Country Quote by 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…

— Masha Gessen

For years I was the only publicly out gay person who was not a full-time gay activist: my position as a quasi-foreigner gave me…

— Masha Gessen

Russia, at the start of the 21st century, at least in its larger cities, very much resembled the United States of the early 1990s:…

— Masha Gessen

I am gay. I am a Jew. My mother lost over a dozen of her family to Hitler's anti-Semitism. Every time in Russia (and…

— Stephen Fry

By the mid-noughties, I found that I was no longer the only openly gay person in every setting. At one point, a couple of…

— Masha Gessen

Russia isn't only oppressive toward gay people, it is hard on everyone, particularly women.

— Courtney Act

As someone who has enjoyed visiting Russia in the past and can also claim a degree of Russian ancestry, it would make me happy…

— Wentworth Miller

Most Russians believe they've never met an LGBT person in their lives. Also they immediately see LGBT people as 'other,' lending to the success…

— Masha Gessen

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that in Russia, unlike in one third of the world's countries, being gay is…

— Vladimir Putin

“The Russian anti-gay campaign, which associates European and American power with the hidden hand of the gay international, was targeted to the Muslim world…

— Timothy Snyder

There was this very strange moment when the world discovered what was going on for LGBT people in Russia. It was very gratifying: I…

— Masha Gessen

Thank you for your kind invitation. However, as a gay man, I must decline. I am deeply troubled by the current attitude toward and…

— Wentworth Miller