LGBT Rights Activism and Homophobia in Russia

This article explores how lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender/transsexual (LGBT) people’s perception of increasing conservative trends and negative public attitudes affected the development of LGBT rights activism in Russia. It includes following sections: (1) the analysis of the development of LGBT community and activism in Russia; (2) the investigation of public perception of same-sex relations and how LGBT people’s views of it affected their readiness to join activism; and (3) the examination of the state’s policy toward LGBT people in a wake of conservative discourse and its impact on LGBT activism and LGBT people’s willingness to get involved in it. The article concludes by considering implications that LGBT rights activism face nowadays in order to survive and continue its existence.