Recent laws and polls reveal an uptick anti-gay sentiment, but paradoxilly, Rsians like their mic acts as mpy and flamboyant as possible.
Contents:
- EUROVISN'S SERGEY LAZAREV: GAY LIFE EXISTS RSIA
- IN RSIAN POP CULTURE, IT'S 50 SHAS OF GAY
- RSIAN GAY MICIANS — WHERE ARE THEY?
EUROVISN'S SERGEY LAZAREV: GAY LIFE EXISTS RSIA
* sergey zverev gay *
Image source, Getty ImagDpe his untry's ntroversial laws, Rsia's Eurovisn entrant says the LGBT muny will be weled to his untry if he ws the rights mpaigners have often cricised 2013 legislatn which means heavy f are hand out for people providg rmatn about homosexualy to unr Lazarev is the favoure to w, which means Rsia would host next year if that happens. "Gay life exists Rsia, " he tells source, Getty Imag"There is more talk and mours about problems than exist. "The law also allows Rsian thori to block accs to webs emed to promote Eurovisn Song Contt has a large LGBT followg around the 2014, a Rsian polician lled the Eurovisn Song Contt "a Europe-wi gay para" source, Getty ImagRecently, the Israeli entrant to Eurovisn, who's openly gay, cricised his treatment Rsia after an cint at Mosw Star says he had his passport ripped up ont of him when he entered the untry to perform.
"I had two performanc Mosw's gay clubs and the crowds were huge.
Recent laws and polls reveal an uptick anti-gay sentiment, but paradoxilly, Rsians like their mic acts as mpy and flamboyant as possible.
IN RSIAN POP CULTURE, IT'S 50 SHAS OF GAY
Gay-rights opponents say Elton John will brg a "hotbed of sodomy" to Rsia and are urgg a boytt of his December ncerts. So why do Rsians fd their own pop stars so normal? * sergey zverev gay *
Moiseev is an stutn and a hoehold favore, even though he's openly homosexual and most of his performanc are flamboyant even by the standards of a pri this Rsia, where only 16 percent of people say homosexuals should be accepted by society and where a new law aims to prevent publicly advotg "alternative" sexuali. Meanwhile, Philip Kirkorov, a staple of seemgly every Rsian "all star" pilatn and ncert, is not openly gay but he nohels generat much speculatn wh his amply applied, glamoro makp and diva personaly. After endg a brief marriage to an agg megastar named Alla Pugacheva, Rsia's answer to Barbra Streisand, two years ago he had a baby wh the help of an Amerin 's him sgg a dance remix of the Jewish song Hava Nagila, wrapped a fur shg and wh what appears to be the pelt of an entire yak on his head:Rsia has never been pecially tolerant, but has lately taken a turn toward outright ostracism of gays and bisexuals.
Holdg gay pri events, speakg fense of gay rights, or equatg gay and heterosexual relatnships n now rult f of up to $31, whereas flamboyant artists might be margalized other, siarly nservative natns, Rsians heartily embrace performers that embody anythg other than the untry's avowed heteronormative ials. From Sergey Zverev, who sgs cked out long blond trs and blh, to Zemfira, a fierce tomboy mored to be havg an affair wh an actrs, many of the untry's most renowned micians are (or appear to be) gay, bisexual, or few are formally out, their genr-bendg mannerisms, as well as gossip about their te sexual inti, only seem to fuel their populary.
Popular variety shows feature men (and women) who act out zany, satiril sketch, often wh the help of puppets, mimg, dancg, and the ocsnal e of drag for edic historic appreciatn of the typ of lorful displays, bed wh Rsians' love of ballet and opera, means effemate or even drag performanc aren't generally associated wh homosexualy, explaed Boris Draly, a lecturer Rsian lerature at the edy act, "Two New Rsian Grandmas, " two straight men don kerchiefs and drs and mock dowdy babhkas night after night:Stephen Ami, a profsor of mic and media studi at the Universy of Amsterdam who is wrg a book about homosexualy and Rsian pop, said Rsians smaller ci have told him that they like the pizazz of genr-bendg acts, which seem to brighten an otherwise dreary provcial existence. The law says you n't promote gay rights, but you sure as heck n rock out to a fatigable drag fact, the mystique of the non-straight persona n be such a boon that the past even heterosexual sgers have acted gay orr to generate album duo Tatu attaed relative ternatnal fame the early 2000s after their manager strategilly marketed them as lbians. And the illn means that Rsians don't have to worry about rencilg their appreciatn for the performers wh the culture's homophobia bee there is no ntradictn for them, so long as LGBT performers keep their orientatn to themselv.
RSIAN GAY MICIANS — WHERE ARE THEY?
For me, this journey began 20 years ago, when a iend of me shared he was gay. Very few people at that time felt ee to discs their sexual orientatn; many stggled to e out or had no one around to e out to. * sergey zverev gay *
"Partan pots out that mors about sgers' sexuali rema jt that -- "Nobody is openly sayg, 'well, you know, this is who I am, I'm gay. "Moiseev [the openly gay performer] is the master of this. He gave an terview the Rsian versn of Rollg Stone, where he said, sentially, 'gay, shmay, this is all bullsh.