LGBTQ culture in Russia

Although life in modern Russia allows many more liberties for gay men and lesbians than it did before the fall of communism, unofficial discrimination and fear are still rampant.

[1] With more quickly growing acceptance, major cities like Moscow and St Petersburg now have LGBTQ clubs and venues.

The first laws against homosexuals in Russia came about in the 18th century, under the reign of Peter the Great, but only in military statutes for soldiers.

The Bolsheviks rewrote the constitution and "produced two Criminal Codes – in 1922 and 1926 – and an article prohibiting homosexual sex was left off both.

Discrimination against LGBT individuals persisted in the Soviet era, and homosexuality was not officially declassified as a mental illness until 1999.

My relation to gay parades and sexual minorities in general is simple – it is connected with my official duties and the fact that one of the country’s main problems is demographic.

"[8][9] In 2013, Putin signed the so-called "Gay propaganda law", after it had been passed in the State Duma by an overwhelming majority.

[11][12][13] Several documentaries about gay life in Russia surfaced in the 1990s after the fall of the USSR including Kiev Blue, To My Women Friends, and Moscow Fags.

[15] Some focuses of the documentary include the Nordic festival, the Russian gay cultural contest, Merlin Holland’s lecture on his grandfather Oscar Wilde and the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) Conference .

Vlad Ortanov, former editor of Argo, one of the oldest gay magazines in Russia, described the documentary as “a great human historical document that will say a lot to the future generations”.