April 4, on Saturday night, Nevsky prospect looked totally bemused in its most crowded portion stretching from Vosstaniya square to Kazansky cathedral. And a small wonder: a bunch of cool and smiling guys and girls was making its way through the crowd. How did they do it? Very simply: by handing out anti-homophobia flyers, postcards reading “Limits are conditional” and “Homophobia-free city” to all who cared to take them.

This flashmob became a beautiful finishing touch to the Week without Homophobia. There were about twenty of us, and twice as much as the similar action gathered the last year. According to Valery Sozaev, the director of “LGBT organization Coming Out”, “this is truly inspiring. It means that the work, which “Coming Out” has been conducting for the entire year is giving its fruits. We are forming a society, which, first of all, perceives itself as an integral one, and personally responsible for social change”.

The sunny April day was a happy one, and we were a happy bunch, greeting strangers. We would offer postcards to couples in love, middle-age businessmen and married women on their way to attend to their matters of great consequence. We handed them our flyers, saying: please read, this is interesting! - and people would take the flyers, and more came from somewhere behind saying: “We want some, too!” A man took a flyer from my hands, read through it quickly and stopped and smiled and looked at us. That was so nice. And a girl from the crowd screamed “Hurray! We’re with you guys!” and it was so great to “hurray” back!…

True, all people are different and the reactions are at times hard to predict. But, as it turns out, homophobes are not as black as they are painted. And even though some people would pass rude remarks or even obscenities, there were way more of those folks who looked genuinely surprised, smiling or even happy. Some passersby would catch up with our march asking for more flyers and postcards “for friends”.

And so we have given away everything we had - about a thousand of flyers and nearly seven hundred postcards - in less than an hour!

Such action for us, members of “Coming Out” is not just a prank, but a real coming out - taking outside, to the streets, and a true manifestation in its original sense of “showing oneself” showing of our true unique faces. The citizens of St. Petersburg could really make sure that we do exist, and that we are not some weirdoes or monsters. For some of us, this flashmob was a second one; and those who joined “Coming Out” just recently were literally charged with the new positive energy, and were “charging” people around us as well. Those who have any doubts that the brightness of a spring day like this one could be a total energizer can ask the actual participants of the action!

Participants’ impressions:

I don’t particularly care for street actions like this. But this time for some reason I just loved going outside and handing out postcards to people and tell them: Please read it! It was as if there was a burden of sorts, and any means would serve well now - just let another two or three people in the city understand and hear us. And marching like that, as a brave smiling band was wonderful and fascinating.

Anna Anisimova

People would not just toss the flyers, they actually would start reading the article on discrimination. When we were on our way back to the subway station, I looked at the trash cans alongside Nevsky. There were no flyers in the trash or on the pavement, which I see as a bid plus. It means that people took the information with them, rather than tossing it away.

Irina Vodkina

It was so good to hear things like: Oh, there are so many of them! Things like that brought forth a feeling of our unity and energy, the feeling that we are a community! And we want one and the same: to make our future bright, to ensure the freedom of love!

Anastasia Hudoleeva

I love this city because here the majority of people would smile back at you when you smile at them - and that you can feel! We showed ourselves to the city such as we were: positive and friendly. This, I think, goes contrary to the common belief of majority of people about LGBT and so it makes people think.

Alexandra Latkina

With our flashmob we said: we are LGBT. And we are not afraid to march openly and hand out our posters. And we were smiling and looking people in the eye. And we live in this city. We are here, and this city is our city, too.

Valery Sozaev