Queer issues

Masha Gessen & Joseph Huff-Hannon (editors), OR Books, New York and London, 2014
ISBN 978-1-939293-35-0 (paperback), 978-1-939293-36-7 (e-book)
Russian and English, 224 pages

Publication of this book was rushed to coincide with the Sochi winter Olympics, and it shows. It shows, because – and the editors admit this – the spectrum of experiences is limited to mostly well-off Russian gays and lesbians, in their majority couples with the ability to travel abroad, and with higher education. The publication of the book is a response to a wave of state-sponsored homophobia in Russia, culminating in a bill banning “‘propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” - often narrowly interpreted as banning propaganda of homosexuality, but in fact covering a much broader spectrum of non-patriarchal sexual relations (see ILGA Europe, 11 June 2013).