“As a gay parent I must flee Russia or lose my children” ChildrenParentLosesGayRussiaMy ChildrenGay Parents Author:Masha Gessen
“LGBT people are really convenient: we're sort of the ultimate foreign agent in Russia. There's no doubt in anyone's mind that the values that affirm nontraditional relationships, that affirm feminism, come from abroad. If you've established - and this isn't up for discussion - that foreign agents are bad, and foreign influence is bad, and the West is our enemy, then there's no better expression of the West's influence than gays and lesbians.” PeopleMindValuesEnemyDoubtFeminismInfluenceGayUltimateDiscussionLgbt Author:Masha Gessen
“Were there open gays and lesbians before the West started influencing Russia? No, there weren't. In fact, the most out person in the country, until recently, was me. I turned gay in America. I was a nice Soviet fourteen-year-old when I left, and I came back a lesbian.” CountryNiceInfluenceGaySoviet Author:Masha Gessen
“We have the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church talking about how gay marriage is a sign of the apocalypse, or Russian TV talking about how meteorites are coming to punish Russians for homosexuality.” ChurchGayOrthodoxHomosexualityApocalypseGay Marriage Author:Masha Gessen
“... fighting for gay marriage generally involves lying about what we are going to do with marriage when we get there-because we lie that the institution of marriage is not going to change, and that is a lie. The institution of marriage is going to change, and it should change. And again, I don't think it should exist.” ThinkingShouldLyingFightingGayInstitutionsGay MarriageMarriage Equality Author:Masha Gessen
