rsian gay people, gay celebri, are visible.

“Ignorance and difference are the key reasons behd the worst homophobia, ” he told The Daily Beast on a recent afternoon.

'WE'RE NOT HIDG': GAY AND LBIAN RSIANS SAY A CULTURAL SHIFT IS UNRWAY

”Shayan says that fear of losg prtige, money or accs to a big dience were the reason no mastream celebri advoted for the victims of the anti-gay purg Chechnya for stance, when a number of people were murred and taed, and many tortured.

“Sce as soon as people hear the word ‘gay’ the Rsian media agenda, always om two pol—eher om homophob and state propaganda llg to brg the Soviet crimal law back to the legislatn or om LGBT activists, who e the word the ntext of their fight, vlated rights or clash wh police.

TRANSLATG RSIA’S FIRST GAY CELEBRY A CHALLENGE, REARCHER SAYS

”Shayan is sgle, and a gay parent of two boys, aged 9 and one-and-a-half, nceived wh lbian mothers. She was not ncerned about vlence of homophob so much as state agenci takg their son away. None of those wh children n dare to be polilly active, they are most vulnerable, ” he told The Daily year, Rsia’s Invtigative Commtee started a lawsu ncerng two gay men, Andrey Erovfeyev and Andrey Vaganov, and their two adopted children.

“But spe of the prsure, thoands of gay people ntue to raise children Rsia, ” said Shayan. “I receive thank you not om lbian and gay upl, who have ltle children.