“Putin needed an enemy, an Other, against which to mobilize. LGBT people are really convenient: we're sort of the ultimate foreign agent.” PeopleEnemyNeededUltimateAgentsLgbtConvenientPutin Author:Masha Gessen
“There was this very strange moment when the world discovered what was going on for LGBT people in Russia. It was very gratifying: I thought, there is a world out there, a saner world. It had felt sort of desperate and bizarre until that point.” PeopleWorldMomentsStrangeDesperateLgbtBizarre 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
“Conceit of the anti-gay law in Russia is to protect children, then the people who have the most to fear are LGBT parents. And sure enough, in conjunction with the homosexual propaganda law, they instituted a ban on adoptions by same-sex couples, or single people from countries where same-sex marriage is legal. That has very scary potential for any LGBT person with adopted kids, because Russian courts practice this particular legal concept called "annulment of adoption." So an adopted child is never exactly the same as a biological child, even if he or she was adopted ten years ago.” PeopleChildrenCountryEnoughKidsParentCoupleProtectScaryPropagandaLgbtAdoptionHomosexualAdoptedSingle People Author:Masha Gessen
“You can't expect people who didn't exist as a community at all until about twenty years ago to have formed a political movement. This attack on the LGBT community was very shocking to the people who consider themselves to be activists. They're basically playing in the sandbox, and there's a tank coming! And what are they supposed to do - use the plastic shovel to push the tank back? But since the homosexual propaganda legislation, people have really stepped up, educated themselves politically, and grown by leaps and bounds.” PeoplePoliticalCommunityEducatedPropagandaLgbtLeapActivistHomosexual Author:Masha Gessen
