Coming Out

[ 06/10/2010; 19:30:00 to 21:30:00. 19:30:00 to 21:30:00. ]

Dear friends, we invite you to the ComingOUtInfo about the development of the LGBT movement in Russia!
This will be an interactive meeting where we together will access the state that LGBT rights in Russia are in, will analyze the historic experience, will discuss what we need to do to improve the situatuation.
OUr discussion will be joined by Igor Kochetkov, Valery Sozaev and other activists.

Join us on OCtober 6 (Wednesday) at 19.30 in the office 406 at Ligovsky, 87.

We are looking forward to see you there!

[ 16/09/2010 17:00:00 to 25/09/2010 17:00:00. ]
It is exactly one year since the International Queer Culture Festival 2009.

We are happy to tell you that the organization “Coming Out” continues the tradition and invites YOU to Festival 2010!

The Second International Queer Culture Festival will be held in St. Petersburg from September 16 to 25, 2010 Through music, theater and poetic events festival aims to draw public attention to the problems of homophobia and transphobia in Russia.The slogan of the festival - “The Art of Being Yourself” is a call for everyone to be confident in themselves and to understand that respect for differences is the basis for the creation of a free and happy society.

The notion of “queer” refers both to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and to all people who do not fit into the framework of ideas of what men and women should be. “Queer” offers to see a human in the first place as an individual.

Detailed information about the program can be found at the official Festival website: http://www.queerfest.ru

[ 09/09/2010; 19:30:00 to 21:30:00. ]

Dear friends,

September 9, 2010 (Thursday) at 19.30 the “ComingOutInfo” project will host an interactive meeting where we invite everybody who is interested how lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people live in different parts of the world.

What are the trends in the LGBT movement around the world?

What countries in the forward of the liberation movement, and what are on the threshold of recognition of different rights?

In what countries representatives of the LGBT community are protected and don’t need to worry about discrimination?

In what countries homosexuals or transgenders are harassed, subjected to forced “treatment” or even executed?

[ 07/09/2010; 14:00:00 to 18:00:00. ]

Regional Press Institute and the LGBT organization “Coming Out” with the support of the Russian LGBT Network and the European Commission invites journalists in St. Petersburg to attend a workshop on September 7, 2010 (Tuesday) from 14 to 18 hours on the topic:

Gender and hate speech.

[ 25/06/2010; 19:00:00 to 21:00:00. 19:00:00 to 21:00:00. ]

Dear friends,

On Friday, June 25, 2010 at 19.00 within the ComingOutInfo project an open lecture “History of the gay and lesbian civil rights movement in the West”,will be given by Valery Sozaev. This event will mark the Rainbow Flag Day (June 26) and the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots (June 27-28). This meeting will be interesting not only for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders, but also for everybody who pursues an interest in social movements of the XX century and in the issue of civil activeness.

LGBT organisation “Coming Out” with the support of the Russian LGBT
Network ran a series of seminars in Oct-Dec 2009 for journalists,
human rights activists and teachers of St. Petersburg.

The main questions on the agenda were related to gender and sexuality:

* What is gender and what is its difference from biological sex?
* Is homosexuality an illness?
* Who are bigenders and intersexuals?
* What is gender identity?
* Who can become a victim of homophobia?

It is step by step that a human being becomes aware of his or her difference from the others. At first he or she is afraid of being different, but then becomes proud of it. These are the traits of a normal person. The world is moved by phobias towards any demonstration of differences, and step by step the human being does one thing only: he or she destroys phobias. And the more fears of the different a person vanquished, the more of the inexplicable he or she accepted in his or her life, the more civilized this person is.

What’s a gay pride? When, where and why did it appear? Here is the question. How does it influence the general public’s attitude to LGBT-community? Is it worth holding gay pride in Russia? These and other issues are becoming now the subject not only for discussions inside the LGBT-community, but also for the public discourse in wide sense.

АThe importance and urgency of these questions, the absence of definite answers and the diversity of opinions called forth a discussion within the project “ComingOutInfo”. The discussion was organized by the Petersburg LGBT-organization “Coming Out” on Saturday, May 30th.

[ 30/05/2009; 18:00:00 to 21:00:00. ]

Dear friends,

ComingOutInfo will take place on 30th May (Saturday) at 18.00, which will be dedicated to gay-pride. We are going to listen the following reports: “Gay-pride from the point of view of the civil society. Gay-pride in Europe and Russia: the newest history”. We will have an opportunity to listen “pro” and “contra”, discuss the gay-pride importance to LGBT-movement progress, and explore the western and Russian experience.

Dear friends,

we invite you to ComingOutInfo on Saturday, March 7, 2009, at 6 p.m., where we are going to discuss the topic: “The impact of queer cinema on LGBT activism”.

In the discussion, Mikhail Trofimyenkov - a film reviewer famous in Russia and abroad, director of the international film festival “Kinotavr” and one of the organizers of the international film festival “Liki lyubvi” (”Faces of love”, Moscow 1995-1996) is going to participate.