Elska Sh Its Queer Light on Atlanta, the Gay Black Capal of Ameri | Hor, the Queer Social Network

Contents:

• FAR FROM RSIA'S BIGGT CI, BEG GAY MEANS BEG ALWAYS UNR THREAT
• GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI
• ELSKA SH ITS QUEER LIGHT ON ATLANTA, THE GAY BLACK CAPAL OF AMERI
• TEMA: MARTA GAY - GAZETA SHQIPTARE
• GAY MOSW · CY GUI

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

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.

If people spect you're gay, he said, n be dangero. 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. 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.

GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

"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.

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. "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.

ELSKA SH ITS QUEER LIGHT ON ATLANTA, THE GAY BLACK CAPAL OF AMERI

"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.

Homosexualy is legal, although a vaguely-word 2013 law prohibs the promotn of ‘non-tradnal’ relatnships.

TEMA: MARTA GAY - GAZETA SHQIPTARE

As such, gay travellers are advised agast overt displays of their sexualy. That said, the vast majory of viss rema trouble-ee, even for visors who equent the cy’s ls-than-secret gay bar and club bt hotels MoswThe historic exterr of the Hotel Metropol, facg the ternatnally-celebrated Bolshoi Theatre and close to many of the other ma thgs to do Mosw, is nothg pared to s sumptuo terrs. The rpeted terrs give this stay a homely ambience, which marri well wh breakfast – which is served your CrewiRemend hotels Gay Mosw - Mosw.

Elska magaze, my publitn dited to sharg the bodi and voic of gay muni around the world, has put the spotlight on Atlanta for s latt issue. Elska Atlanta has taken advantage of the cy’s raised profile to she s own queer light on a cy that is often lled the Gay Black Capal of Ameri.

GAY MOSW · CY GUI

I regnise that many people see Elska as a project about promotg diversy, and I wanted to fd a place where Black gay bodi and voic uld be a majory, not a mory. For example, there’s Jimmy E’s tale of gettg a b steamy the steam rooms of a lol Korean-style spa; Ronald R’s emotnal story of takg the difficult cisn to end a relatnship that was plagued by dg abe; Blae P’s mentary on beg Black, gay, and Christian the Deep South; Jab L’s realisatn that sometim what seems like a meangls one-night stand n actually be somethg signifint; and Eric M’s piece on how no matter how much he tri to do his part to help his muny, jt never feels like enough. In his closed-door posn last month, Ziegler told lawmakers that he is gay, and phed back agast the notn om some right-wg figur that his sexual orientatn fluenc his polics or his job.

“People have said, bee I’m gay and that I am workg as the se agent on this vtigatn, that I mt be a far-left liberal, perfectly placed to f some agenda. Atlanta has bee known as a travel statn for many black gay Amerins, who feel is one of the few plac the south where they n feel safe and for those who actually ll home, Atlanta n be difficult to navigate. Racism, sexism and homophobia are rife.

Beg black and gay also means beg more exposed than most to the threat of HIV: 67% of all diagnos Fulton unty, which clus most of downtown Atlanta, are gay and bisexual men. Once the rnerstone of the black muny, has perpetuated toxic attus about gay people, he says, which is particularly trimental to the self-teem of the many black gay people who look to the church for spirual – who 2015 was appoted to the Printial Advisory Council on HIV/Aids – says ABPW provis a different space for healg. “I thk beg Jamain I have a different kd of sense of fear around homophobia, bee I know what that n look like, ” Anthony two plan to get married and have children, but want to leave the south to do so.