A couple of further comments on this article:
Gay Russia Today Coming out of the woods. By Camilla Roubleva
The words "homosexual," "gay" and "lesbian" generally only appear in the Russian media as part of vituperative rants.
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Me: Since my roommate forced me to watch a documentary on transexuals on Russian TV the other day, and since Elena Khanga seems to have homosexuals on her talk show every night, I would have to say that this is wrong.
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The constant barrage of homophobia, along with a precarious legal status largely maintained to mollify the European Union,
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Me: ??? Evidence? BTW it is sometimes alleged that Gaidar is gay.
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Some of these projects were sustained by Western European funds, particularly those promoting a Western model of politicizing sexual identity.
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Me: Uh oh. Identity politics. Run away!
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Failure of these early projects have been blamed on everything from inexperience to the subsequent funding drought, a focus on Western organizing models, an apathetic community, even corruption.
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Me: I think it probably has more to do with it being the early 90s -- people were trying to survive.
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Aside from television appearances by the ersatz lesbian duo T.a.t.u., the only public acknowledgement of gay life found outside Russia's largest cities is buried in AIDS/HIV awareness materials.
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Me: Also aside from television appearances by the very lesbian Butch, Eva Polna from Gosti iz Budushchego, Boris Moiseyev in his eyeliner... I don't think the author watches much Russian television.
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She has also collected Russian newspaper clippings about homosexuals, and piles of gay men's magazines that appeared and disappeared in the early and mid-1990's. The library, near the Rechnoi Vokzal metro stop, is open to the community on Thursdays.
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Me: Really? That's my ex-girlfriend's metro station. I'll ask her about this.
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In an interview with The Gully, however, Vdova, the editor of the lesbian site Lesbiru.com, has said Russian queers "would be glad if the Russian legislature passed positive laws regarding homosexuality or legalized same-sex marriages, but they want these changes to fall from the sky without them lifting a finger."
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Me: "Vdova" means "widow." Strange name.
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Now, there are about 20 openly gay venues in the country, including Sinners, 69, and Jungle in St. Petersburg, and Three Monkeys, 12 Volts, Base, and Body and Soul in Moscow. Lesbians go to some of them. Many are also frequented by "progressive" straight youth.
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Me: Three Monkeys is mostly lesbian. A friend of mine used to pick up girls there. I have never heard of the others. The big Moscow gay club is Chameleon.
--- TV news coverage equated queers with terrorists.
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Me: This is an utter load of crap.
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