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Russia at EuroPride From July 25 to August 3, 2008, Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, hosted EuroPride – the Pride Festival for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people. At the EuroPride festival, Russia was represented by a delegation from the Russian LGBT Network of organizations, which included representatives of the St. Petersburg public organization Coming Out . The Russians took part in many events of the Festival dedicated to LGBT activism, gay culture, and other topics. EuroPride’s program also included events specially dedicated to Russia. On July 28, there was a discussion panel LGBT in Russia, with participation by the Executive Director of the Russian LGBT Network of organizations, Igor Petrov, and the President of the Tyumen regional organization Rainbow House , Alexander Zhdanov. The discussion was moderated by Peter Oholm (SHC, Sweden). On July 29, a discussion panel on cooperation between LGBT organizations and NGOs (Allies for LGBT Rights ) took place, with participation by Gulya Sultanova (Coming Out , St. Petersburg, Russia), Anna Kirei (Labrys , Kyrgyzstan), and Goran Miletic (SHC, Serbia). Both panels were organized by the Swedish Helsinki Committee (SHC). The events took place at the Pride House, a space specially created for the duration of EuroPride, which normally functions as the central Culture House of Stockholm. In addition, on July 29, a representative of the organization Coming Out, Polina Savchenko, participated in a live radio show Persson Lofgren i P1 on Swedish Radio (Sveriges Radio). Other participants of the program were Rima Sharifullina, President of the human rights organization The Egida of St. Petersburg , and Lennart Dahlgren, Director General of IKEA Russia . The program’s host, Maria Persson Lofgren, and Anna-Lena Lauren, talked with guests about the situation in Russia from various angles, including that of human rights and LGBT rights in particular. On July 30, the Russians took part in an international meeting led by the RFSL, the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights, the oldest LGBT organization in Sweden. The discussion about Russia continued on July 31 in a discussion panel The Situation of LGBT in Russia , which took place in the Pride Park. The panel’s participants included the Executive Director of the Russian LGBT Network of organizations Igor Petrov, the President of the Tyumen regional organization Rainbow House Alexander Zhdanov, the Chairman of the Board of the St. Petersburg public organization Coming Out Valery Sozaev, the Organization Coming Out activists Polina Savchenko and Gulya Sultanova, and Elena Botsman of the Moscow’s open attendance club KSP. The initiative to hold the discussion belonged to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). On August 1, the participants of EuroPride were invited to an official reception at the City Hall. Annika Billstrom, the City of Stockholm mayor, addressed the LGBT activists with welcoming words. On August 2, the Russian delegation took part in the Pride Parade. Thanks to all the preliminary work done to announce the event, the Russian group gathered around 30 people to march under the Russian flags. The St. Petersburg Organization Coming Out marched under its own flag. Other participants and onlookers of the Pride Parade met the Russian group by applause and shouts “Good job!”, while some Russian tourists watching the parade were quite surprised to see their fellow countrymen and women and also showed their support, while some even joined the march. In addition to the said events, an art project State of Mind by Swedish artists Annica Karlsson Rixon and Anna Viola Hallberg was exhibited at the Pride House for the duration of the EuroPride festival. State of Mind is an art project portraying the lesbian and gay life of St. Petersburg through video-interviews and photography. The artists filmed interviews with over 40 men and women. The exhibition comes to St. Petersburg on September 4 and will stay open for one month. It will then tour other countries of Europe and Eastern Europe.

© The Public Organization Coming Out of St. Petersburg 2008. Use of copyright material with written permission by the authors and with reference to the original source only.