— How did you get into the Agency for Youth Policy (AYP)? Did you intentionally aim for that job? — Before that, I worked in the Youth Policy Department at the Moscow City Pedagogical University in Samara Oblast. Universities received a message suggesting that department employees take part in the AYP program on social project development, so they could advise students on grants in the future. I completed the program and received a certificate. Later, a manager position opened up at the Agency for Youth Policy and was posted in the chat [created for those who had taken the AYP course]. I submitted my CV, had an interview, and was hired in February 2024. My role involved organizing events and providing guidance to young people. — Were people at the university and the agency aware of your sexual orientation before Samara Telegram channels publicized it in April 2024? How did they react? — I never made any public statements about it, but I didn’t hide it from close colleagues and friends. They all knew. Rumors spread quickly in educational institutions, after all. Before this “curious” situation, no one cared. Honestly, how many gay people are there in Russia? And not just gay people, but all the other letters in the LGBTQ spectrum—they work absolutely everywhere: in schools, in politics, in charities. Statistically speaking, you’re likely to find LGBTQ individuals in any workplace. — How did you find out that local Telegram channels posted photos of you and your partner? — I didn’t actually find out myself; my boss was the one who did. She called me first and asked if I’d seen the Telegram posts. There’s a Telegram channel called “Ulenspiegel” that published several posts about me. It was unexpected and unpleasant. I thought it was just some gossip that would blow over soon, but it spread very quickly. — How did your boss react? — My boss called me on Sunday and told me we’d meet on Monday morning to discuss it. She came with her deputy, and we talked through the situation, and she asked me to clarify a few things. She asked if it was true that I was gay. I told her it was true and that it was my personal life, unrelated to my job or my activities at the agency. She agreed and said I’d be kept from public events for a while until the dust settled. — But the “dust” didn’t settle? — After a planning meeting at work, posts started appearing in other Telegram channels. A friend who works at a school informed me that screenshots of the posts were even circulating on WhatsApp. That’s when I realized the situation had become surreal. It reached the federal media; Kommersant and Argumenty i Fakty reported on it. Then Khinshtein posted about it, and [propagandist Vladimir] Solovyov made a repost. By that point, my boss called me in and, with a sad tone, asked me to resign. — Did your colleagues support you, or did they join in the harassment? — They pitied me because I was forced to resign. They saw my dismissal with compassion and understanding. It’s sad, but we all know where we live and what goes on here. We said goodbye in a very warm way. — How did you decide to leave Russia? What ultimately convinced you to emigrate? — Around the time Khinshtein started writing about my sexual orientation, I realized I needed to leave the country as soon as possible. He threatened to investigate me for extremism, LGBTQ “propaganda,” and just about everything else. I knew I wasn’t familiar enough with how things work within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB, and other agencies. I understood I couldn’t wait and had to act fast, which was difficult since I didn’t have a foreign passport. I went home to pack—just grabbing the first things I found. I filled a small, sorry-looking bag, got in my car, and drove toward Kazakhstan. I crossed the border at night and reached Kazakhstan by April 2. — What did you feel when you left Russia? — At 2 a.m., just after crossing the Kazakhstan border, I was standing in a parking lot near offices where they handle car insurance, sell SIM cards, and so on. The fog was thick. I was smoking, breathing, and thinking, “Thank God I left. Thank God I’m on free land and everything is behind me on the other side of the border.” — How do you feel now, six months after emigrating? — It’s very sad to feel like everything has been taken from me. There’s no other way to describe it; my job and career achievements were things I built with my own hard work. No one helped me, no one led me by the hand, or set me up in a comfortable spot. I had genuinely big plans for my NGO, my charity and volunteer activities, and social work. It’s painful to lose it all, to bid farewell to everything in just one day without even the chance for a proper goodbye. — Six months after your emigration, your name is in the news again due to a post about your anti-war stance and the harassment you endured. What inspired you to write it? — I want to share my story with people, not to portray myself as a poor victim shat on by flies. The goal is to make a statement. Why are homophobes allowed to speak out while I am not? This is also a way to support those who remain in Russia and continue working there. To me, they are heroic individuals. Despite the threats and all the horrible things that might happen to them, they stay in Russia, help others, and do good deeds. It was important for me to stand by them. — How would you describe the situation of LGBTQ+ individuals in retrospect? How were you perceived by various communities? Did you feel intolerance due to your sexual orientation before the harassment campaign? — I experienced bullying in school. There was a lot of homophobia because I attended a very ordinary school with people of diverse viewpoints. Perhaps when I got to university, I placed myself in a bubble of tolerance and acceptance, surrounding myself with sensible individuals who understand that being gay doesn’t matter and isn’t a basis for judgment. They realize it’s just a characteristic a person is born with and lives with. Despite this, the situation for the LGBTQ+ community in Russia cannot be called safe. Those who stay in the country are considered potential extremists, and that’s the worst part. My case illustrates an interesting point: if you stay at home and keep a low profile, the chances of being punished are relatively low. However, as soon as you get involved in politics, social work, activism, or education, your sexual orientation may become a tool for manipulation at any moment. — Let’s imagine that discriminatory laws prohibiting the LGBTQ+ community have been lifted. Do you think Russian society would support LGBTQ+ individuals? — I’ve thought a lot about this as well. If, at some point, everything magically improves and we achieve democracy in Russia, will I be able to return? That’s a question. Will the hatred towards gay people dissolve? I don’t know. Will I ever be able to find a job in Russia with my reputation and those news headlines? I don’t know. — Recently, parents of schoolchildren in Yaroslavl filed a complaint against a female coach from a sports school, claiming she occupied “high positions” in other sports institutions in the city. In their report to State Duma deputy Anatoly Greshnevikov, they labeled her a lesbian. In your opinion, what causes this widespread hatred towards the LGBTQ+ community? — From a scientific perspective, a stranger is often perceived as a threat. If someone is different from you and you don’t know how to communicate with them, you automatically view them as dangerous. I believe that most people lack the opportunity or desire to learn about LGBTQ+ individuals, to understand and accept them. There is a significant lack of access to decent education. It’s quite convenient when you come home, turn on your TV, and see that gay people eat children in Europe. You believe it, and that shapes your worldview. This mindset is comfortable because it requires no intellectual effort or psychological self-reflection. People live on a salary of 20,000 rubles [approximately 200 EUR]. They have many concerns: feeding their children, their dogs, and everyone else around them. And on top of that, we expect them to ponder whether gays and the West are really that bad? Of course, people choose to just keep watching TV. — Is the hatred towards the LGBTQ+ community incited by the state or initiated by society? — Primarily, our state is responsible for the hatred directed at LGBTQ+ individuals. For decades, it has denigrated gays and other members of the community while airing defamatory content on television. By fueling this hatred, they achieved their goals. People have become angrier and more intolerant as a result. — What do you think should be done to reduce the level of homophobia in Russia? — We need to stop the propaganda and give a voice not only to homophobes but also to LGBTQ+ individuals. It’s important to gradually educate people that gays exist and that they are not merely “those in feathers and latex pants,” as propaganda suggests. We should show that their friends, relatives, and colleagues might belong to this community and that they live among them. — You mentioned wanting to make a statement when you wrote a post about your experience on social media. What would you like to convey to the general public? — The moral of the story is that good deeds always come back to you. If someone has helped you, respond by helping others. Extend a hand to someone else so that this kindness continues to spread. As I’ve already said, love conquers hate. If you have the opportunity to help someone and the desire to do good, just do it. Not only will it warm your own heart, but it may also change someone else’s life for the better. | 
