Russian Laws Keep Gay Life Behind Closed Doors

July 16, 2012

Saint Petersburg has long been seen as Russia’s most liberal city. But now it may be leading a national movement to ban public displays of gay life across Russia.

When gay rights activists recently released a rainbow of balloons from a Saint Petersburg park, the predictable happened. City police herded activists into a waiting bus. Then, black-shirted nationalists attacked the bus.

In March, Saint Petersburg, Europe’s fourth largest city, banned any public display of “gay propaganda.” Now, Russian legislators are debating adopting a nationwide ban. The goal is to keep gay life behind closed doors, out of the sight of children.

A gay pride march last month in Berlin shows Russia is a target of the international gay rights movement. As 700,000 Berliners watched or paraded, a cannon shot a rainbow of colored confetti at Russia’s embassy.

But 1,300 kilometers to the east, here in Saint Petersburg, no one is laughing.

Artem makes a specialty of tracking down gay rallies and breaking them up.

To him, gay parades and posters, gay-themed talk shows and art shows all add up to undermining traditional Russian society with the gay lifestyle.

He says that Russia will never permit open displays of what he calls “filth.”

Once Artem is out of sight, Olga and Irina step from behind the bushes to talk. Olga says that she and her partner of seven years are not recruiting converts. They are simply looking for tolerance, equal rights and the ability to get married.