From August 18 to August 24, the Russian LGBT Network and the St. Petersburg Public Organization Coming Out, with financial support by the Swedish Helsinki Committee, conducted Summer School for LGBT activists of Russia. In addition to the representatives of St. Petersburg, the Summer School was also attended by representatives from the Petrozavodsk LGBT Organization Krug-Kareliya, the Tyumen Public Organization Rainbow House, the Moscow LGBT Organization LGBT Rights, the Krasnoyarsk LGBT Organization SDG, and by initiative groups from Kemerovo, Voronezh, and Kazyan.

The main goal of the Summer School was to increase professional competence of the regional LGBT activists, to consolidate the Russian LGBT movement, and to develop strategic planning and tactics for the work to be done in the nearest nine months.

This Summer School was one of the steps in the process of preparations for the Russian National Conference of Civil Organizations for the Development of LGBT Movement, planned for this fall. Various seminars on human rights, sexual rights, the Yogyakarta principles and their implementation in Russia, the history of LGBT movement in the West, fundamentals of gender theory and psychology, feminism, the principles of influencing public opinion and their application to the LGBT in Russia, and interaction with the mass media, were conducted. Issues of gay and lesbian identity, the process of coming out, the heterosexual cultural matrix, the inner homophobia, and the strategy for the development of the LGBT movement in Russia, were studied.

Additionally, three nationwide projects were discussed:

• Memorial Day for the Victims of Article #121 - On December 17, 1933, by the decision of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, sexual intercourse between two men was criminalized, as it was pronounced to be counter-revolutionary and a manifestation of the "moral degradation of the bourgeoisie." Thus began the history of the Article #121 of the criminal code and the "Gay GULAG," in the course of which tens of thousands of people were subjected to repression. The anniversary of this date will be marked by memorials and human rights seminars throughout Russia.
• Joint project of the Russian LGBT Network and organization LaSky - "Mobilization of the LGBT Community and Advocacy for LGBT Rights." Events aimed at lowering the levels of homophobia, stigmatization, and discrimination of LGBT amongst social and medical profession workers, journalists, and the society at large, at effecting political reforms aimed at protection of LGBT rights, and at development and reinforcement of regional LGBT organizations, will be held. Pilot regions will be the cities of Moscow and Sochi.
• "The Year of Gay and Lesbian Family in Russia" - events will be held aimed at development and popularization of LGBT family values, providing easy access for the LGBT community to information about psychological aspects of LGBT family, and about possibilities for legal registration of partnership in Russia under the current active legislation.

As a result of the Summer School, knowledge and experience were exchanged between regional organizations, agreements for collaboration were reached, and contacts were established for future interactions. The Summer School provided the necessary momentum for future development of the Russian LGBT Network and the Russian LGBT movement as a whole.