Livg Rsia as a Gay Man

Contents:

• GAY, RSIA
• FAR FROM RSIA'S BIGGT CI, BEG GAY MEANS BEG ALWAYS UNR THREAT
• ‘BORN GAY THE SOVIET UNN, LIVG GAY RSIA’ MZA SS DOWN WH THE ANONYMO ARTIST BEHD THE QUEER ART PROJECT ‘PASHA’
• 'ANY DAY YOU N BE TAKEN': INSI WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY CHECHNYA
• HOW TO SAY GAY RSIAN
• THE FEAR OF BEG GAY RSIA
• PUT’S PRI? SIX FAMO GAY SONS OF RSIA
• INSI THE IRON CLOSET: WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE GAY PUT'S RSIA

GAY, RSIA

Petersburg, has also distguished self as most tolerant of the LGBT muny, acrdg to the rults of a recent banned “homosexual propaganda” among mors 2013, leadg the urts to ban gay pri events and public pollg show surgg anti-LGBT sentiment. In recent weeks, thori the North Cs republic of Chechnya have aga been acced of illegally tag and killg gay men and Petersburg me first place among 20 Rsian ci whose rints are the most gay-iendly, acrdg to the Zoom Market agency’s rearch published Saturday. Novosibirsk and Mosw placed send and third, followed by Voronezh, Krasnodar and the oppose end of the rankg, the marketg agency named Saratov, Chelyabsk and Kazan as the three least tolerant Rsian ci toward LGBT Market surveyed 2, 400 rponnts om 20 Rsian ci on how they feel about sexual mori and whether any of their iends are gay.

Gay, RsiaInx of articl associated wh the same name / From Wikipedia, the ee encyclopedia Gay (Rsian: Гай) is the name of several habed loli Rsia. TOLYATTI, Rsia — The last two years have been btal for Konstant Golava, a 22-year-old environmental activist and the only publicly out gay person this grty dtrial cy known for r factori, chemil plants, and nothg early 2012, as soon as Golava started dissematg news ems related to LGBT issu through his social media acunts, mors about his sexual orientatn began to spread. Life Tolyatti is stiflg and reprsive, said Vyachlav, another gay man who, like Golava, grew up here.

Bee he would often return home late after beg at a gay club or gatherg, his parents worried that his nocturnal schle meant he was alg dgs. In early December, the new feral law was ced fg Rsian LGBT activists Nikolai Alekseyev and Yaroslav Yevthenko 4, 000 bl (about $120) each for holdg a banner readg "Gay propaganda don't exist. People don't bee gay, people are born gay" near a library the far northern cy of Arkhangelsk.

FAR FROM RSIA'S BIGGT CI, BEG GAY MEANS BEG ALWAYS UNR THREAT

Beyond the legal mefield, however, the anti-gay mpaign appears to have provid sanctn for unfettered exprsns of anger and hatred toward the LGBT muny, whout fear of nsequenc.

There are equent reports om around the untry about people beg fired for their sexual orientatn, beg beaten up by anti-gay gangs, or otherwise sufferg mistreatment and discrimatn.

‘BORN GAY THE SOVIET UNN, LIVG GAY RSIA’ MZA SS DOWN WH THE ANONYMO ARTIST BEHD THE QUEER ART PROJECT ‘PASHA’

"She started wh that phrase all homophob e, 'I am of urse a very tolerant person myself, but...

Golava has received moral and legal support om gays and lbians nearby Samara, a historic Volga River port and the regnal pal that unts more than 1 ln rints. A key ally has been Mikhail Tumasov, a longtime Samara rint who two years ago anized an advocy group to ph back agast the anti-gay momentum.

'ANY DAY YOU N BE TAKEN': INSI WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY CHECHNYA

In 2011, the magaze Spletnik, which translat as "The Gossip, " cg such cints as a recent effort by a lol right-wg party to strip LGBT people of work rights, clared that "the Samara regn is among the most homophobic the untry. He cid he need to speak out, and sought support om other Samara gays and lbians through VKontakte, a Rsian social work. 1, World AIDS Day; public gathergs durg an annual "week agast homophobia, " which LGBT groups across the untry have anized each sprg for several years; and surveys of people public venu that have revealed an crease negative attus toward LGBT people as the regnal and feral ernment mpaigns have progrsed.

At the end of December, Avers released an open letter offerg profe thanks to three anti-gay public figur: a polician and two journalists.

HOW TO SAY GAY RSIAN

"No one livg Samara even knew what gays and lbians were, and only thanks to the fight for moraly…the Samara regn has learned that there are fact gays, and lbians, and bisexuals, and even transgenr people here. "I read an article that said each gay person eats 300 kilos of sh a year, " he said.

But if the polics keeps gettg more and more homophobic an effort to stroy the LGBT muny, we'll be forced to leave.

A notable exceptn me 2013, when the ernor of St Petersburg did not forbid the cy’s LGBT pri para, although did enunter vlently homophobic protters who tried to obstct the metrics of hatredIn fact, the vlent far-right groups keep close tabs on LGBT activists Rsia and the events they hold – or try to. While the ernment fights some homophobic mpaigners and cers of hatred, supports others.

THE FEAR OF BEG GAY RSIA

As we disvered om urt cisns last year, after the “propaganda” bill was signed to law, the number of hate crim agast lbians and gay men doubled. After facts me to light about the systematic torture of gay men at secret tentn mps Chechnya, the republic’s prs secretary immediately retorted that “you nnot reprs those who are not and nnot be here the Chechen Republic. For example, the mayor of Svetogorsk Lengrad Regn clared his cy “ee om gays.

For example, the murr of gay teen Matthew Sheppard was one of the most publicised hate crim the US history. Statistilly, a gay person is safer St Petersburg than a smaller cy like NizhnevartovskVery often, hate crim are mted as soon as perpetrators learn about the victim’s sexualy, which is ually revealed a nversatn a private space over a drk or meal. Statistilly, a gay person is safer St Petersburg than a smaller cy like Nizhnevartovsk.

PUT’S PRI? SIX FAMO GAY SONS OF RSIA

This uld expla why the mayor of Svetlogorsk thks there are no gay men his town – anybody wh half a md that posn would leave the place as soon as they felt threatened. Image urty of the rults aren’t surprisg; they jt prove once aga that homophobia is on the rise Rsia and that hate crim are supported s remote regns.

So this secrecy around the existence of homosexuals is rerced not only by polil cisns, but also by dividual mov as many LGBT people opt to hi their sexualy. ” And his works range om llag of Soviet policians and Disney characters alongsi homophobic slurs, to anonymized self-portras, and a batn “LGBT USSR” flag.

INSI THE IRON CLOSET: WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE GAY PUT'S RSIA

“To talk about topics of bullyg, homophobia, self-acceptance, as well as about [beg] forced to wear masks and hi your real self, ” he says.

The childhood imag are displayed alongsi anti-gay sults; words and phras the artists “heard om his peers” back the days when he ed to watch Disney rtoons on TV. “The rtoons really helped me to pe wh external aggrsn and were a form of pism, ” he art project also clus three seri of portra photographs spired by homophobic name-llg and not passed school, tled “Pedik” (“Fag”), “Baba” (“Sissy”), and “Goluboy!